Simulating BLE devices
The BLE peripheral can be simulated installing and running the following Android App:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=io.github.webbluetoothcg.bletestperipheral&hl=en_US&gl=US
The BLE Peripheral Simulator is an Android app that allows developers to try out new features
of Web Bluetooth without the need for a BLE Peripheral Device.
You can check the code at: https://github.com/WebBluetoothCG/ble-test-peripheral-android
Finding BLE devices
Use btmgmt tool to find BLE devices and detect their MAC address type (random vs public).
# btmgmt find -l Discovery started hci0 type 7 discovering on hci0 dev_found: 74:B9:AB:CF:13:A9 type LE Random rssi -90 flags 0x0000 AD flags 0x1a name Galaxy S5 hci0 type 7 discovering off
In this example a single BLE device was detected, having MAC address 74:B9:AB:CF:13:A9 and random MAC address type
Connecting to BLE devices
Use gatttool to connect to BLE devices. Pass "-t random" parameter if scan has reported a random MAC address.
# gatttool -t random -b 74:B9:AB:CF:13:A9 -I [74:B9:AB:CF:13:A9][LE]> connect Attempting to connect to 74:B9:AB:CF:13:A9 [74:B9:AB:CF:13:A9][LE]> Connection successful Indication handle = 0x0003 value: 01 00 ff ff [74:B9:AB:CF:13:A9][LE]>
Accessing BLE devices
After successful connection BLE device characteristics can be accessed via gatttool. Continuing the example above:
[74:B9:AB:CF:13:A9][LE]> characteristics handle: 0x0002, char properties: 0x20, char value handle: 0x0003, uuid: 00002a05-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb handle: 0x0015, char properties: 0x02, char value handle: 0x0016, uuid: 00002a00-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb handle: 0x0017, char properties: 0x02, char value handle: 0x0018, uuid: 00002a01-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb handle: 0x0019, char properties: 0x02, char value handle: 0x001a, uuid: 00002aa6-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb handle: 0x0029, char properties: 0x12, char value handle: 0x002a, uuid: 00002a19-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb [74:B9:AB:CF:13:A9][LE]> char-read-hnd 0x0002 Characteristic value/descriptor: 20 03 00 05 2a [74:B9:AB:CF:13:A9][LE]> char-read-hnd 0x0015 Characteristic value/descriptor: 02 16 00 00 2a [74:B9:AB:CF:13:A9][LE]> char-read-hnd 0x0017 Characteristic value/descriptor: 02 18 00 01 2a [74:B9:AB:CF:13:A9][LE]> char-read-hnd 0x0019 Characteristic value/descriptor: 02 1a 00 a6 2a [74:B9:AB:CF:13:A9][LE]> char-read-hnd 0x0029 Characteristic value/descriptor: 12 2a 00 19 2a
Receiving notifications from BLE devices
Notifications sent from connected BLE devices can be seen in gatttool. The example below shows heart rate notification sent by Android "BLE Peripheral Simulator"
[74:B9:AB:CF:13:A9][LE]> Notification handle = 0x002a value: 08 3c 00 00 [74:B9:AB:CF:13:A9][LE]>