SBC vs mSBC | Difference between SBC and mSBC codec Bluetooth

From: https://rfwireless-world.com/Terminology/SBC-vs-mSBC-codec.html

This page compares bluetooth codecs SBC vs mSBC and mentions difference between SBC and mSBC used in bluetooth profiles.

Introduction:
As we know bluetooth is a short range wireless technology which uses 2.4 GHz ISM band and covers range of about 10 to 100 meters. There are various bluetooth versions such as bluetooth classic, Bluetooth low energy and Bluetooth high speed.

 

Bluetooth supports various profiles based on its applications of usage. The profiles include Hands Free Profile (HFP), Headset Profile (HSP), A2DP, A/V Remote Control Profile (AVRCP), Phone Book Access Profile (PBAP) and Message Access Profile (MAP). These bluetooth profiles use various audio codecs such as aptX, SBC, mSBC and Advanced Audio Coding (AAC).

SBC audio codec

Following are the features of SBC bluetooth audio codec.
• It is short form of Sub Band Coding.
• It provides reasonably good audio quality at medium bit rates while keeping low computational complexity.
• It is the only mandatory codec used in A2DP profile specified by Bluetooth SIG.
• It is digital audio encoder and decoder.
• It is used to transfer data to bluetooth audio output devices such as headphones, speakers etc.
• SBC supports both mono and stereo streams.
• It uses sampling frequencies up to 48 kHz
• It supports bit rates upto 198 Kbps (mono stream) and upto 345 Kbps (stereo stream).
• It uses 4 sub bands or 8 sub bands. It uses adaptive bit allocation algorithm along with adaptive block PCM quantizers.
• It is used by A2DP profile version 1.3.

mSBC audio codec

Following are the features of mSBC (modified SBC) bluetooth audio codec.
• It is 16KHz monaural configuration of SBC codec.
• It is used by Hands free profile v1.6.
• It is also known as WBS (Wide Band Speech).
• It has been developed to support mobile networks with HD voice.