Factory (or factory line) programming low-power devices such as wearables, medical devices, and the like, requires bidirectional communication between the programming device and the low-power device(s) being programmed. The low-power devices typically have a built-in radio frequency (RF) radio for transferring data. For example, many low-power devices in the healthcare, fitness, security, and medical industries utilize Bluetooth low energy (BLE or Bluetooth Smart) radios to transfer data. Many of these devices such as, for example, medical devices, have non-replaceable batteries with limited lifetime capacity. Prior to deployment of these devices, but before and after factory programming, it is often desirable to disable the RF radio, e.g., put the device in a sleep mode, to avoid current leakage which can significantly lower the shelf life of the device.
There are various mechanisms capable of waking up devices in a sleep mode. However, these mechanisms typically rely on technologies such as Near-field communication (NFC) and Radio-frequency identification (RFID) to facilitate the wakeup techniques. Unfortunately, these techniques are expensive both in terms of increased production costs and increased size or printed circuit board (PCB) area. Moreover, communications using NFC and RFID technology can compromise performance of the underlying RF antenna on the low-power device.
Overall, the examples herein of some prior or related systems and their associated limitations are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Upon reading the following, other limitations of existing or prior systems will become apparent to those of skill in the art.