LC3 (Low Complexity Communication Codec) is a royalty-free audio codec specified by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) for the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)'s audio protocol and introduced about the time of Bluetooth 5.2. It is developed by Fraunhofer IIS and Ericsson, and succeeds the SBC codec. Mono (single-channelled) LC3-SWB is supported over the Hands-Free Profile (HFP) 1.9, succeeding mSBC. A Bluetooth LE peripheral can receive up to 4 audio streams (e.g., that of 4 different audio channels) simultaneously. Pairs of wireless earbuds often register as a single peripheral device, despite being physically distinct.