A Bluetooth low energy (BLE) device receives advertising packets from an advertising BLE device. The BLE device filters the received advertising packets utilizing hardware to search for the advertiser. If the advertiser is not found by the hardware, the packet filtering continues utilizing firmware. Device identity information, comprising non-private and/or private device identities, of preferred BLE devices is partitioned to form a different white list for the hardware, firmware, and host, respectively, to concurrently support privacy and white listing. If the advertiser is found by the hardware, the hardware sends a response to the advertiser following a successful CRC check performed in the hardware. If the advertiser is found by the firmware, the device identity information of the advertiser is inserted in the white list for the hardware. The host may be awakened based on the device configuration and/or attribute type information of the received advertising packets.