Central & Peripheral connection handles SD7_SDK16.0.0 vs SD5_SDK14.2.0

I noticed in SD7 SDK16.0.0 when CENTRAL and PERIPHERAL connections are defined, the soft device will return designated central and peripheral connection handles.

For example: if my application has 3 central connections and 3 peripheral connections the soft device will assign 0x0-0x2 for central conn_handles and 0x3-0x5 for peripheral connection handles. 

Two questions:

1. Is this the defined and expected behavior for SD7 SDK16.0.0? 
2. If so, when was this implemented? I am not seeing this behavior in SD5_SDK14.2.0.

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