Silicon Labs released new Bluetooth® software for the Wireless Gecko portfolio, the industry’s most comprehensive connectivity solution for the Internet of Things (IoT). Silicon Labs’ commercial, industrial and retail customers can enhance their location-based services, such as indoor navigation, asset tracking, space utilization and point-of-interest engagement, using the direction finding feature added to Bluetooth in version 5.1 of the Bluetooth Core Specification.
Bluetooth has added a new direction finding feature, allowing devices to determine the direction of a Bluetooth signal. The new feature supports multiple methods for determining signal direction including angle-of-arrival (AoA) and angle-of-departure (AoD), and Silicon Labs’ implementation of the new Bluetooth feature enables detection of signal direction within 5 degrees. To date, Bluetooth asset tracking and indoor positioning solutions have typically provided location accuracy within a range of 3-4 meters. With the Silicon Labs Bluetooth 5.1 solution, developers can create products that improve location accuracy down to the sub-1-meter level, opening the door to applications previously not possible.
Key Specifications:
In addition to improved location services, Bluetooth 5.1 also helps developers:
• Reduce power consumption with sleep clock accuracy updates
• Improve smart home connection performance using GATT caching functionality
• Optimize beaconing for Bluetooth mesh in crowded RF environments with the advertisement channel index feature
