Wireless Gecko software exploits Bluetooth 5.1 direction finding feature
Bluetooth software for Silicon Labs’ Wireless Gecko portfolio, has the direction finding feature which was added to Bluetooth 5.1 of the Bluetooth Core Specification on Monday 28 January.
Targeting location services, the direction finding feature in Bluetooth 5.1 allows devices to determine the direction of a Bluetooth signal. The feature supports multiple methods for determining signal direction including angle-of-arrival (AoA) and angle-of-departure (AoD). Silicon Labs’ implementation of the feature enables detection of signal direction within five degrees. To date, Bluetooth asset tracking and indoor positioning solutions have typically provided location accuracy within a range of three to four metres. Using the Silicon Labs Bluetooth 5.1 solution, developers can create products that improve location accuracy down to the sub-one meter level. The addition to the Blutetooth specification is described as a “huge leap in location services accuracy for the industry” by Matt Johnson, senior vice president and general manager of IoT products at Silicon Labs.
In addition to improved location services, Bluetooth 5.1 also helps developers to reduce power consumption with sleep clock accuracy updates, improve smart home connection performance using GATT caching functionality and to optimise beaconing for Bluetooth mesh in crowded RF environments with the advertisement channel index feature.
Silicon Labs’ direction finding software, including support for the AoA method, is available today to selected customers through the Silicon Labs Simplicity Studio development kit.
Silicon Labs provides silicon and software for connectivity for the IoT, internet infrastructure, industrial automation, consumer and automotive markets.
