Bluetooth® is the most successful wireless technology in history, with more than 40 billion cumulative device shipments. This is, in no small part, due to the relative simplicity of Bluetooth technology, which enables the most cost-effective deployments possible. And while Bluetooth has consistently been a leader in the audio space, it is now also widely used for non-communications purposes. In particular, it has been broadly deployed as a positioning technology for high-accuracy indoor location services.
High-Accuracy Indoor Location Services
Perhaps the best-known products in this space are personal item trackers, like those developed by Apple, Samsung, and Tile. Bluetooth® positioning technologies like Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI), direction finding, and upcoming high-accuracy distance measurement enable microlocation of devices. But, more critically, consumer item tracking relies on Bluetooth technology’s unique worldwide multi-billion-unit smartphone ecosystem to detect the locations of lost assets.
This is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of Bluetooth® positioning systems. A variety of commercial and industrial systems have already been deployed, enabling services ranging from asset tracking and indoor navigation to keyless entry. This extends to extremely high-speed and high-accuracy systems: Bluetooth positioning is used for player tracking in several European professional hockey leagues and enables Phone as a Key (PaaK) across a range of Ford vehicles.
On-Demand Webinar
The Myths & Facts about Bluetooth® Technology as a Positioning Radio
Watch this detailed discussion into the challenges and opportunities in front of indoor location services systems and how to tap into their potential in manufacturing, logistics, retail, offices, and more.
Bluetooth Positioning Performance
As the long-time product manager for all of Broadcom’s indoor positioning technologies, the extent of Bluetooth® technology’s success has still exceeded my expectations. Yet, despite the scope of successful deployments, there remain a number of misconceptions about Bluetooth positioning performance. For example, Bluetooth positioning accuracy is perceived to be inferior to other technologies. However, the afore-mentioned athlete tracking and vehicle keyless entry products require high accuracy and low latency, so there is already existence proof in the market showing that Bluetooth technology can meet stringent requirements. Similarly, Bluetooth technology is viewed as insufficiently reliable and interference-tolerant to function in critical industrial and enterprise applications. But again, a large number of factory and hospital asset tracking deployments similarly provide existence proof of Bluetooth technology’s viability in those spaces.
At the other end of the spectrum, there is a tendency to downplay the clear advantages that Bluetooth® technology brings to location services applications. If we take the examples of vehicle keyless entry and personal asset trackers, both rely on the broad Bluetooth ecosystem to create successful products. For keyless entry, it was critical to have compatibility with every smartphone on the market, and only Bluetooth Low Energy, which has shipped in virtually every smartphone over the last decade, provided that level of ubiquity. In the same vein, item tracking relies on the sheer size of the Bluetooth ecosystem to maximize the opportunities for detecting tags regardless of their location. The inherent advantages of Bluetooth technology, in particular simplicity, low cost, and backwards compatibility, made it the only technology that location services developers could design around.
Watch The Myths & Facts about Bluetooth® Technology as a Positioning Radio, and get a deeper look into how Bluetooth technology meets the high-accuracy positioning performance needed by commercial and industrial environments.
ON-DEMAND WEBINAR
The Myths & Facts about Bluetooth® Technology as a Positioning Radio
Watch this detailed discussion into the challenges and opportunities in front of indoor location services systems and how to tap into their potential in manufacturing, logistics, retail, offices, and more.
Accessing the IoT Ecosystem
IoT has been an emerging technology for many years. It first appeared on the…
Why Bluetooth Technology Is the First Choice for Smart Home Digital Key SolutionsBluetoothテクノロジーがスマートホームのデジタルキーソリューションで最高の選択肢である理由
Bluetooth® technology is transforming the way we use smartphones, turning them into convenient and…
The Latest in HADM with Bluetooth LE
HADM, or high accuracy distance measurement using Bluetooth does exactly what it says –…
Bluetooth LE and Cellular IoT Wearables Help Us Take Care of Our Pets
Since the 1970s, the role of pets in the family has changed. Back then,…
Supply Chain Visibility: The Key to a Resilient and Agile Supply Chain
The modern world of commerce relies on the performance and operational efficiency of multiple,…
Reinventing Retail in the Connectivity Age
Despite the surge in e-commerce both before and during the pandemic, physical retail still…
Bluetooth Technology Empowers Dusun IoT To Build a New Smart IoT EcosystemDusun IoT、Bluetooth技術で新たなスマートIoTエコシステムを構築
From toys to tools, smart lighting to smart healthcare, and intelligent buildings to smart…
Bringing Digitisation to Manufacturing & Logistics with Location Services
In manufacturing, operations managers have to cope with a variety of logistical challenges. The…
3 Bluetooth Innovations That Will Have Major Market Impacts市場に大きな影響を与えるBluetoothの3つのイノベーション
A globally recognized standards body, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) supports industry-leading companies…
ABI Snapshot - 2023 Bluetooth Market Update
The Bluetooth® Market Update, released annually by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), highlights…
Using Bluetooth in Location Tracking Devices
Bluetooth ranging technology, which uses the distance between one or more devices through signal…
2023 Bluetooth® Market Update
Featuring new market insights and industry forecasts from ABI Research and other analyst firms...
EJOT | INDUTRAX Case Study
EJOT, headquartered in North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany, is a group of medium-sized companies with production…
The Importance of Standards in the Smart Retail Market
Retailers are increasingly looking towards Internet of Things (IoT) technologies to help them deliver…
The Benefits Of Bluetooth LE Connectivity In Power Tools
Integrating Bluetooth into power tools has emerged as one of the fastest growing –…
The Bluetooth® Technology Roadmap for the Future
Ken Kolderup, CMO of the Bluetooth SIG, shares recent and upcoming enhancements to Bluetooth®…
Galleria Borghese, Rome Case Study
The Galleria Borghese Museum, based in Rome, houses works by Caravaggio, Raphael, Titian, Correggio,…
No More Queueing At The Hotel Check-in
Over two thirds of the British population now own a smartphone, using it for…
2022 Bluetooth® Market Update
Featuring new market insights and industry forecasts from ABI Research and other analyst firms...
Bluetooth Location Services
See 8 use cases for enhancing building efficiencies and creating a better visitor experience, discover new data that supports the latest trends and forecasts, and find out what’s driving the rapid adoption of location services solutions.
Tile is working with Lenovo to help you find your lost laptop
Announced at CES 2022, Tile and Lenovo are teaming up to make ThinkPad X1s…
The new Chipolo Card Spot puts Apple’s Find My network in your wallet
Chipolo has a new Bluetooth tracker it’s announcing at CES 2022, a new version…
7 AirTag tricks: Find lost stuff, return found items and more
CNET examines how Apple’s AirTags can easily help you track down lost items using…
2021 Bluetooth® Market Update
Supported by updated forecasts from ABI Research and insights from several other analyst firms, the Bluetooth Market Update highlights the latest Bluetooth trends and forecasts.
Designing and Developing Bluetooth® Internet Gateways
Learn about Bluetooth internet gateways, how to make them secure and scalable, and design and implement your own working prototype gateway and web application for use with either Bluetooth LE Peripherals or with Bluetooth mesh networks.
Lighting as a Platform
See how connected lighting systems are being used as a platform to enable advanced building services like wayfinding, asset tracking, and space utilization to improve the ROI of smart building investments.
Build a Smarter Building with Blue
See how Bluetooth increases reliability, reduces costs, and enhances your smart building ROI.
An Introduction to Bluetooth Beacons
Learn how to build your own Bluetooth beacon or integrate beacon technology into your existing products and apps.
