Bluetooth® Channel Sounding Copy

Bluetooth® Channel Sounding can bring true distance awareness to a wide array of connected devices, unlocking a world of possibilities for developers. When connected devices are distance-aware, a range of new possibilities emerge.

Bluetooth® ‘Find My’ Solutions

Attaching Bluetooth® tags to personal items such as keys, wallets, backpacks, or luggage was just the beginning of the ‘Find My’ phenomenon. Now, a rapidly increasing number of Bluetooth devices embed ‘Find My’ capabilities, introducing the possibility of any Bluetooth connected device becoming a ‘Find My’ device.

Using Bluetooth® Channel Sounding, developers can now add true distance awareness to a ‘Find My’ device, improving the user experience and making it significantly easier and quicker for users to locate lost items.

Bluetooth® Digital Key Solutions

Everything from cars, doors, gates, safes, and bikes are turning to Bluetooth® technology to enable keyless access and provide a more secure locking mechanism.

With Bluetooth® Channel Sounding, developers can enhance the security and user experience of digital key solutions, ensuring a lock only opens when the authorized device is within a certain distance. This significantly reduces the risk of unauthorized access from man-in-the-middle (MITM) relay attacks.

And Many More

Bluetooth® Channel Sounding also has the potential to bring benefits to a wide range of connected device solutions, transforming the way we interact with our connected world. For instance, Bluetooth mice, keyboards, and game controllers, could automatically switch between active and inactive states based on their distance from a smartphone, tablet, or laptop, Bluetooth Human-Machine Interface (HMI) solutions can enhance personnel safety by only allowing usage from a safe distance, and Bluetooth device networks, such as those used for wireless lighting control, can self-optimize to enhance system performance. The opportunities are endless.

Phased-Based Ranging (PBR) for High Accuracy Distance Measurement

Bluetooth® Channel Sounding leverages phase-based ranging (PBR) to achieve precise distance measurements between two devices. In PBR, an initiator device sends a signal to a reflector device, which returns the signal. Once the returned signal is received, the distance between the devices is calculated based on the phase difference between the transmitted and received signals. This process is repeated across multiple frequencies to increase the accuracy of the distance measurement.

Round-Trip Time (RTT) for Secure Distance Bounding

Bluetooth® Channel Sounding also incorporates a secondary ranging method called round-trip time (RTT) as a counter measure against sophisticated man-in-the-middle (MITM) relay attacks. In RTT, an initiator device sends cryptographically scrambled packets to a reflector device, which returns the packets. The distance between the devices is then calculated based on the time it took for the packets to travel back and forth.

RTT acts as a secure distance bounding technique, providing an independent distance measurement to cross-check the PBR measurement, significantly reducing the risk of MITM attacks. By combining PBR and RTT, Bluetooth® Channel Sounding enables secure and accurate distance measurements between devices.

Accurate

Bluetooth® Channel Sounding leverages multi-channel, phase-based ranging (PBR) to enable highly accurate fine ranging between Bluetooth connected devices. Bluetooth® Channel Sounding offers centimeter-level accuracy over considerable distances, meeting the needs of the vast majority of applications and allowing even the simplest connected devices to take advantage of true distance awareness.

Secure

As the number of connected devices grows, so does the importance of maintaining the integrity of those connections. Bluetooth® Channel Sounding deploys robust, multi-layer security that includes a secondary ranging method, round-trip time (RTT) secure distance bounding, to add an extra layer of protection to counter sophisticated man-in-the-middle (MITM) relay attacks.

Ubiquitous

Bluetooth® technology is already embedded in all major consumer platform devices, including smartphones, tablets, and laptops. With Bluetooth® Channel Sounding, developers will now be able to add true distance awareness to Bluetooth connected devices without having to design in an additional radio technology.