Bluetooth, typically used as a personal area network (PAN), has been enhanced to now handle mesh networking, audio broadcasting, and much more. It’s often employed to configure IoT devices to support protocols like Matter. However, utilizing Bluetooth for IoT applications normally involves pairing to get things started.
I talked with Nick Chen, Principal Software Engineer at Blecon, about the company’s Bluetooth technology, which provides cellular-like connectivity via Bluetooth without pairing while still delivering a secure connection (watch the video above).
An example of Blecon’s technology is the L02S-BCN Smart Beacon (Fig. 1). It’s designed to link with Blecon Hotspots, delivering time-based insights via globally synchronized timestamps. The module contains sensors for temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, and ambient light. It also includes a three-axis accelerometer and Hall-effect sensor.
Bluetooth provides two-way communication with cloud confirmation and over-the-air (OTA) updates along with secure, encrypted data transport. There’s headroom on the system to support embedded artificial-intelligence (AI) models for local processing of sensor data.
Chips and modules are available for application integration (Fig. 2). These are based on Nordic Semiconductor system-on-chip (SoC) platforms.
The software stack is based on the Zephyr operating system and Nordic’s nRF Connect (Fig. 3). Blecon’s Bluetooth Cloud Connectivity is built on this platform, providing support for OTA, location, and timing.
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About the Author
William G. Wong
Senior Content Director - Electronic Design and Microwaves & RF
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