IoT provider increases location services accuracy with new Bluetooth 5.1

Silicon Labs has released new Bluetooth software for the Wireless Gecko portfolio. The company's commercial, industrial and retail customers can improve their location-based services, such as asset tracking, indoor navigation, space utilisation and point-of-interest engagement, using the direction finding feature added to Bluetooth in the latest version 5.1 of the Bluetooth Core Specification. To better meet the increasing demands of the location services market, Bluetooth has added a new direction-finding feature, enabling devices to resolve the direction of a Bluetooth signal. The new option supports various methods for determining signal direction including angle-of-arrival and angle-of-departure, and the company's implementation of the new Bluetooth feature allows detection of signal direction within five degrees. Most recently, Bluetooth asset tracking and indoor positioning solutions have typically offered location accuracy within a range of 3-4m. With this solution, developers can produce products that increase location accuracy down to the sub-1m level, opening the door to applications previously not possible. “The Silicon Labs Bluetooth direction finding solution provides a huge leap in location services accuracy for the industry,” said Matt Johnson, senior vice president and general manager of IoT products at Silicon Labs. “The combination of the Silicon Labs wireless solution and the new features added in Bluetooth 5.1 will help developers transform industries and improve people’s lives.”