New test solution launched for Bluetooth 5.1

With the new Bluetooth core specification version 5.1 (BT 5.1), BLE devices can optionally provide improved navigation services. Added functionality for direction finding using the angle of arrival and angle of departure methods allows position determination with accuracy down to centimetre level in both the transmit and receive direction. Earlier solutions could only afford meter-level accuracy. Devices with BLE 5.1 functionality are ideal for tasks such as indoor asset tracking and for navigation services at airports. Beacons are currently being used to call attention to particular nearby products, sights and attractions in public spaces. BLE 5.1 now makes it feasible to guide interested parties exactly to these points of interest. The Bluetooth SIG expects that by 2022 around 400 million additional devices will use the Bluetooth 5.1 location services solutions. To allow device manufacturers to test their products in line with Bluetooth 5.1, the company has extended its BLE test solution to include 23 new test cases in DTM defined in the new RF-PHY.TS.5.1.0 test specification. With these tests, manufacturers can show that their products are RF interoperable with other devices and that direction finding meets the requirements of the BT 5.1 specification.