Faster, wider, stronger: plans for the development of Bluetooth in 2016

Wireless technologies are constantly evolving, and the farther, the faster. Now, in connection with the development of IoT, Bluetooth is also being improved. Bluetooth Special Interest Group ( SIG ) has announced significant technology changes. Bluetooth SIG is the organization that manages and develops Bluetooth standards. The organization itself consists of individual members — companies like Ericsson, Apple, Intel, Nokia, Microsoft, Lenovo, and Toshiba.

The group is developing a technology roadmap for 2016 and beyond. Now announced that Bluetooth LE or Bluetooth "Smart" will significantly increase the range, four times. The current range, the maximum - about 100 meters. The updated technology will provide coverage of 400 meters.
')
Promised and 100% increase in network bandwidth, without increasing energy consumption. This, in turn, will improve the exchange of information with Bluetooth-enabled devices, including medical.

But the most interesting points in the roadmap is the support of the mesh network, Mesh network. Recall that Mesh-networks were originally developed for military purposes and, as a rule, are wireless. Recently, the size of the devices, the cost, as well as their power consumption have decreased, and it has become possible to add several radio modules to one node. As a result, each cell has the opportunity to simultaneously perform several useful functions, such as client access, scanning required for high-speed transmissions in mobile applications and others.

The advantages of such networks are quite significant:

• "Intelligence" network. It is one of the key features of a wireless mesh network. “Intelligence” means that when connected, each point automatically receives information about all other access points in the network and “finds out” its role. This behavior eliminates the need for continuous administration and facilitates rapid deployment.
• Self-healing and self-adaptation. As soon as the network is turned on and begins to function, each device automatically determines the state of its neighbors and its role in the overall topology. Therefore, when one of the nodes fails, the network is able to redirect data — that is, to redefine routes automatically.
• Fast and low-cost deployment. Deploying a Mesh network does not require expensive infrastructure and cabling. In addition, due to the ability to self-repair and self-adaptation - this network is economical to operate.
• As a result, all Bluetooth enabled devices will be able to exchange information with each other. All this will improve the efficiency of smart systems in the near future.

The representative of the Bluetooth SIG also said that requests to improve the technology have been coming for a long time, on behalf of many companies. Improving Bluetooth capabilities will, in particular, increase the IoT market volume from $ 2 billion to $ 11.1 billion.

---

PS We conduct a campaign specifically for Habr's readers. Post with the details here .