Silicon Labs has announced its support for Bluetooth Channel Sounding on its xG24 platform. This new protocol stack enables secure and accurate distance measurement between two Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) connected devices, offering enhanced precision and security for Bluetooth device ranging.
“In a world where location awareness is critical, Bluetooth Channel Sounding revolutionises proximity and location capabilities, propelling Bluetooth technology into a new era,” explained Ross Sabolcik, Senior Vice President of the Industrial and Commercial Business Unit at Silicon Labs. “With a legacy of empowering developers with the full potential of Bluetooth technology, Silicon Labs’ latest hardware and software create an accelerated path to Bluetooth products equipped with Bluetooth Channel Sounding.”
Bluetooth Channel Sounding
The Bluetooth Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) has already enabled a range of applications by estimating the distance between devices, from locating lost phones to enhancing digital security via geofencing. However, traditional RSSI methods often suffer from reduced accuracy due to factors like multipath interference and obstructions. Bluetooth Channel Sounding addresses these limitations by improving accuracy to sub-meter levels and enhancing security.
Bluetooth Channel Sounding utilises Phased-Based Ranging (PBR) to provide precise distance measurements, complemented by a secondary method known as Round Trip Time (RTT). RTT can cross-verify PBR measurements, identifying any anomalies and ensuring robust security, particularly in access control solutions for environments like hospitals and industrial facilities, where proximity is crucial for granting or denying access.
With its combination of PBR and RTT, Bluetooth Channel Sounding is suitable for a wide range of applications, including smart locks, device tracking, pet monitoring, and commercial use cases like geofencing, vehicle keyless entry, and access control. It also enables accurate positioning of infrastructure such as wireless access points or lighting, meeting regulatory requirements and reducing labour costs.
Moreover, Bluetooth Channel Sounding offers a flexible solution for Bluetooth LE applications, allowing it to be implemented without additional hardware requirements, making it a convenient option for existing systems.
Silicon Labs has introduced the new xG24 Radio Board and Pro Kit, which are now available to order. These kits provide an efficient platform for developing and prototyping products using Bluetooth Channel Sounding for accurate distance measurement. The Pro Kit includes a BRD4198A EFR32xG24 2.4 GHz +10dBm Radio Board, a Sleeve Dipole Antenna, and reference designs.
In December 2024, Silicon Labs will also release the xG24 Development Kit, featuring a dual-antenna PCB design and a Channel Sounding visualisation tool, which allows users to view real-time distance measurements, simplifying the integration of Bluetooth Channel Sounding into new products.
Silicon Labs offers a variety of hardware solutions to support Bluetooth® Channel Sounding across different application complexities:
- Single antenna hardware: Best suited for basic Bluetooth Channel Sounding applications where lower power consumption and simpler environments take priority. This configuration uses fewer antenna paths, making it ideal for straightforward implementations
- Dual antenna hardware: Available from December 2024, the dual antenna design offers higher accuracy and improved resolution for multipath environments. This is ideal for advanced applications that require precise distance measurement, such as key fobs and tracking tags. The small form factor also makes it suitable for size-constrained applications, with antenna diversity enhancing signal quality and reliability
Additionally, Silicon Labs’ hardware is AEC-Q100 qualified, making it a strong choice for automotive applications like Passive Entry and Passive Start systems.
By the end of the year, Silicon Labs expects the xG24 host stack and link layer to be qualified for version 6.0 of the Bluetooth Core Specification. This will support intra-event antenna switching for optimal Non-Line-of-Sight performance and enable Channel Sounding in both NCP (Network Co-Processor) mode with an external application MCU or SoC (System on Chip) mode with an integrated application MCU.
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