Silicon Labs bets on Bluetooth for IoT-based location services

US-based fabless semiconductor firm Silicon Labs has introduced its new Bluetooth-based direction finding solution, which is said to be the industry’s most comprehensive connectivity solution for the Internet of Things. The company’s retail, industrial and commercial customers can improve their location-based services like asset tracking, indoor navigation, space utilisation, and point-of-interest engagement, with the help of the direction finding feature added to Bluetooth in version 5.1 of the Bluetooth Core Specification. To date, Bluetooth asset tracking and indoor position solutions have usually provided location accuracy within a range of three-four metres. But the newly added direction-finding feature claims to allow devices to locate the direction of a Bluetooth signal within five degrees, supporting several methods for determining signal direction including angle-of-arrival (AoA) and angle-of-departure (AoD). Now, with this new Bluetooth 5.1 solution, developers can create products that improve location accuracy down to the sub-1-metre level.