The official Bluetooth body, the Special Interest Group (SIG), made a giant leap with the recently released Bluetooth 5 specification that standardizes mesh networking: connecting large numbers of devices capable of communicating among themselves as well as directly with mobile phones. All smartphones currently on the market can connect to objects in Bluetooth Mesh networks without needing a central gateway or router, allowing easier control of smart lighting, general building automation, and other Internet-of-Things (IoT) applications such as environmental sensing, industrial monitoring, and asset tracking.
Mesh networking in Bluetooth 5 presents an industry standard that enables OEMs to create interoperable products that provide flexibility and freedom of choice for users.
ST’s BlueNRG-MESH Software Development Kit (SDK) enables creation of networked devices and the smartphone apps needed to control them. So far, it is the market’s only three-part SDK that provides two app-developer packages for Android and iOS, and the embedded-development software for building smart objects such as light fittings and sensors. Together, these three packages provide all the software building blocks engineers need to get their applications running using ST’s BlueNRG mesh-ready Bluetooth Low Energy ICs.
“Bluetooth 5 will become a powerful force in the IoT market, and we have invested heavily to deliver solutions that support its important new features, like mesh networking,” said Benedetto Vigna, President, Analog, MEMS and Sensors Group, STMicroelectronics. “Adding BlueNRG-MESH to the ST BlueNRG portfolio ushers in an era of connected smart things all around us, like smart-home appliances or lighting switches, and enables secure and convenient control from the feature-rich and stylish user interface of a smart mobile application.”
The BlueNRG-MESH SDK is being demonstrated during Bluetooth Asia 2017 in Shenzhen (Sep 26-27) and is already available to selected customers with the full rollout planned for Q4 2017.
Leave a Reply