What new features does Bluetooth 5.3 bring to IoT device manufacturers and application developers?
The Bluetooth Technology Alliance estimates that shipments of low-power Bluetooth single-mode devices are expected to increase by more than three times in the next five years to 2025. A fast-evolving technology platform such as Bluetooth needs to evolve continuously to maintain its value and promote the growth of the ecosystem. The release of the new Bluetooth 5.3 version is to ensure this-the continuous growth of the global market!“
As one of the most popular wireless IoT technologies in the world, Bluetooth technology released its latest version of Bluetooth 5.3 (Bluetooth® 5.3) on July 13, 2021. This article will introduce what new features Bluetooth 5.3 brings to IoT device manufacturers and application developers.
What is Bluetooth 5.3?
Bluetooth 5.3 is the latest version of Bluetooth technology, which is one of the most widely deployed wireless IoT connection technologies in the world. Bluetooth low energy has been widely adopted in IoT devices in all industries and applications. According to the 2021 Market Update released by the Bluetooth SIG, it is estimated that there will be a total of 13 billion Bluetooth IoT devices in use in 2021. What makes Bluetooth the preferred wireless technology for IoT device manufacturers and application developers? The answer is its ubiquitous support for all types of digital devices and global interoperability!
The growth of Bluetooth IoT
The Bluetooth Technology Alliance estimates that shipments of low-power Bluetooth single-mode devices are expected to increase by more than three times in the next five years to 2025. A fast-evolving technology platform such as Bluetooth needs to evolve continuously to maintain its value and promote the growth of the ecosystem. The release of the new Bluetooth 5.3 version is to ensure this-the continuous growth of the global market!
New features of Bluetooth 5.3
Bluetooth 5.3 version brings a number of enhancements, providing significant improvements in reliability, energy efficiency and user experience for IoT device manufacturers and application developers. The four main enhancements of Bluetooth 5.3 will be introduced below.
Low-rate connection (Connection Sub-rating)
Bluetooth 5.3 provides an enhanced connection update function
The smart blood glucose meter is an ideal example of a Bluetooth peripheral device. It mainly runs in a low-power monitoring state and does not perform high-throughput data transmission. During operation, the device maintains a low duty cycle mode to maximize battery life. When a burst data packet needs to be sent to the central device (such as triggering a dose of insulin), the device must first switch to a mode with a higher duty cycle. As it involves the execution of the connection update process, this conversion can take a long time.
The low-rate connection function of Bluetooth 5.3 makes slow connection updates a thing of the past, and it can achieve a more efficient conversion process to reduce conversion delays. The low-rate connection function switches between low-duty cycle and high-duty cycle modes in a new and faster way, which can more efficiently deal with variable packet rates and burst traffic.
In applications such as smart medical devices, faster conversion time can significantly improve the functionality, user experience, and security of the device. With the low-speed connection function, Bluetooth devices can now return to energy-saving mode faster after a large amount of data transmission, which can further extend battery life.
Encryption key length control enhancement
In IoT applications such as access control, door locks, portable medical equipment, and commercial lighting, robust security is becoming an increasingly important requirement for end users. Bluetooth 5.3 now responds to market demand, enhances the encryption key control between the host and the controller, and can protect IoT devices and applications and their users from hacker attacks and security attacks.
The new host-to-controller encryption key control enhancement allows the host to set the minimum encryption key length that the controller can accept. Since the host has a better understanding of the application, it is most suitable for determining the key length according to the security requirements of the application. The enhanced function supports the control of the size of the encryption key through the stack, which can provide developers with greater flexibility when using the host-to-controller connection to meet the needs of various applications. In this way, multiple interactions between the host stack and the link layer can be avoided, and at the same time faster reconnection can be achieved, thereby supporting delay-sensitive application scenarios, such as human-machine interface devices.
Periodic broadcast enhancement
AdvDataInfo function in Bluetooth 5.3 periodic broadcast
Currently, all periodic broadcasts must be reported to the host. However, in some cases, when the broadcast data has not changed, this may cause unnecessary processing on the node. This will reduce the overall throughput. With the new features of Bluetooth 5.3, the AdvDataInfo (ADI) field can now be added to the periodic broadcast. The ADI field of the data packet header can indicate whether the load data in any periodic broadcast data packet has changed. In the case of no change, the node can discard subsequent data packets in the data chain and use the time to process other receiving transactions.
The ADI in the periodic broadcast improves the overall efficiency of the Bluetooth network, saves the processing capacity of the node, reduces the power consumption of the node, and provides more time for scanning in the main channel.
Channel classification enhancement
The working principle of channel classification in Bluetooth 5.3
Sometimes, the central and peripheral devices participating in the Bluetooth connection may experience varying degrees of interference from various sources. Imagine the difference between the vibration sensors (peripheral devices) installed on industrial rotating motors and the smartphones (central devices) carried by condition monitoring personnel. Prior to Bluetooth 5.3, only the central device could determine the channel mapping, without any information about the peripheral device’s experience of the channel conditions. In this case, the reliability of wireless connections in many business-critical application scenarios may be reduced.
The new channel classification function in Bluetooth 5.3 supports peripheral devices to notify the central device of the desired channel mapping based on the RF conditions experienced. Then, the central device can make appropriate decisions to achieve the best channel mapping. The channel classification enhancement function can improve the overall wireless performance, especially when the device transmits at +10 dBm power, because the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) does not allow transmission at more than +10 dBm on interference channels.
in conclusion
As an IoT device manufacturer or application developer, you know that the competition in the IoT market is very fierce-every step is important if you want to win the hearts of customers. Bluetooth version 5.3 is a slight enhancement to the Bluetooth protocol, but it has achieved important improvements in wireless reliability, energy efficiency and user experience, and can support you in creating more innovative ways to win the Internet of Things competition!