2. Bluetooth
  3. Enhancing Location Services

Bluetooth Enhancing Location Services User manual

  • Hello! I am an AI chatbot trained to assist you with the Bluetooth Enhancing Location Services User manual. I’ve already reviewed the document and can help you find the information you need or explain it in simple terms. Just ask your questions, and providing more details will help me assist you more effectively!
Enhancing Bluetooth
Location Services with
Direction Finding
bluetooth.com | 2
table of
contents
1.0 Executive Summary ................................3
2.0 Introduction ......................................4
3.0 Bluetooth Location Services .........................5
3.1 Bluetooth Proximity Solutions 5
a. Point of Interest Information Solutions 5
b. Item Finding Solutions 6
3.2 Bluetooth Positioning Systems 6
a. Real-time Locating Systems 6
b. Indoor Positioning Systems 7
4.0 Bluetooth Direction Finding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4.1 Direction Finding Using Angle of Arrival Method 9
4.2 Direction Finding Using Angle of Departure Method 10
4.3 BluetoothProleswithDirectionFinding 10
4.4 Enhancing Bluetooth Location Services Solutions
Using Direction Finding 11
5.0 Conclusion .......................................12
Executive Summary
The market opportunity for Bluetooth® locationserviceshasgrownrapidlyoverthelastfewyears,
withindustryforecastsnowpredictingover400millionproductsinthissolutionareashippingper
year by 2022
¹
.
Today,Bluetoothpointofinterest(PoI)information
solutions are enhancing the visitor experience
withinmuseumsandretailstoresaroundthe
world.MillionsofpeoplerelyonBluetoothitem
ndingsolutionstotrackdownlostkeysand
other personal items. Bluetooth indoor positioning
systems(IPS)arehelpingmillionsoftravelers
navigate through busy airports and shoppers
throughmalls.Andwarehousesandfacilities
around the globe are using Bluetooth real-
timelocatingsystems(RTLS)tobettermanage
resourcesandoptimizetheowofmaterials.
Despitethistremendoussuccess,theBluetooth
community does not remain idle and continually seeks to enhance the technology. The community
recentlyaddedadirectionndingfeaturethathasthepotentialtosignicantlyenhancethe
performance of Bluetooth location services solutions.
bluetooth.com | 3
back to contents
1
Source: ABI Research.
back to contents
bluetooth.com | 4
Introduction
One key reason for the incredible success of Bluetooth is its unique approach to market. With
Bluetooth,developersgetmorethanjustaradiotechnology,theygetcomplete,full-stack,globally
interoperablesolutionsthataddressvariouswirelessconnectivityneeds.
Bluetoothdoesnotseektobethebestsolutionforallwirelessconnectivityneeds,butifyouare
adeveloperbuildingasolutionthatneedstostreamaudiobetweentwodevices,asolutionthat
needstotransferdatabetweentwodevices,alocationservicessolution,orasolutionwhere
youneedtohavetens,hundreds,oreventhousandsofdevicescommunicatingwitheachother
inasecure,reliablemeshnetwork,thenBluetoothstrivestobethebesttechnologyavailable.
Thisfocusondeliveringcomplete,globallyinteroperablesolutionsforspecicsolutionareashas
playedasignicantroleinestablishingBluetoothasthetechnologyofchoiceformanydeveloper
communities.AndtheBluetoothcommunityiscontinuallyworkingtoenhancethetechnologyto
better meet developer needs in these various solution areas.
The introduction
ofBluetoothLow
Energy in 2010
gave developers
the ability to
start leveraging
Bluetooth to
createpowerful,
low-costreal-time
locatingsystems,
indoor positioning
systems,item
ndingsolutions,
point of interest
(PoI)information
solutions,and
more.Injustafew
years,location
serviceshasbecomeoneofthefastestgrowingsolutionareasforBluetooth,anditisexpectedthat
over400millionBluetoothdevicessupportinglocationservicessolutionswillbeshippingperyearby
2022.
point-to-point point-to-point broadcast mesh
location
services
device
networks
data
transfer
audio
streaming
solution
topology
Bluetooth BR/EDR Bluetooth Low Energy
radio
Bluetooth Location Services
Untilnow,allstandardBluetoothlocationservicessolutionshavebeendevelopedusingthe
samebasicbuildingblock.TheyleveragetheBluetoothLowEnergyradiotodetermineiftwo
Bluetoothdevicesareinrangeofeachotherand,inmanycases,usereceivedsignalstrength(RSSI)
measurementstoestimatethedistancebetweenthetwodevices.Thatbasicabilitytodetermine
whetheranotherdeviceisnearbyandapproximatelyhowcloseasledtothecreationofanumberof
compellingBluetoothlocationservicessolutions.Thesesolutionsgenerallyfallintotwocategories:
proximity solutions and positioning systems.
Bluetooth Proximity Solutions
Proximitysolutionsarethesimplerofthetwo
categories and leverage Bluetooth to determine
thelocationoftwodevicesrelativetoeach
other.OneBluetoothdevice,generallya
smartphone,isusedtodetermineifanother
Bluetoothdeviceiswithinrangeand,inmany
cases,approximatelyhowfaraway.Pointof
interestinformationanditemndingaretwoof
the most popular Bluetooth proximity solutions.
PoI Information Solutions
Point of interest information solutions
wereoneoftherstBluetoothlocation
services to come to market. In a
PoIinformationsolution,small,
battery-poweredBluetooth
back to contents
bluetooth.com | 5
Bluetooth Location Services
proximity solutions
item nding solutions
(e.g. personal property tags)
point of interest
information solutions
(e.g. proximity marketing)
positioning systems
real time locating
systems (RTLS)
(e.g. asset tracking)
indoor positioning
systems (IPS)
(e.g. waynding)
Many museums support smartphone apps that provide
visitors with additional information about nearby exhibits.
back to contents
bluetooth.com | 6
transmitters,oftenreferredtoasbeacons,
are deployed throughout facilities to improve
the visitor experience. Beacons deployed
inmuseumscanprovidevisitorswithmore
informationaboutexhibitswhilebeaconsinretail
establishments can provide nearby shoppers
withadditionalproductinformation.Inthese
solutions,thevisitortypicallydownloadsan
application to their smartphone that enables the
Bluetooth radio in their phone to listen for nearby
beacons and then presents more information
to the user based on the beacon or beacons it
hears.
Item Finding Solutions
Itemndingsolutionshavebeenexperiencing
tremendousgrowthoverthelastfewyears.These
solutionsinvolvesmall,battery-poweredBluetooth
devices,oftenreferredtoaspersonalpropertytags,
thatcanbeattachedtomovableobjectslikeasetofkeysorawallet.Theyalsoincludeanapplication
thatenablestheBluetoothradioinsmartphonestolistenforandestimatethedistanceofspecic
tags.
Bluetooth Positioning Systems
Positioning systems use Bluetooth to determine the physical location of devices and involve more
sophisticatedinfrastructuredeployments.Real-timelocatingsystems(RTLS)andindoorpositioning
systems(IPS)aretwoofthemostpopulartypesofBluetoothpositioningsystems.
Real-time Locating Systems
Bluetooth RTLS solutions are used for both asset
trackingaswellaspeopletracking.Forexample,
these solutions can locate and track the position
ofpallets,forklifts,andworkersinawarehouse,
or ultrasound machines and patients in a
hospital,helpingtoensuresafetyand
optimize response time in an emergency.
Bluetooth RTLS solutions are based
on the deployment of Bluetooth
receivers,oftenreferredtoas
Item nding solutions help consumers locate misplaced
items. So long as the item is connected to a Bluetooth tag,
an app on their smartphone will let them know if the item
is nearby and approximately how close.
Using a Bluetooth RTLS solution, key resources in a
warehouse, like pallets, forklifts and workers, can be
easily located and tracked.
back to contents
bluetooth.com | 7
locators,inxedlocationsthroughoutafacility.
The locators connect back to a centralized
server,oftenreferredtoasalocationengine.
Low-power,battery-operatedBluetooth
transmitters,commonlycalledtags,arethen
attachedtoallassets(orpeople)thatthesystem
is intended to track.
The tags are programmed to transmit a signal
onaperiodicbasis,thefrequencyofwhichis
determinedbasedonhowmobilethetracked
assetsareexpectedtobe,aswellashowreal-
time location estimates need to be. Each locator
continually reports back to the location engine
alltagsitcanhear,aswellasthereceivedsignal
strength(RSSI)fromeach.Thelocationengine
usesthatinformation,aswellastheknown
positionofeachlocator,toestimatetheposition
of tags based on a process called trilateration.
Trilaterationdeterminesthepositionofanobject
byunderstandingitsdistancefromthreeknown
referencepoints.InthecaseofBluetooth,locators
estimate their distance to any given asset tag based
on the received signal strength from the tag.
Theaccuracyoflocationestimatesisinuenced
byseveralfactors,includingtheoorplanofthe
facility and the number of locators deployed.
Current standard Bluetooth RTLS solutions can
providemeter-levelaccuracy(~1to10meters).
Indoor Positioning Systems
Bluetoothindoorpositioningsystemspower
wayndingsolutionsthathelpvisitors,suchas
shoppersinamall,travelersinanairport,or
workersinalargeocebuilding,navigate
theirwaythroughoutafacility.
BluetoothIPSsolutionsworkintheoppositewayasRTLSsolutions.InsteadofBluetooth
receivers,Bluetoothtransmitters,commonlyreferredtoaslocatorbeacons,are
deployedinxedlocationsthroughoutafacility.Visitorsthenuseanappontheir
tag
Locator
Locator Locator
Location
Engine
Bluetooth asset tracking system based on RSSI
and trilateration.
Locator
Beacon
Locator
Beacon
Locator
Beacon
Bluetooth IPS system based on RSSI and trilateration.
back to contents
bluetooth.com | 8
smartphone that enables the Bluetooth radio in
the phone to listen for locator beacons. Based
onwhichbeaconstheappcanhear,alongwith
thereceivedsignalstrength(RSSI)fromeach
andtheirknownlocations,theappisableto
usetrilateration,thesameprocessusedinRTLS
solutions,tocalculateitscurrentposition.
LikeRTLSsolutions,thelocationaccuracyof
BluetoothIPSsolutionsisinuencedbyseveral
factorsincludingtheoorplanofthefacility,
aswellasthenumberofxedlocatorbeacons
deployed,butcurrentsystemscanprovide
meter-levelaccuracy(~1to10meters).
Bluetooth IPS solutions, such as those for waynding, are
helping travelers nd their way through airports around
the world.
back to contents
bluetooth.com | 9
Bluetooth Direction Finding
While Bluetooth location services have
seen tremendous success based on current
capabilities,thereismarketdemandforsolutions
that can provide even greater performance.
Forexample,insomeRTLSdeployments,itis
important for the system to provide location
accuracydowntocentimeter-level.Fortunately,
awell-establishedcapabilityhasrecentlybeen
addedtoBluetoothtechnologythatwillenable
the development of location services solutions
that can achieve these advanced performance
requirements.
Radiodirectionndingreferstothepracticeof
determiningthedirectionfromwhichareceived
signalwastransmitted.Radiodirectionnding
hasbeeninpracticesincetheearlytwentieth
century and is used in systems to support
everything from aviation and nautical navigation
towildlifetracking.
Inversion5.1oftheBluetoothCoreSpecication,Bluetoothaddedanoptionaldirectionnding
capability.Usingthisnewfeature,aBluetoothdevicecandeterminethedirectionofasignalbeing
transmitted from another Bluetooth device. This seemingly basic capability has the potential to
signicantlyenhanceBluetoothlocationservicessolutions.
Asdiscussedabove,BluetoothlocationservicesarecurrentlyusingRSSItoestimatethedistance
betweentwodevicesand,inthecaseofRTLSandIPSsolutions,usethosedistanceestimatesand
trilaterationtodeterminethepositionofadevice.Now,withdirectionnding,thosesamedevices
canalsouseinformationaboutthedirectionofanotherdeviceand,forRTLSandIPSsolutions,use
triangulation to improve location accuracy.
TheBluetoothdirectionndingfeaturesupportstwomethodsfordeterminingthedirectionofa
Bluetoothsignal,bothofwhicharebasedontheuseofanantennaarray;angleofarrival(AoA)and
angleofdeparture(AoD).
Direction Finding Using Angle of Arrival Method
Intheangleofarrival(AoA)method,thedevicetowhichdirectionisbeingdetermined,
suchasataginanRTLSsolution,transmitsaspecialdirectionndingsignalusinga
singleantenna.Thereceivingdevice,suchasalocatorinthatsameRTLSsolution,
Since the early twentieth century, radio direction nding
has been used to support everything from aviation and
nautical navigation to wildlife tracking.
back to contents
bluetooth.com | 10
hasmultipleantennaarrangedinanarray.Asthetransmittedsignalcrossesthearray,thereceiving
deviceseesasignalphasedierenceduetothedierenceindistancefromeachoftheantennainits
arraytothetransmittingantenna.ThereceivingdevicetakesIQsamplesofthesignalwhileswitching
betweentheactiveantennainthearray.BasedontheIQsampledata,thereceivingdevicecan
calculatetherelativesignaldirection.TheAoAmethodofdirectionndingisintendedforusewith
RTLS,itemnding,andPoIinformationlocationservicessolutions.
Direction Finding Using Angle of Departure Method
Intheangleofdeparture(AoD)method,thedevicetowhichdirectionisbeingdetermined,suchas
alocatorbeaconinanIPSsolutions,transmitsaspecialsignalusingmultipleantennaarrangedinan
array.Thereceivingdevice,suchasamobilephoneinthatsameIPSsolution,hasasingleantenna.
Asthemultiplesignalsfromthetransmittingdevicecrosstheantennainthereceivingdevice,the
receivingdevicetakesIQsamples.BasedontheIQsampledata,thereceivingdevicecancalculate
therelativesignaldirection.TheAoDmethodofdirectionndingisintendedforuseinIPSsolutions,
suchasthoseusedforwaynding.
Bluetooth Proles with Direction Finding
FormanyBluetoothfeatures,prolespecicationsarepublishedthatdenehowtodevelop
interoperableBluetoothproductsthatimplementthefeature.Forexample,theBluetooth
HeadsetProledeneshowtodevelopinteroperableaudioheadsetsusingBluetooth.
ThisisalsotrueforthenewBluetoothdirectionndingfeature.Severalnewproles
areintheirnalstagesofdevelopmentandareexpectedtobereleasedsoon,
AoA Method AoD Method
AoA AoD
Transmitter Receiver
Receiver
Transmitter
Bluetooth direction nding using angle of arrival (AoA)
Bluetooth direction nding using angle of departure (AoD)
back to contents
bluetooth.com | 11
includingaproleforproductsimplementingdirectionndingusingtheAoAmethodandaprolefor
products implementing it using the AoD method.
Enhancing Bluetooth Location Services Solutions Using Direction Finding
TheBluetoothcommunityaddeddirectionndingcapabilityinresponsetomarketdemandfor
Bluetooth based location services solutions that could deliver even greater performance. By adding
thedirectionndingfeature,Bluetoothproximitysolutionscanadddirectionalcapabilitieswhile
Bluetooth positioning systems can improve location accuracy.
Item Finding Solutions–ShouldsmartphonevendorschoosetoincludeBluetoothdirectionnding
withAoAsupportintheirproducts,itemndingsolutionscouldbeenhancedtoprovidedirectional
information.Withdirectionndingsupport,inadditiontoidentifyinghowcloseamisplaceditemis,
anitemndingapplicationonasmartphonecouldalsodeterminetheitem’sdirection,improvingthe
user experience.
PoI Information Solutions–PoIinformationsolutionscouldalsobenetfromdirectionndingwith
AoAbeingaddedtosmartphones.Imaginearoominamuseumwithmultipleexhibitsthathave
associatedbeacons.Withdirectionndingsupport,aPoIinformationapplicationonasmartphone
couldnotonlyinformauserofalltheexhibitsintheroomandallowthemtoselectonetoreceive
additionalinformation,buttheusercouldsimplypointtheirsmartphoneataspecicexhibittoget
more information on that item.
RTLS Solutions –Byimplementingdirectionnding,RTLSsolutionscouldimprovelocationaccuracy
downtocentimeter-level,dependingondeploymentconsiderations.BydeployingaRTLSsolution
withdirectionndingsupport,afactorycouldtrackthelocationandowofmaterialswithgreater
precision,aswellastrackandalertworkersbeforetheygointounsafeworkareas.
IPS Solutions –IPSsolutionswithdirectionndingsupportdeployedinhospitalsorshoppingmalls
could provide even greater positioning accuracy to improve the navigation experience or require the
deploymentoffewerlocatorbeacons.
Conclusion
TheBluetoothcommunityiscontinuallyenhancingthetechnologytoaddressnewmarket
opportunitieswhilemeetingtheever-expandingneedsofthemarketsinwhichitalreadyparticipates.
WiththeintroductionoftheBluetoothLowEnergyradio,thecommunitysoughttoaddressthe
marketopportunityforstandardized,lower-costlocationservicessolutions.WithBluetoothlocation
servicessolutionsnowpredictedtobeshipping400millionproductsperyearby2022,itwould
appear the community has been successful in achieving that goal.
However,thecommunityneversitsstill.DespitethesuccessBluetoothlocationservicessolutions
haveseenbasedoncurrentcapabilities,thecommunitysawmarketdemandforsolutionsthat
coulddeliverevengreaterperformance,suchasBluetoothRTLSsolutionsthatcouldachievetrue
centimeter-levellocationaccuracy.Tomeetthisneed,thecommunityaddedadirectionnding
feature to Bluetooth.
Theadditionofdirectionndingbringsestablished,time-testedmethodsfordeterminingsignal
directiontoaproven,trustedradio.ThisfeaturewillenableBluetoothproximitysolutionstoadd
directionalcapabilitiesthatenhancetheuserexperienceaswellasBluetoothpositioningsystemsthat
canaddressthefullspectrumofpositioningusecases,fromcommonlowresolutionsystemstothe
most precise.
back to contents
bluetooth.com | 12
/