In earlier versions of Bluetooth (4.2 and earlier), the data rate for low-power Bluetooth (BLE) was set to a fixed 1 Mbps. in Bluetooth 5.0, a new mode with a data rate of 2 Mbps was introduced. This new data rate also provides some additional benefits:
▲Reduced power consumption as the same amount of data is transmitted in a shorter period of time.
▲Improved wireless ****storage due to reduced radio turn-on time.
Compared to other low-power wireless protocols (e.g., ZigBee, Z-Wave, Thread), BLE offers higher data rates, even at the native 1 Mbps data rate. With the addition of the new high-speed mode (2 Mbps), more potential IoT applications become more viable. Examples include video streaming, audio streaming and bursty big data transfers such as images.
Quadruple Range
Bluetooth 5.0 also introduces a Remote Mode, which utilizes an error-correction technique known as Forward Error Correction (FEC).FEC allows the receiver to recover data from errors caused by noise and interference. Thus, when an error occurs, the receiver can utilize the redundancy in the data to recover the data originally sent, rather than requiring the data to be retransmitted.
When testing in remote mode, records have been made as far as 800 meters line-of-sight. This makes it possible to use BLE in applications such as those that require communication with devices hundreds of meters away. Examples include remote control devices, home automation and industrial applications.
Bluetooth 5.0 will quadruple the communication range. This means that BLE technology will finally be available in the smart home, allowing users to control smart products in their homes, from smart light bulbs to smart locks, and now all smart devices in a home can be connected using BLE. Compared to the power-hungry WiFi technology, the advantages of BLE for smart home products are obvious.
Eight times the advertisement message capacity
Advertisements are available in all low-power devices, but a prominent application that utilizes this state is beacon technology. Beacon devices maintain an advertised state and simply advertise data for others to view and read the data. With the increased capacity of Bluetooth 5 advertised data, beacons can now transmit more data, unlocking more new IoT applications and uses.
Conclusion
As we have seen, Bluetooth 5.0 introduces a number of IoT features that can be applied to a wide range of potential IoT applications. However, there are a few a few key points to keep in mind:
▲The new remote and high-speed modes are only optional according to the official Bluetooth specification, so chipsets or devices claiming to support Bluetooth 5 may not support either of these new modes.
▲In order to be able to utilize these new features, two BLE devices communicating with each other need to support Bluetooth 5 and support the features of interest. For example, in order to be able to transfer sensor data over long distances between a sensor device and a smartphone using Remote Mode, both the sensor device and the smartphone need to support Bluetooth 5 and Remote Mode.
▲Smartphones still struggle to support Bluetooth 5 and its new features. Even if the new hardware supports it, its API needs to allow mobile developers to use these features.