Bluetooth Could Be Threat to ZigBee, Thread in IoT Home, ABI Says
Bluetooth’s recent move toward IP connectivity via IPv6 -- coupled with the implementation of mesh functionality -- could make it a serious threat to ZigBee and Thread in the connected home, said ABI Research. The recently announced Bluetooth 4.2 specification…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
offers improvements in speed, connectivity and security over the previous version, said ABI. Its report said that makes Bluetooth "more viable than ever” in connecting low-power devices such as smart light bulbs and thermostats, wearables and sensors that will be part of the smart home of the future. The most significant Internet of Things-related update from the Bluetooth Special Interest Group is the ability for Bluetooth Smart devices to connect directly to the Internet via IPv6/6LoWPAN (over Low-Power Wireless Personal Area Networks) using the new Internet Protocol Support Profile (IPSP), said ABI. A barrier to the adoption of home automation systems has been the cost and complexity of gateways required to connect each device to the Internet, it said, citing the Philips Hue smart LED bulbs. Bluetooth 4.2 offers up to 2.5 times faster data throughput along with packet sizes up to 10 times larger than earlier versions. By shortening the time needed to transfer data, a device can return to the idle state more quickly, said the report, resulting in lower energy usage and longer battery life. Higher data rates result in fewer transmission errors, too, which also contributes to lower energy consumption, making Bluetooth well suited to low-power applications, said ABI. A critical omission from the latest Bluetooth spec is mesh networking capability, which ABI called critical to extending the home network's range, ensuring reliability, boosting performance and raising the network's “overall intelligence.” Competing technologies including ZigBee and Thread offer mesh networking over 802.15.4 chipsets, and while the Bluetooth SIG is working on mesh networking capabilities, a release date hasn’t been set. “In a short-range connectivity solution such as Bluetooth Smart, mesh topologies are necessary to ensure reliable whole-house coverage,” said the industry research firm. With Thread and now Bluetooth offering IPv6 connectivity, “significant momentum” appears to be gathering around IP connectivity for low-power devices in the smart home, along with an expectation for devices to consolidate around 6LoWPAN/IPv6-based solutions for vertical markets in the future, said ABI. The move toward IP-based standards will help ensure interoperability across connectivity technology and device types that make up the IoT, it said.