Thalwil, Switzerland – 1 July, 2021 – u-blox (SIX:UBXN), a leading global provider of positioning and wireless communication technologies and services, has announced the release of two "explorer kits" aimed at letting product developers evaluate the potential of Bluetooth direction finding and high precision indoor positioning. Designed for low power consumption, simple deployment, and low cost of ownership, the u-blox XPLR-AOA-1 and XPLR-AOA-2 explorer kits make it easy to test the technology's capabilities to enable a variety of applications including access control, collision detection, smart appliances, indoor positioning, and asset tracking.
Global navigation satellite system (GNSS) technology has solved the problem of locating people or assets outdoors. Meanwhile, no technology has yet managed to achieve widespread adoption for localizing people or assets in indoor environments such as warehouses. Recognizing the growing demand for more accurate indoor positioning solutions, the Bluetooth SIG released Bluetooth direction finding, offering a major improvement over previous RSSI (receiver signal strength indicator)-based solutions.
Bluetooth direction finding makes it possible to determine the direction that radio signals travel from a mobile tag to one or several fixed anchor points. Using angle-of-arrival (AoA) technology, anchor points comprising an antenna array that is connected to a Bluetooth receiver can detect the direction, or angle, to the mobile tag, which transmits a Bluetooth signal. When a constellation of such multi-antenna anchors is deployed, AoA technology can be used to triangulate the precise location of a mobile device or tag.
The u-blox XPLR-AOA-1 and XPLR-AOA-2 explorer kits showcase one of the first complete Bluetooth-based tracking solutions – from the tag to the cloud – to reliably offer sub-meter-level accuracy in indoor environments.
"We see huge potential for global Bluetooth ecosystem to finally deliver a low power, high precision solution for locating people and things indoors," says Erik Carlberg, Senior Product Manager, Product Center Short Range, at u-blox. "We look forward to engaging with early adopters of the technology and fine-tuning our solution, expanding the positioning expertise of u-blox into the indoor environment."
