Wireless tech specialist Silicon Labs has extended its xG24 platform to support Bluetooth Channel Sounding. The new technology will provide secure sub-metre accuracy for industrial, campus and home applications.

Bluetooth Channel Sounding is a new protocol stack designed to enable secure and precise distance measurement between two Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) connected devices. By offering true distance awareness, Bluetooth Channel Sounding enhances the accuracy and security of Bluetooth device-ranging capabilities.

Bluetooth Channel Sounding can be applied in a variety of applications from industrial to smart homes.

Bluetooth Channel Sounding uses Phased-Based Ranging (PBR) to deliver precise distance measurements between two devices and a secondary ranging method called Round Trip Time (RTT). The independent distance measurements from RTT can then be used to verify and cross-check the PBR measurements. This cross-verification process helps detect anomalies to ensure applications are secure, which is critical when developing access control solutions for hospitals and industrial buildings that must grant or deny access based on proximity.

With PBR and RTT, Bluetooth Channel Sounding can be used in home and life applications like smart locks, locating consumer electronic devices, and pet trackers, as well as industrial and commercial applications like geofencing, vehicle keyless entry, and access control – all while delivering accurate, secure, and dependable Bluetooth ranging services. With advanced distance estimation techniques, Bluetooth Channel Sounding can also be used to triangulate the position of commercial infrastructure like wireless access points or luminaires to either meet regulatory requirements or save human labour and costs.

Silicon Labs’ new xG24 Radio Board and Pro Kit allows creation and prototyping products using Bluetooth Channel Sounding for precise distance estimation. The kit includes a BRD4198A EFR32xG24 2.4 GHz +10dBm Radio Board, a Sleeve Dipole Antenna, and reference designs.

The xG24 Dev Kit, available in December 2024, features a dual antenna PCB design, and a Channel Sounding visualiser tool that allows customers to effortlessly view distance measurements in real time, streamlining the implementation of Bluetooth Channel Sounding in their products and applications.

Silicon Labs’ hardware solution is AEC-Q100 qualified, making it a suitable choice for automotive applications like Passive Entry and Passive Start systems.

Qualification to version 6.0 of the Bluetooth Core Specification for xG24 host stack and link layer are expected by the end of the year. The qualified stack will support intra-event antenna switching for optimal Non-Line-of-Sight performance and supports Channel Sounding when xG24 is operating in either NCP (Network Co-Processor) mode with an external application MCU (microcontroller unit) or SoC (System on Chip) mode with an integrated application MCU. 

“In a world where location awareness is critical, Bluetooth Channel Sounding revolutionises proximity and location capabilities, propelling Bluetooth technology into a new era,” said Ross Sabolcik, Senior Vice President of the Industrial and Commercial Business Unit at Silicon Labs. “With a legacy of empowering developers with the full potential of Bluetooth technology, Silicon Labs’ latest hardware and software create an accelerated path to groundbreaking Bluetooth products equipped with Bluetooth Channel Sounding.”