The Bluetooth Special Interest Group has released the latest version of Bluetoothand it includes a number of new features and upgrades to the longstanding connectivity standard.
The biggest upgrade coming to Bluetooth 6.0 is a new feature that BSIG is calling "Channel Sounding" which should benefit Find My features on smartphones and other devices with "true distance awareness."
Channel Sounding apparently replaces older Bluetooth methods of calculating the distance between two devices with "significantly better accuracy" and with new security safeguards to mitigate risk. In a press release, BSIG claimed that Channel Sounding will achieve "centimeter-level accuracy over considerable distances", which would make it easier and faster to locate items, including missing Bluetooth-enabled devices.
It won't improve the best Bluetooth speakers or best wireless headphones but the obvious implication here is that Find My applications like those on iPhones or Android devices will get much better.
Apple already utilizes Ultrawide band chips to offer similar Find My functions on iPhones and Android devices may soon get their own version of ultrawide band. It'll be interesting to see if the two technologies can be combined for super precise location features and tracking.
Channel Sounding also enables other Bluetooth-based applications including digital keys for cars, doors, gates and bikes. Potentially it could be set that a lock only opens when an authorized device is within a specified range.
A BSIG rep reached out to explain that Channel Sounding is actually a separate feature.
"While it is correct that the new Channel Sounding feature was added to Bluetooth technology in this most recent version of the Bluetooth Core Specification (version 6.0), the two are not necessarily equated. All new Bluetooth Core Specifications are supersets of the previous version and the vast majority of features are optional to support, including Channel Sounding. This means that if a product indicates that it supports Bluetooth 6.0, it does not necessarily mean it supports the Bluetooth Channel Sounding feature. "
According to BSIG, there are over 5 billion Bluetooth enabled devices globally, so this pinpoint enhancement is no small feat.
"Imagine Bluetooth mice, keyboards, and game controllers that can automatically switch between active and inactive states based on their distance from a laptop," said Andrew Zignani, Senior Research Director at ABI Research in the press release.
There are several other updates and upgrades in Bluetooth 6.0 but most of them won't directly affect the everyday person. A couple are based around advertisements and radio channels. Others including Isochronous Adaptation Layer enhancements mean large "data frames" can be transmitted in smaller "link-layer packets" but that will depend on how developers and manufacturers use these enhancements in products.
We probably won't see any Bluetooth 6.0 compatible devices for at least a year, possibly six months.
Bluetooth 6.0 just came out and we imagine any companies eager to utilize the updated connectivity technology will already be in the process of testing the upgrades. However, based on language used in the press releases and blogs its unclear if features like Channel Sounding can be unlocked via updates or if devices will need Bluetooth 6.0 built-in. If so we probably won't see any Bluetooth 6.0 compatible devices for at least a year, possibly six months if an enterprising company can quickly integrate it into devices entering production now.
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