Bluetooth Channel Sounding enhances security of Bluetooth connected devices
The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), the organization that oversees Bluetooth technology, released Bluetooth Channel Sounding, a new secure, fine-ranging feature that promises to enhance the convenience, safety, and security of Bluetooth connected devices.
By enabling true distance awareness in billions of everyday devices, Bluetooth Channel Sounding opens countless possibilities for developers and users alike.
“Bluetooth technology has become an ingredient of everyday life,” said Neville Meijers, CEO, Bluetooth Special Interest Group. “When connected devices are distance-aware, a range of new possibilities emerge. Adding true distance awareness to Bluetooth technology exemplifies the ongoing commitment of the Bluetooth SIG community to continuously enhance our connection with our devices, one another, and the world around us.”
The new feature has the potential to introduce transformative benefits across various applications.
Bluetooth ‘Find My’ solutions
In addition to Bluetooth tags that can be attached to personal items such as keys, wallets, backpacks, or luggage, a rapidly increasing number of Bluetooth devices now embed ‘Find My’ capabilities, introducing the possibility of any Bluetooth connected device becoming a ‘Find My’ device. Using Bluetooth Channel Sounding, developers can soon add true distance awareness to a ‘Find My’ device, improving the accuracy and user experience of these solutions and making it significantly easier and quicker for users to locate lost items.
Bluetooth digital key solutions
Everything from cars, doors, gates, safes, and bikes are turning to Bluetooth technology to enable keyless access and provide a more secure locking mechanism. Developers can use Bluetooth Channel Sounding to enhance the security and user experience of digital key solutions, ensuring a lock only opens when the authorized device is within a certain distance.
“We look forward to adding this new feature to our upcoming Bluetooth Digital Key specification,” said Feng, Yunsheng, Chief Secretary of the Intelligent Car Connectivity Open Alliance (ICCOA). “The adoption of Bluetooth Channel Sounding will help the ICCOA continue to deliver greater convenience, performance, and security to drivers and passengers worldwide.”
“The ICCE is committed to developing industry standards and fostering cross-industry collaboration to enable seamless intelligent in-car services,” says Chief Secretary Mr. Ren Feng of the Intelligent Car Connectivity Industry Ecosystem Alliance (ICCE). “We are therefore studying the addition of Bluetooth Channel Sounding technology as one of the ranging methods in the ICCE car key standard and we look forward to integrating it.”
Beyond ‘Find My’ and digital key solutions, Bluetooth Channel Sounding also has the potential to bring benefits to additional applications, transforming the way we interact with our connected world.
“Bluetooth Channel Sounding will apply to consumer, enterprise, and industrial settings alike,” said Andrew Zignani, Senior Research Director, ABI Research. “Imagine Bluetooth mice, keyboards, and game controllers that can automatically switch between active and inactive states based on their distance from a laptop. In industrial settings, distance aware Bluetooth Human-Machine Interface (HMI) solutions can increase personnel safety by only allowing usage from a safe distance. Meanwhile, Bluetooth device networks, such as those used for networked lighting control, can more easily self-configure to enhance system performance using this innovative technology. With well over 5 billion Bluetooth enabled devices forecasted to ship in 2024 alone, the opportunities are significant.”
Benefits
Bluetooth Channel Sounding offers three key benefits to developers looking for an easy, safe choice for adding fine ranging capabilities to connected devices.
Accuracy: Bluetooth Channel Sounding leverages phase-based ranging (PBR) to enable highly accurate distance measurement between Bluetooth connected devices and achieve centimeter-level accuracy over considerable distances, meeting the needs of the vast majority of applications and allowing even the simplest connected devices to take advantage of true distance awareness.
Security: As the number of connected devices grows, so does the importance of maintaining the integrity of those connections. Bluetooth Channel Sounding deploys robust, multi-layer security that includes a secondary ranging method, round-trip time (RTT) based distance bounding, to add an extra layer of protection to counter sophisticated man-in-the-middle (MITM) relay attacks.
Ubiquity: Bluetooth technology is already embedded in all major consumer platform devices, including smartphones, tablets, and laptops. With Bluetooth Channel Sounding, developers will now be able to add true distance awareness to Bluetooth connected devices without having to design in an additional radio technology.
“Bluetooth Channel Sounding is poised to bring true distance awareness to a vast array of Bluetooth devices, unlocking new possibilities for distance-aware applications across various industries,” said Joonsuk Kim, EVP of the System LSI Connectivity Team at Samsung Electronics.
“With Bluetooth Channel Sounding, we’re able to elevate the performance of ‘Find My’ applications by delivering centimeter-level accuracy, helping our customers find important items with greater ease. Additionally, Bluetooth Channel Sounding enhances the security of digital key solutions, providing an extra layer of protection for keyless entry users. These are just a few examples of the transformative potential of Bluetooth Channel Sounding, with many more possibilities waiting to be realized,” added Kim.
Bluetooth Channel Sounding is one of the new features included in the recently adopted Bluetooth Core Specification Version 6.0.