The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) released Bluetooth 6.0 last Tuesday (3). With extensive documentation, the entity revealed all the news about the specifications of the new connection standard. Among the main updates is Bluetooth Channel Sounding, which allows for a variety of applications, from digital keys to asset tracking.
Bluetooth 6.0: what changes?
Check out the main changes to the new Bluetooth connection standard in detail below.
Bluetooth Channel Sounding
The new feature aims to improve the distance perception of devices and, therefore, help locate lost items more accurately (like the “Find My Device” functions) and provide an extra layer of security in systems that use digital keys – thus ensuring that only authorized users within a pre-defined distance can unlock cars and doors, for example.
Decision-Based Advertising Filtering
The new feature optimizes the efficiency of Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) devices. This advancement allows scanning devices to analyze the content received on a primary channel and, based on that information, decide whether or not to seek additional packets on secondary channels.
In a smart home that contains many devices, filtering allows for greater connection efficiency. Image: Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock
This significantly reduces the time wasted scanning channels that may not contain useful information for the application, such as in the case of a smart home, which contains many connected devices.
Monitoring advertisers
The new functionality allows a device host to receive information from another device only once. In other words, the idea is to increase efficiency by reducing the amount of redundant data processed by the device.
Additionally, alerts are sent whenever a device enters or leaves range, optimizing power usage and avoiding unnecessary scans. After all, it is common these days for devices to still search for devices that are already out of range – which ends up draining the device’s battery.
ISOAL Enhancement
The Isochronous Adaptation Layer (ISOAL) allows the transmission of larger data frames in smaller packets, which is crucial for applications that require low latency, such as audio transmission in headphones, for example.
Wireless headphones benefit from ISOAL improvement. Image: Google/ Disclosure)
LL Extended Feature Set
This enhancement allows devices to exchange information with each other about the link layer capabilities each supports. This is essential for supporting a greater number of capabilities as system complexity increases.
Frame Space Update
Previously a fixed value, the interval between consecutive transmissions can now be negotiated, allowing adjustments that can be shorter or longer than the original 150 µs, better adapting to the needs of each connection or connected isochronous transmission. With this, devices negotiate time spaces between transmissions dynamically.
