Bluetooth mesh networking is expected to boost industrial IoT applications
The Bluetooth Special Interest Group this week released its new standard for supporting Bluetooth mesh network capabilities, enabling “many-to-many” device communications that Bluetooth SIG says is “ideally suited for building automation, sensor networks and other IoT solutions.”
Bluetooth SIG said that the new specification is aimed at supporting the scale, security and reliability that industrial internet of things applications will require, and that it is “optimized for creating large-scale device networks.” Silicon Labs immediately announced support for Bluetooth mesh networking, as did Nordic Semiconductor.
“In the same way the connected device market experienced rapid growth after the introduction of Bluetooth Low Energy, we believe Bluetooth mesh networking can play a vital role in helping early stage markets, such as building automation and wireless sensor networks, experience more rapid growth,” said Mark Powell, executive director for Bluetooth SIG.
In other test news:
–Dekra is taking over the Lausitzing auto racing complex and turning it into Europe’s largest test facility for autonomous and connected vehicles.
The company is “initially investing more than 30 million euros in establishing this testing network,” according to Dekra CEO Stefan Kölbl. “Automation and connectivity, the topics of the future, are becoming increasingly important for the safety of mobility. … The takeover of Lausitzring and its combination with the Dekra Technology Center is a very decisive step for us.”
Dekra’s existing technology center at the site will be expanded. The company said that the focus for the test facility is on “constructing testing facilities for all aspects of automated driving,” including connectivity testing capacity and integration of vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-x test capabilities. Dekra plans to build two “city” routes, an “overland” route and a highway route to test vehicle capabilities in different scenarios.
“The combination of connection and automation is a vital requirement for autonomous driving in the future. That is why our customers, especially in the automotive industry, need the necessary testing services from one provider. We will be able to provide this through the intensive cooperation of all the Dekra locations and business units involved,” said Kölbl in a statement.
–Teledyne LeCroy released an upgrade for its Voyager Universal Service Bus platform to enable testing of USB power delivery and USB Type-C functional compliance. The new test capabilities will be available starting next month.
–Rohde & Schwarz launched a new, economy vector network analyzer series for radio frequency characterization of components. The two-port box weighs 6 kilograms and takes up about 2/3 the space of competing VNAs, the company said. There are two models, which cover frequency ranges between 1 MHz to 3 GHz or 1 MHz to 6 GHz.
R&S also got a boost this week with the news that renewable energy company Sungrow has installed a massive anechoic chamber for electromagnetic compatibility testing of power equipment, and will be utilizing Rohde & Schwarz’ EMC test equipment.
–Ixia is partnering with security company ProtectWise to integrate their products for enterprise visibility and security in mixed cloud and multi-cloud deployments. This involves leveraging Ixia’s CloudLens solution for network visibility.
“Moving enterprise workloads to the cloud can create stumbling blocks for security teams, as they no longer have the network packet visibility needed to be effective,” said Ramon Peypoch, Chief Product Officer at ProtectWise. “Ixia CloudLens helps ProtectWise solve this problem by providing full, easy, and highly scalable visibility in the public cloud. The joint Ixia and ProtectWise solution also provides automated threat detection and unlimited forensic exploration.”
-Now here’s some standards work that could be fascinating: ASTM is trying to determine if it should start working on standards for human exoskeletons. As in, wearable robots and potential use cases like “orthotics for patients, robotic enhancements for factory workers, and high-tech suits for soldiers.”
Image copyright: valentint / 123RF Stock Photo
