Sports
monitoring
gets serious
Cover story
The year of
cellular IoT
Bluetooth 5
ignites beacons
Taking care of
number one
quarter 3 | autumn 2018
Sports
monitoring
gets serious
Cover story
The year of
cellular IoT
Bluetooth 5
ignites beacons
Taking care of
number one
quarter 3 | autumn 2018
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2 | AUTUMN 2018 | ULP WIRELESS QUARTER www.nordicsemi.com
S
ome years ago, I wrote a column for ULP WQ where I expressed surprise at the sheer number of
applications which were based on Bluetooth Low Energy (Bluetooth LE). Many of these
applications were beyond even those which engineers at Nordic Semiconductor, pioneer of the
ultra low power wireless technology upon which Bluetooth LE is based, could have imagined.
One catalyst for Bluetooth LE technology’s widespread adoption was its interoperability with
smartphones. Such interoperability allowed developers to design wireless applications which could
leverage software apps hosted on the mobile. Together, the wireless device and the smartphone formed
compelling applications which caught consumers’ interest.
But interoperability alone is not the only reason for the technology’s rapid growth (to 400 million
Bluetooth LE chips shipped in 2017 and a forecast 1.6 billion by 2022 according to the Bluetooth Special
Interest Group (SIG)). Another driver is Nordic’s strategy to dramatically simplify wireless design. With
Nordic’s development tools, application software libraries, and communities such as the DevZone,
engineers with minimal RF experience can succesfully design a wireless application. Engineers outside
of Nordic are making life easier too; Espruino, for example, now offers a development environment that
allows programmers who are familiar only with simple languages such as JavaScript to code novel
wireless applications. (See pg18.)
One early smartphone-linked wireless application was the wearable. Early products counted steps and
calories; today’s devices monitor a host of exercise and wellbeing parameters while offering other
smartwatch functions such as notifications. The increase in capability has come in large part because of the
power of the Bluetooth LE SoC’s embedded processor. Today’s Arm-powered chips, such as Nordic’s
nRF52 Series, have more than enough overhead to run even the most complex application algorithms.
Now a new sector for wearables is opening up. While a little more sobering than tracking exercise or
health it is just as vital for wellbeing. That sector is personal safety. One example is Bluetooth
LE-powered ‘smart’ jewelry; fashion products that double-up as alarms for those finding themselves in
threatening situations and in part encouraged by XPRIZE, an incentive-based competition designed to
address humanitarian concerns. Such products are capable of instantly alerting friends and family via
the Bluetooth LE connection with the smartphone. A second example is protective clothing for law
enforcement. In this case, embedded Bluetooth LE connectivity notifies back-up units if the police
officer suffers an injury. (See pg16.)
It’s over seven years since Nordic launched its first commercial Bluetooth LE chip. At the time it was
envisaged that the main applications for the technology would be fitness trackers, proximity tags, and
remote controls. Now, armed with powerful Bluetooth LE SoCs from the nRF52 Series and tools to ease
the design process, developers have extended the technology to thousands of applications in dozens of
sectors. Yet I get the feeling that things are still only just getting started.
Yours Sincerely,
Geir Langeland
Director of Sales & Marketing
Wireless tech gets personal
Kalon Huett is an Australia-based
freelance journalist. Here he
examines the company behind
a heart rate monitor platform
delivering advanced fitness metrics
The Bluetooth
®
word mark and logos are
registered trademarks owned by the
Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and any use of such marks
by Nordic Semiconductor is under license.
© Nordic Semiconductor 2018
Nordic SoCs are powering
increasingly sophisticated
sports monitoring applications
OPINION
Geir Langeland
ULP Wireless Q is published
on behalf of Nordic
Semiconductor by Ecritech
www.ecritech.com
Editor
Steven Keeping
e-mail: steven@ecritech.com
Assistant Editor
Chris Williams
e-mail: chris@ecritech.com
Production Editor
Andrew Woolls-King
e-mail: andrew@ecritech.com
Art Editor
Tim Plummer
e-mail: production@ecritech.com
Image Editor
Neale Hobday
e-mail: production@ecritech.com
Print & Distribution
Printech Europe
Contributors
Svein-Egil Nielsen is CTO at
Nordic Semiconductor. On page
9 he predicts 2019 will be the year
cellular IoT becomes a large-scale
commercial reality
Page 14Page 9
Graham Prophet is a freelance
electronics journalist. On page
14 he takes a closer look at how
Bluetooth 5 is bringing new life to
the beacon sector
Page 22