Bluetooth: The Radio Convergence

With the advent of Bluetooth mesh networking, the evidence is clear on Bluetooth becoming the center spot for convergence of services and standards using low power radio technologies. Mesh is bringing the natural set of use cases such as lighting control and sensing. But Bluetooth has already been used in variety of other related areas such as (to name a few) location beacons or asset tracking.

The recent announcement of the joint effort by EnOcean and Silvair to align the leading energy harvesting platform with Bluetooth Mesh is yet another evidence of this convergence really happening. We had a very interesting panel on this convergence subject at the DOE 2017 Connected Lighting Systems Workshop in Santa Clara last week. And to me is just crystal (pun intended) clear now.

Bluetooth is THE low power radio of choice for indoor applications. And possibly for many outdoor too. Those who disagree, please give me a single reason to use different technology. Before Bluetooth mesh networking this might have been the case. But it no longer is.