Brings proven, global interoperability and the mature, trusted ecosystem of Bluetooth technology to industrial-grade device networks

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) announced that Bluetooth technology, the global standard for simple, secure wireless connectivity, now supports mesh networking.

The new mesh capability enables many-to-many (m:m) device communications and is optimized for creating large-scale device networks. It is ideally suited for building automation, sensor networks and other IoT solutions where tens, hundreds, or thousands of devices need to reliably and securely communicate with one another.

“By adding support for mesh networking, the Bluetooth member community is continuing a long history of focused innovation to help new, up-and-coming markets flourish,” said Mark Powell, executive director for Bluetooth SIG Inc.

“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.”

Commercial building and factory automation represent major market opportunities for wireless mesh networking technologies. These markets demand true industrial-grade solutions, which Bluetooth mesh uniquely delivers.

Reliability: Enables inherently self-healing networks with no single points of failure
Scalability: Supports thousands of nodes with industrial-level performance
Security: Provides industrial-grade security for protection against all known attacks.

Time and time again it has been shown that markets flourish when multi-vendor interoperability exists. Bluetooth mesh delivers proven, global interoperability that assures products from different vendors work together.

Full-stack solution: A unique full-stack approach that defines the low-level radio up to the high-level application layer, ensuring all aspects of the technology are fully specified.

Interop-centric specification: Comprehensive, multi-vendor interoperability testing is conducted during the specification development process, not after specification release.

Time-tested tools and processes: A 20-year history of delivering the qualification tools and processes needed to ensure global, multi-vendor interoperability.

“Multi-vendor interoperability is a major factor in determining how fast markets develop,” said Russ Sharer, VP Global Marketing and Business Development, Fulham. “Fulham is excited to finally see a wireless, multi-vendor, interoperable standard for lighting controls and we believe Bluetooth mesh networking will greatly expand the size and functionality of the market.”