2016/6/20 18:11:19
Source: SIG Bluetooth
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Guest blog by Ralph Goodman, the lead writer on all things locks and security over at the Lock Blog. The Lock Blog is a great resource to learn about keys, locks, safety, and locksmith services. They offer tips, advice and how-to’s for consumers, locksmiths, and security professionals. For more information about United Locksmith, follow them on social media on Twitter, Facebook, andPinterest.
The future of home safety rests on making security more convenient and efficient. This might be a hard pill for some to swallow, but home automation is speedily becoming the future of home security, and it is showing no signs of slowing down. Home automation seeks to make life easier and more fluid, allowing for a chain reaction to occur throughout a home as the slightest action occurs. This motion allows for tasks to be accomplished faster, and for inhabitants to be kept safer. It is utterly brilliant, futuristic, and convenient. The beauty of a smart home is all well and good, but have you ever wondered exactly how these tasks are accomplished? Let me do you one better. Have you ever wondered how the smart locks in your home work hand in hand with Bluetooth to keep you safer? No? Well, let’s take a crash course and show you how in this two-part series on Bluetooth and smart locks.
What is Bluetooth?
The word “Bluetooth” has been thrown around carelessly for years by people who had no real semblance as to what the technology actually did. For some, Bluetooth was the magical thing that allowed users to pair their smartphone to their car and listen to a new Beyoncé album. For others, Bluetooth was the technology that brought interconnectivity between devices to life.
Essentially, Bluetooth is a wireless communication standard, which is used globally and works by pairing devices together in order to transmit data to one another and increase their functionality. A Bluetooth device makes use of radio waves to transmit data rather than being tethered down by wires and cables. In order for a Bluetooth device to be operational, it needs to be communicating with another device that has Bluetooth capabilities. Unlike other forms of wireless communication, Bluetooth devices ‘talk’ to each other over wireless ad hoc networks (WANET) that operate with limited ranges.
Bluetooth devices make use of several Bluetooth protocols and profiles, which are in place in their devices to make the communication between these elements possible, and to make sure that each of these devices is compatible. To date, there have been four main versions of Bluetooth released and incorporated into various devices. Luckily enough for users, each new version supports backward compatibility, which allows each of the newer versions to control devices with older specs. There have been many additions and improvements over a 12-year span that has made Bluetooth the technological beauty that it is today.
How Do Bluetooth Devices Communicate With Each Other?
As stated above, Bluetooth devices communicate with each other by utilizing radio waves in order to transmit data back and forth between devices. For a device to have Bluetooth capabilities, it must be fitted with the necessary hardware (Bluetooth chipset) and software (Bluetooth profiles). Each of these devices should have a Bluetooth chipset built into them that allows for the transmission of data. This is the reason why your smartphone is able tocommunicate with your smart lock, and in turn, transmit data to other smart devices within your home. In most modern home automation devices, Bluetooth with the low energy feature will be used due to its inherent advantages of power efficiency, ubiquity, and scalability.
The communication between your smart lock and your smartphone is made possible as Bluetooth devices transmit data over short ranges thanks to the low energy chipset, which are transceiver microchips. Bluetooth devices function on short-range radio waves that operate on a frequency between 2.4GHz (gigahertz) and 2.485GHz. Bluetooth technology does this in conjunction with the radio signal transmission method of Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS). This is one of the ways Bluetooth helps keep your home secure, but we’ll delve into that later.
In order to communicate with each other, Bluetooth devices make use of packet switching protocol, which is used in conjunction with the master/slave (primary/secondary) communication protocol. The primary/secondary protocol allows one main device to control the functions and processes of other devices that are within its network. In practice, once the primary/secondary dynamic has been established between devices, it remains unidirectional. However, in some cases, the secondary device will be able to temporarily operate as the primary. Let’s break all the technological speak down.
If you have a smartphone that allows you to operate your smart locks and other home automation devices, then the signals transmitted from the Bluetooth chipset within your smartphone single it out as the primary device. However, there are times where the smart lock of your home can temporarily become the primary. The Kevo smart lock, for instance, picks up on the Bluetooth signal from your phone (without any action being taken) when you are in range and this product will unlock your door if you decided to program it that way. In that brief instance, the smart lock is operating as the primary device.
Home automation devices are given a much broader scope thanks to Bluetooth and its use of piconets. Piconets are an example of ad hoc networks that group devices with Bluetooth protocols together. This allows for homeowners to be able to control their smart locks, as well as their other smart devices, from their smartphones.
In addition to the communication methods outlined above, Bluetooth devices have protocols and profiles (software) that help outline their specific actions. These profiles are meant to give manufacturers guidance so that their Bluetooth enabled devices are built to be used in the appropriate and intended manner.
Now that you have the background on Bluetooth technology, stay tuned for part two when we delve into how the technology makes locks smarter, safer, and convenient.
(Credit: Ralph Goodman)
