Synergy of Bluetooth & UWB

Janus: The two faces of neighbor discovery and ranging

The dual-radio Janus system uses BLE for the detection of other devices and their coordination, while UWB is used for distance estimation (ranging) only. This innovative solution, which takes the best of both infrastructure-less technologies, has been applied for social distancing during the pandemic and its effectiveness validated in experimental campaigns (offices and manufacturing, summer camps for children) while maintaining the anonymity of the subjects involved. The Janus firmware has been commercialized by the Italian multinational Reply within its own offer. 

UWB proximity warning over Bluetooth Mesh

Another study developed a Proximity Warning System (PWS) to alert workers on site of potential dangers, e.g., due to moving machinery or areas to avoid. The system works with and without infrastructure; UWB acts as a proximity sensor, whose measurement is transmitted (respecting privacy and GPDR) via Bluetooth Mesh to smartphones and tablets without the need of a UWB gateway. As part of this activity, possible synchronization modes for embedded systems based on UWB have been studied. 

Comparing UWB and Bluetooth localization

Finally, UWB was compared with the “direction finding” (Angle-of-Arrival, AoA) introduced in Bluetooth 5.1. The experimentation using COTS has an error of 5° at 4m (anchor-tag) equal to a position error <1m, still far from the accuracy of UWB.

Related publications

Janus: Dual-radio Accurate and Energy-Efficient Proximity Detection
T. Istomin, E. Leoni, D. Molteni, A.L. Murphy, G.P. Picco, M. Griva. In Proc. of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies (IMWUT), vol. 5, no. 4, article 162, December 2021. https://doi.org/10.1145/3494978
  UNITN  

Resilient Time Synchronization Opportunistically Exploiting UWB RTLS Infrastructure
P. Ferrari, P. Bellagente, A. Depari, A. Flammini, M. Pasetti, S. Rinaldi, E. Sisinni. IEEE Trans. Instrumentation and Measurement, 2022, Vol. 71, pp. 5500210, ISSN 0018-9456, https://doi.org/10.1109/TIM.2021.3132354
  UNIBS 

Enhancing Safety on Construction Sites: A UWB-Based Proximity Warning System Ensuring GDPR Compliance to Prevent Collision Hazards
S. Mastrolembo Ventura, P. Bellagente, S. Rinaldi, A. Flammini, A.L.C. Ciribini. Sensors 2023, 23, 9770. https://doi.org/10.3390/s23249770
  UNIBS 

Assessment of UWB RTLS for Proximity Hazards Management in Construction Sites
P. Bellagente. IEEE Sensors Applications Symposium (SAS), Sundsvall, Sweden, August 1-3, 2022, pp. 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1109/SAS54819.2022.9881376
  UNIBS 

Exploiting Accurate Ultra Wide Band Time Synchronization at the Application Level in Embedded Systems
S. Rinaldi, A. Musatti, A. Depari, P. Ferrari, A. Flammini, E. Sisinni. IEEE International Symposium on Precision Clock Synchronization for Measurement, Control, and Communication (ISPCS), London, UK, Sept., 2023.
  UNIBS 

An Evaluation of Low-Cost Self-Localization Service Exploiting Angle of Arrival for Industrial Cyber-Physical Systems
S. Rinaldi, P. Ferrari, E. Sisinni, A. Depari, A. Flammini. IEEE AFRICON, Virtual Conference, September 13-15, 2021, pp. 553-558, https://doi.org/10.1109/AFRICON51333.2021.9570985
  UNIBS