A great benefit of recent innovations in wireless connectivity has been that a wider range of smart home devices than ever before can now connect and enable new experiences and functions. Innovation has driven down costs to the extent that lightbulbs, smart speakers, wearables, security alarms and many more smart home use cases can be supported with wireless connectivity.
These products utilize Bluetooth for hyper-local connectivity and domestic Wi-Fi networks to support control and management actions. The cost, size, coverage and power supply constraints that smart home devices have mean that cellular connectivity typically can’t provide the best option. Instead, bearing in mind the low bandwidth requirements of popular smart home devices, a combination of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi provides a versatile foundation for connecting everything from wearables to heating and air conditioning controls.
Smart home devices rely on compact, lower-cost technologies
High familiarity with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, and these technologies’ out-of-the-box, turnkey set up simplicity has triggered massive uptake for smart lighting, among other use cases, as organizations and homeowners seek to reduce the environmental impact of lighting, save money and add lighting features to their properties. Analyst firm ABI Research reports that smart lighting shipments are set to grow from 71 million shipments in 2024 to 138.5 million annually by 2030. Many in the industry see that projection as conservative.
ABI also sees Bluetooth as a driver for smart lighting, voice-control front ends, smart appliances and sensors. The firm says Bluetooth device shipments to smart homes have increased from 250 million in 2019 to 815 million in 2024, with sustained high growth anticipated for the rest of the decade.
Previously, modules and other technologies were either too large, too expensive or too complex to configure for applications as routine as dimming a lightbulb. More expensive appliances such as washing machines, fridges and air conditioners have been able to make the case for both cellular and Wi-Fi connections for several years but now connectivity can be extended, with a combination of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, so the brightness, colour and on/off status of an individual lightbulb can be controlled wirelessly.
Much of this new functionality is thanks to expanding ecosystems that enable multiple devices to be managed by compliant controllers. Matter is one example of a compliant ecosystem of smart home devices but alternatives exist, and developers can utilize tools such as Amazon’s Alexa Connect Kit (ACK) which is a software development kit (SDK) to enable IoT devices to connect with Matter-compliant controllers.
Aside from these development platforms module technology has also been improving, and the vendor community has innovated to reduce costs, form factors and power consumption while integrating higher quality connectivity and processor capability into even small devices.
The Quectel FLM263D is one example of a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi 6 module that also offers Bluetooth 5.2 Low Energy. The module has dimensions of 17.3mm x 15.0mm x 2.8mm and works in a temperature range of -40℃ to +105℃ – lightbulbs are hot! – The module also is compliant with WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK and WPA3-SAE standards an supports the ACK SDK for Matter enabling fast set up with Amazon Alexa and compatibility with other mainstream Matter offerings.
The robustness, ease of integration and performance criteria of combined Bluetooth and Wi-Fi modules make them an ideal fit for smart home applications. In addition, current modules are sufficiently future proof to be deployed in smart home installations for the long-term.
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