Xiaomi and alibaba push smart home communication protocol 'bluetooth Mesh'

        Alibaba, xiaomi and other companies join the new bluetooth technology alliance "smart home special group", in which alibaba's Tmall wizard, xiaomi's little love students occupy a larger share of the market, will promote the development of Mesh network technology in the smart home market.

        With more and more market leaders targeting strategic communication protocols for smart home solutions, "bluetooth Mesh network" is increasingly popular in the field of smart home solutions. To this end, bluetooth technology alliance officially announced the establishment of a new smart home special group on January 9, in response to market trends.

        The new smart home special group aims to create more bluetooth Mesh model specifications for smart home and related applications. The Mesh model constitutes the application layer of the bluetooth Mesh network and defines the device behaviors connected to the bluetooth Mesh network. For example, the behavior of a bluetooth Mesh lamp controlled by a bluetooth Mesh switch is defined by the Mesh model. As with all bluetooth specifications, the Mesh model developed by the smart home special group will be available to all member companies in combination with the bluetooth Mesh network specifications to achieve cross-brand interoperability in the smart home sector.

        "The bluetooth Mesh model plays a very important role in enhancing connectivity among smart home devices," said liu dapeng, chairman of the smart home special group of bluetooth technology alliance and senior director of standardization department of alibaba group. The smart home project group provides the bluetooth community with a platform to standardize Mesh model solutions, and alibaba is pleased to partner with other member companies to contribute to Mesh model development."

        More than 60 member companies around the world have participated in the new smart home initiative, including alibaba, GCT semiconductor, lyrda technologies, mediatek, midea group IoT, Nordic semiconductors, Novel Bits, s-labs, shenzhen cinchda, XSS, UL verification services and xiaomi.

        Chen lijuan, vice President of alibaba group and general manager of Tmall spirit, said, "when developing iot solutions for the smart home sector, we need the reliable, high-performance and scalable connectivity supported by the bluetooth Mesh wireless standard. Combined with the fact that bluetooth technology is globally trusted and widely used, it has unique advantages and can provide strong support for alibaba's smart home strategy."

        Fan dian, general manager of xiaomi's Internet of things platform, said, "the development of the smart home market is based on a universal wireless Mesh network standard and must meet the market's demand for reliability, security and performance. We believe that bluetooth Mesh is such a standard and will drive significant growth and innovation in home automation over the next few years."

        "Bluetooth Mesh is one of the most applicable IoT protocols for smart homes and buildings," said Mr. Bi zhiguo, deputy general manager of midea group IoT. With its scalability and low latency performance, it can greatly improve the flexibility of smart device network deployment, thus bringing better user experience to a wide variety of smart life scenarios. Midea group is vigorously promoting the overall smart home solution based on bluetooth Mesh."

        Xu haojun, general manager of mediatek's smart unicom division, said, "from traditional 'one-to-one' to 'many-to-many' device communication, bluetooth Mesh has brought revolutionary changes. From smart lighting, smart home, smart building to smart city, bluetooth Mesh has unlimited possibilities. As voice assistant devices and artificial intelligence combine with the Internet of things, we will continue to invest in the development of bluetooth Mesh technology to meet the rapidly growing demand for advanced connectivity and truly smart home experiences."

        Launched in July 2017, the bluetooth Mesh enables the deployment of large-scale device network solutions, such as those for system control, monitoring and automation. Since its inception, bluetooth Mesh technology has been committed to meeting the stringent requirements of industrial and commercial markets for reliability, security and performance. Since its launch, more than 105 products with bluetooth Mesh networking capabilities have been certified from leading chip, stack, component and terminal product vendors.

        Mark Powell, executive director of the bluetooth technology alliance, said: "the launch of the bluetooth Mesh network and the recent launch of the smart home initiative are important milestones in the development of the smart home market. For more than a decade, bluetooth has been the global wireless standard for the connected home, connecting devices including appliances and entertainment systems, tools, toys and even toothbrushes. Now, with the support of Mesh, bluetooth will definitely help expand the home automation market on a large scale."

        About bluetooth technology

        Nearly 4 billion bluetooth products are shipped annually. As a universal wireless standard, bluetooth technology brings us simple and secure connection. Since its founding in 1998, the bluetooth community has been expanding bluetooth capabilities, driving innovation, opening new markets, and redefining global communication. Today, bluetooth is the wireless technology of choice for developers in many solution areas, including audio transmission, data transmission, location-based services, and large device networks.

        About the bluetooth technology alliance

        Founded in 1998, the bluetooth technology alliance is a nonprofit trade association that oversees bluetooth technology. Supported by more than 34,000 member companies, the bluetooth alliance is committed to promoting collaboration among its members, creating stronger new specifications, expanding the technology, promoting global interoperability through a world-class product certification program, and further promoting its brand through increased awareness, understanding, and adoption of bluetooth technology.