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Saturday, February 17, 2018

First Bluetooth Mesh device taps Cypress chip

By Nick Flaherty www.flaherty.co.uk

LEDvance, the smart bulb spin-off from Osram, has launched the market’s first Bluetooth mesh qualified LED lighting products using chip technology from Cypress Semiconductor. 

Three Cypress wireless combo chips and the latest version of its Wireless Internet Connectivity for Embedded Devices (WICED ) software development kit (SDK) support the first consumer demonstration of mesh Bluetooth connectivity in the Sylvania Smart+ LED bulbs. Osram spun off LEDvance to a Chinese consortium in 2017.

Previously, users needed to be in the immediate vicinity of a Bluetooth device to control it without an added hub. With Bluetooth mesh networking technology, the devices within the network can communicate with each other to easily provide coverage throughout even the largest homes, allowing users to conveniently control all of the devices via apps on their smartphones and tablets.

“People have become dependent on their mobile devices as integral components of their lifestyles, and they expect to extend this rich user experience in the home through the ability to directly control their connected devices using smartphones,” said Brian Bedrosian, vice president of marketing for the IoT Business Unit at Cypress . “Cypress’ Bluetooth mesh solutions enable this user experience while meeting the rigorous reliability, security and robustness required for a seamless connected media and automation environment. Our wireless solutions also deliver industry-leading coexistence and radio performance, which is essential for uninterrupted connectivity in increasingly crowded home networks. We are excited to see the adoption of Bluetooth mesh in the smart home starting with the debut of the market’s first certified consumer lighting products enabled by our technology.”

Market research firm ABI Research forecasts there will be more than 57 million Bluetooth smart lightbulbs by 2021.

Cypress’ CYW20719, CYW20706, and CYW20735 Bluetooth and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) combo solutions and CYW43569 and CYW43570 Wi-Fi and Bluetooth combo chips offer fully compliant Bluetooth mesh capability. Cypress also offers Bluetooth mesh certified modules and an evaluation kit. The solutions share a common, widely-deployed Bluetooth stack and are supported in version 6.1 of Cypress’ all-inclusive WICED SDK, which streamlines the integration of wireless technologies for developers of smart home lighting and appliances, as well as healthcare applications. 

The WICED Studio IoT development platform includes an SDK with the industry’s most broadly deployed and rigorously tested Wi-Fi and Bluetooth protocol stacks, as well as simplified application programming interfaces that free developers from needing to learn complex wireless technologies. It enables cloud connectivity in minutes with its robust libraries that uniquely integrate popular cloud services such as Amazon Web Services, IBM Bluemix, Alibaba Cloud, and Microsoft Azure, along with services from private cloud partners. WICED also supports iCloud remote access for Wi-Fi-based accessories that support Apple HomeKit which enables hub-independent platforms that connect directly to Siri voice control and the Apple Home app remotely.



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