Against the backdrop of various industries pursuing cost reduction, efficiency improvement, and refined operations , enterprises' demand for asset visualization and efficient utilization is continuously growing.
Whether it is critical equipment in factories , circulating materials in warehouses, or high-priced medical devices in hospitals , managers hope to be able to grasp the location, status, and flow of assets at any time .
Among various implementation paths , asset tracking solutions based on BLE SoC are becoming the preferred choice for developers due to their advantages such as low power consumption , high integration, and mature ecosystem .
a single-chip solution that deeply integrates Bluetooth Low Energy wireless communication functionality with an MCU . Compared to the traditional architecture that combines a main control MCU with a separate BLE chip , BLE SoC has significant advantages in terms of product size, power consumption , and system complexity .
It is especially suitable for deployment in asset tags that require long-term operation and have a large number of tags, and is one of the reliable hardware foundations for asset tracking solutions in the industry at present .
In practical asset tracking applications, BLE SoCs are typically integrated into asset tags ( BLE beacons) and do not pair with other Bluetooth devices. Instead, they periodically transmit information such as device ID, device battery level, timestamp, UUID, Major, and Minor via Bluetooth Low Energy broadcast .
Data packets broadcast by asset tags (BLE beacons) can be listened to simultaneously by multiple receivers (BLE gateways) , which can significantly improve the concurrency and deployment flexibility of the entire asset tracking system .
For managers, this means that even when dealing with hundreds or thousands of assets, stable and continuous data collection can be achieved.
An asset tracking solution based on BLE paths (fixed deployment solution)
At the positioning and management level, after the Bluetooth signal emitted by the BLE beacon is received by surrounding gateways, base stations, or smart terminals, the system can analyze the signal strength, timestamp, and spatial distribution to determine the area or approximate location of the asset.
Combined with the specific algorithms and business rules of the location service center , managers can not only view the asset distribution in real time, but also automatically record and alert on the asset's entry and exit from the area, the duration of stay, and abnormal movement, transforming from "passive search" to "proactive control."
In addition, managers can finely adjust parameters such as the transmission power, transmission time slot, sleep mechanism and broadcast cycle of the BLE beacon , keeping the average operating current at an extremely low level , so that it can run for several years with only a small battery.
This not only greatly reduces the subsequent maintenance and operation costs of the asset tracking system, but also helps managers to devote more energy to business optimization itself.
It is worth mentioning that in the actual implementation of asset tracking solutions , BLE SoCs not only need to meet basic wireless communication functions, but also need to achieve a balance between transmit power consumption, RF performance and system integration .
Especially when facing a large number of long-term asset tag applications, a BLE SoC deeply optimized for low-power IoT scenarios often determines the reliability and maintenance cost of the entire system .
For example, HOPERF's self-developed CMT45 31 is a high-performance BLE SoC . It has an embedded high-performance, low-power 32-bit processor, 48 KB SRAM , 256KB FLASH, and an advanced BLE5.2 RF transceiver .
It supports AOA (Angle of Arrival) and AOD (Angle of Departure), RSSI (Receiver Signal Strength Indication), and master-slave roles. At the same time, the chip also has rich serial peripheral interfaces and integrated application IP design, which can help developers quickly build end products with lower bill of materials (BOM) costs.
In terms of power consumption, the CMT45 31 draws only 3.8mA and 4.2mA (@3.3V) in receive and transmit modes, respectively. It also supports multiple low-power modes.
In Sleep mode, the current is as low as 1.4μA with 48KB RAM fully held. In PD mode, the power consumption can be reduced to 130nA. This ultra-low power architecture is very suitable for the "low-frequency broadcasting and long-term online" working characteristics of asset tags, which can significantly extend battery life and reduce maintenance costs.
In terms of wireless performance and system integration , the CMT45 31 integrates BLE-compliant... The 5.2 compliant RF transceiver boasts a maximum transmit power of +6 dBm, enabling stable signal transmission in complex environments .
Furthermore, the CMT45 31 integrates a 32-bit MCU, 256 KB Flash, 48 KB SRAM, and a rich set of peripheral interfaces, supporting multiple connections and data expansion.
It allows for single-chip logic control of asset tags, effectively reducing BOM costs and shortening the overall development cycle of BLE asset tags.
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If you are interested in HOPERF's independently developed BLE SoC CMT4531 or other BLE chips/modules, please scan the QR code above or copy and open the link at the end of the article to apply for samples. We will be happy to serve you!
