Sub-meter tracking coming to campuses with Link Labs’ AirFinder OnSite

A new enterprise platform available this summer provides real-time location and asset tracking across a campus with Bluetooth technology.

Link Labs’ AirFinder OnSite is an internet of things (IoT) asset-tracking platform for campus-based environments. Using a Bluetooth Low Energy (Bluetooth LE) radio to support both Bluetooth LE and phase ranging brings location accuracy with Bluetooth LE tags to the sub-meter level.

According to Link Labs CEO Bob Proctor, AirFinder OnSite eliminates the need to choose between high-cost/high-accuracy ultra-wideband solutions or low-cost/low-accuracy traditional Bluetooth LE solutions.

Proctor sees it potentially used in distribution centers and warehouses, as well as IoT applications in manufacturing, healthcare and logistics management. With seven patented or patent-pending Link Labs technologies, AirFinder OnSite was developed on Nordic Semiconductor’s nRF52833, a general-purpose multiprotocol system-on-chip with a Bluetooth LE direction-finding-capable radio.

Innovations at the firmware level solve an array of technical challenges for an enterprise-grade solution: ranging methodology, interference avoidance, a location algorithm, power efficiency and scalability to high-tag densities.

These innovations allow asset location to be fine-tuned to the sub-meter level, making it a precise Bluetooth-based location technology.

AirFinder does not require an internal Wi-Fi system and is capable of operating on its own secure network layer via Link Labs’ Symphony Link or other third-party network layer technology, such as Bluetooth mesh technologies. The AirFinder platform provides remote monitoring and device management, allowing the system to be optimized for different use cases.

This spring, early adopters will support pilot deployments of AirFinder OnSite.