7.5 Mbps is coming to Bluetooth LE
Plus: an open-source nRF54L15 platform and UWB radar for muscle forces
This Week in Bluetooth & UWB |
July 31, 2026 |
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In This Issue
→ Bluetooth LE's HDT: 2 to 7.5 Mbps
→ NXP: Wi-Fi 6 + Bluetooth LE 5.4 → Open-source nRF54L15 dev platform → ESP32-S31 enters mass production → UWB radar estimates muscle forces |
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What I'm Working On
It isn't out yet, but the idea behind PowerScope is this: most Bluetooth LE power numbers start life as a prediction: a datasheet typical, an online profiler, a spreadsheet estimate. Then the board comes back from the bench disagreeing. The trace on its own doesn't tell you which radio activity caused the gap. Given a Nordic PPK2 or Joulescope capture from a marker-instrumented build, PowerScope produces a ranked breakdown of the energy each labeled event drew.
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Bluetooth LE
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Bluetooth SIG
The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) is preparing a leap in wireless capability with the upcoming Bluetooth LE High Data Throughput (HDT) feature. Bluetooth HDT will increase Bluetooth LE's maximum data rate nearly fourfold, from 2 Mbps today to up to 7.5 Mbps. The SIG is on track to adopt Bluetooth HDT in the upcoming Bluetooth Core Specification release (anticipated in late 2026).
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CNX-Software
NXP has introduced the RW610FML, a compact, low-power, certified Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth Low Energy 5.4 wireless module based on the company's RW610 Cortex-M33 microcontroller, the little brother of the RW612 without an 802.15.4 radio. Designed for smart appliances, home automation, industrial gateways, and medical devices, the surface-mount module combines the 260 MHz Arm Cortex-M33 wireless SoC with 8 MB of on-module NOR flash, a built-in antenna, an RF matching circuit, and a crystal oscillator.
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CNX-Software
SensWear is an open-source hardware development platform for wearables based on Nordic nRF54L15 Bluetooth LE SoC and a range of sensors designed for researchers, developers, and companies building smart rings, wristbands, patches, and other custom devices. The solution is mainly comprised of flexible boards, including the SensWear core board with an nRF54L15 MCU and a 6-axis IMU sensor, and daughter boards with either PPG and optical sensing, temperature sensing, capacitive touch sensing, or haptic feedback.
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Espressif Systems
Espressif Systems announces that its ESP32-S31 has entered mass production and is now available for purchase. ESP32-S31 integrates Wi-Fi 6 (2.4 GHz), Bluetooth 5.4 (LE Audio and Classic BR/EDR), IEEE 802.15.4 (Zigbee and Thread), and a Gigabit Ethernet MAC. Espressif positions it as a high-performance dual-core RISC-V SoC with comprehensive wireless connectivity, making it ideal for smart home hubs, smart speakers, edge AI devices, industrial automation, and more.
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Electronics Media
On July 27, 2026, Ambiq Micro, Inc. announced the release to market (RTM) of its Apollo330 Plus and Apollo510 Lite SoC series. The six products, designed to help manufacturers bring high-performance, power-efficient edge AI devices to market faster, are now available. The Apollo330 Plus and Apollo510 Lite series span these six variants, offering flexible connectivity and graphics options for a broad range of applications, including wearables, hearables, AR devices, digital health monitors, and industrial sensors.
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Ultra-Wideband (UWB)
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Science Robotics
Accurate measures of muscle forces are critical for engineers, clinicians, and biomechanists, yet direct measurement is highly invasive, and current estimation methods remain limited in accuracy. The authors integrate radar signals in machine learning and linear models to estimate muscle forces during fatiguing isometric and dynamic knee extension contractions. Together, these findings establish ultra-wideband radar as a noninvasive sensor capable of quantifying in vivo muscle forces, with the potential for wearable assistive technologies, biomechanics, and rehabilitation.
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TechRadar
Cherry makes much of the K63W Pro's Ultra-Wideband (UWB) wireless technology, which is designed to prevent potential interference. TechRadar's reviewer says he did not notice any performance gains over the other wireless keyboards he has tested, noting that such models “have greatly improved in recent years, to the point where regular-sized USB dongles perform pretty much flawlessly.”
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Wi-Fi NOW
Ultra-wideband ranging technology (already present in millions of phones and newer Wi-Fi infrastructure) promises centimetre-level accuracy that when implemented, could lead to extremely accurate indoor location services and host of valuable use cases for a variety of venues. Now both Apple and Google are taking the next steps towards enabling mass market GPS-style wayfinding for every phone and indoor location.
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P.S. High Data Throughput (HDT) will lift Bluetooth LE's data-rate ceiling from 2 Mbps to up to 7.5 Mbps, and the SIG expects to adopt it in a Core Spec release late this year. I'd love to hear what you'd build with the extra headroom.
— Mohammad Afaneh
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