Modern sports gadgets are often equipped with both Bluetooth Low Energy and ANT +. Both technologies transmit data over short distances while consuming very little power. Let's see what Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and ANT + are.
In 2003, ANT + was first used in Nike running sensors. Seeing great potential, Garmin acquired the technology in 2006 and ANT + is now the de facto standard among sports devices. ANT + technology allows the sensors to operate on a single miniature battery for over a year.
Bluetooth in December 2009, in turn, released a low energy technology, also known as Bluetooth Smart.
Differences between ANT + and Bluetooth LE
The fundamental difference between these two technologies is that the signal from ANT + sensors can be received by an unlimited number of devices. That is, if, for example, you are working with a trainer, then he can see the indicators of your heart rate sensor, cadence, power meter on his watch. You can also see the data on your bike computer and watch at the same time. While, Bluetooth LE allows you to receive data from different sensors, but only to one device.
The undoubted advantage of Bluetooth is its prevalence on devices such as mobile phones and laptops. In order to transfer ANT + data to a computer, you will have to purchase a special receiver for $ 30. Some phones have ANT + built in, but of course Bluetooth is much more common.
The speed of data transfer is approximately the same for both systems. Bluetooth is potentially faster, but is limited by device manufacturers to save power.
In 2017, many devices began to be released with built-in both Bluetooth and ANT +. This is perhaps the most convenient solution.
If you are going to use Zwift, and you are faced with a choice of which connection to use, then many cyclists recommend using Bluetooth, since in their opinion the data transfer is more stable. And in Zwift this is very important, because if your power drops to zero even for one second, you risk falling behind the peloton.
ANT is a low power consumption wireless sensor communication protocol that operates in a specific frequency range. It was developed in 2004 by a company that was acquired by Garmin, a manufacturer of GPS navigation equipment.
Today, modern devices use the ANT + (ANT Plus) protocol - wireless secure data transmission. Used primarily in medicine and sports.
What does ANT + do?
ANT + is in many ways similar to another well-known communication protocol - BlueTooth, but not all devices support ANT +.
The range of the ANT + protocol reaches 30 meters. For comparison, the range of the same BlueTooth in many cases does not exceed 10-15 meters.
ANT + lets you connect two components together. For example, it can be used to receive information from sensors installed in the next room to a smartphone.
Where is ANT + used?
There are three main uses for ANT +: medicine, sports, and home health. Here are some cases where current protocol transmission is used:
- Speed sensors
- Pedometer
- Heart rate monitor
- Activity sensor
- Heart rate monitor
- Lighting control
- Controlling music players
- Fitness control
Why is ANT + better than BlueTooth?
The main advantage is energy consumption. ANT + uses less power, which has a positive effect on the autonomy of the device. According to various sources, energy savings can reach 50-70%.
The second advantage is that it is possible to launch several applications at once, which will use the same communication protocol, which can be very convenient in some cases.
ANT + is a wireless data transfer protocol. Powered by 2.4 GHz (similar to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth) and low power consumption, it is used in sports and medical equipment such as online calorie and cadence counters and smart home systems.
Standardization means devices that support them can communicate with each other without additional configuration. A classic example of this is a heart rate monitor. The sensor is able to communicate with all Garmin sports watches that support this protocol, as well as the Health app Samsung smartphone S. ANT + device can be used with any similar device.
The protocol is developed by the open group ANT Alliance, and ANT Wireless is a division of Dynastream, which is owned by Garmin.
Convenience for the manufacturer
The ANT + Consortium hosts developer conferences every year to meet with product manufacturers and programmers. This is where discussions take place and product managers are requesting new profiles for upcoming features. It is also a place where startups submit new projects and profiles in the hopes that manufacturers will license them, or simply want to produce things themselves.
Since June 2012, the ANT + technology development team has been headed by Sebastian Barnovsky, who is engaged in the creation of profiles - a communication language for a specific type of information.
In this way, heart rate data has its own profile, like power, speed, cadence, etc. This allows you to work with devices of different brands, which is a boon for everyone. Closed systems, such as Polar's proprietary language, simply have no prospect in the future ANT + technology is headed towards.
Integration efficiency
So what happens if someone wants to submit new information that is not in their current profiles? According to Barnovsky, this can be done in two ways. The first and fastest option is to create your own profile, which is necessary to quickly bring the product to market or in order to hide something from other devices. This can be done at any time at the manufacturer level, which greatly speeds up the development cycle.
The second option is to request a new one open profile ANT +. This is necessary, say, if Speedplay wants to transmit sole pressure or pedaling speed. This requires a computer company that will receive this data and, upon request, provide it to various electronics for reading and displaying. In this case, Speedplay representatives will contact ANT Plus and tell them what they need.
Coach
Wahoo Fitness is a brand that advertises Bluetooth connectivity and makes iPhone-centric devices. But this company, first creating its profile for Kickr trainer, has partnered with ANT + to create a standardized trainer profile. This will make it possible to sell different types of them and work with different online training programs. The existing Kickr trainers have been updated after the final public release, but the user will also have to update their computer or mobile device.
For a profile to be valued, you need programs that can read its data. As a result of the collaboration between Wahoo and Kinomap, the latter's videos are fully integrated with Kickr (and ultimately other coaches). This allowed, for example, the software to vary the load based on altitude or other training data. In other words, ANT + technology allows you to synchronize efforts with video and vice versa. When the application starts, it looks for compatible sensors in order to know what data to work with, so it is necessary to program how much of the information will go to the virtual athlete on the screen.
Kinomap Products
According to the developers, there is a demand for premium content on top of the huge amount of user generated data. To take advantage of it and open up other uses for Kinomap Reply, a new open API that allows other developers to stream Kinomap content through their own third party application... They can buy dedicated streaming hours or receive information unlimitedly for a monthly fee, which is then passed on to the end user.
There is also the Kinomap Group Training training model, which allows you to track many people and average their efforts for training in gyms.
Sportiiiis sports display
How else is this technology used? 4iiii launches the Sportiiiis sports display that syncs with your bike's ANT + sensors to show your current workout status with simple LEDs. The system mounts on any sunglasses and uses a range of red, yellow and green lights, the last one in the center, to indicate whether the athlete is above or below your target zone. Voice prompts from the rear speaker provide a wider range of data, including heart rate, power, speed, and cadence.
Out of competition
What about Bluetooth? Quarq co-founder and CTO Jim Mayer said despite the hype surrounding relatively low power consumption of this standard communication, the only working wireless technology for real power measurements is ANT +. Her great advantage lies in the fact that one device can transmit data, and several can read it. This is important for products like Sportiiiis and others (riders probably use Bluetooth as their main display, it's connected to a phone or something, and no other device can hear this transmitter.
An example of the real-world benefits of such a solution is triathlon. A Garmin sports watch and cycling computer can be connected to the power meter and all have access to the measurements. Another example concerns the case where the display is in the team car, but the rider wants to see the information on his computer. It probably won't be necessary for everyone, but the main thing is that users can do it. According to research, approximately 30% of customers transfer data to multiple devices at the same time.
Working range
Although, according to the specification, the range of ANT + can be up to 30 meters, nowhere is it said that all devices must necessarily provide exactly this range. Sensor manufacturers are more likely to settle for a sufficient minimum, such as the distance from the bike sensor to the handlebars, thereby reducing power and significantly improving internal time. autonomous work devices. The Kickr is mains powered, so it can afford the maximum ANT + signal. Also, the receiver on the PC is working at full power. So don't be surprised, easily receiving signals from Kickr, that the online calorie counter installed on the bike stops working if the machine is moved a little further from the receiver.
Interference
ANT + devices do not interfere with each other thanks to channel coding, modulation scheme and very smart time division of signals. But bluetooth, wireless home phone, Smartphone WiFi and even home WiFi also occupy a very crowded unlicensed 2.4GHz band. All of these signals to ANT + are noise, can cause errors and affect range. If there is reason to believe that the data is not true, you should look for extraneous radiation sources (including a microwave oven). Moving WiFi to 5GHz so that every device in the room works in that band (if it's up to date) can help solve the problem.
The USB3 hub is also capable of wreaking havoc with ANT + streaming. If something like this is nearby, then you can try to turn it off. If the reception improves, then the source of the interference has been found.
What is ANT + in a smartphone?
ANT + is implemented on mobile phones Sony and Samsung. Apple does not support this technology. For other smartphones with as well as PC and Mac, a USB adapter is required. In the first case, you will need to install the ANT USB Service application. The rest of the work of smartphones does not differ from the functioning of other devices that support this technology. Due to the time division technique, many devices use a single 1 MHz channel. Each source broadcasts in its own time frame. The message length is 150 μs, and the period between 8-byte broadcasts ranges from 0.5 Hz to 200 Hz. Errors are corrected with a 16-bit CRC. If there is interference, the channel may change. Frequency modulation with Gaussian filtering is used.
Availability
The Alliance is not blind to the fact that many smartphones do not support ANT + technology. For this reason, new transmitters are being released that are capable of broadcasting in different formats. The 4iiiis has something like this built into the Viiiive heart rate monitor, which allows you to use the iOS app to set up your Sportiiiis device on the go. HTC, Sony and Samsung are starting to include ANT + transceivers in their tablets, phones and laptops, and North Pole Engineering is making ANT-Wifi receivers that capture ANT + information and relay it over Wi-Fi in a format that can be received. iOS devices... To use them, a developer must embed the WASP NPE module into their application, and the fitness industry is a prime contender for its use. The cost of implementing hardware and software this technology is about the same as for Bluetooth.
Studying the characteristics of new phones, you can see an option that a few years ago did not appear at all. This option is called ANT + and is now available in many flagship and mid-range phones based on operating system Android.
ANT + or ANT Plus is another technology wireless transmission data that modern telephones are equipped with. ANT + is designed for use in smart sports gadgets such as pedometers, heart rate monitors, cycling computers, etc. ANT + technology is built on the basis of wireless network ANT that works in frequency range 2.4 GHz and was developed by Dynastream Innovations back in 2004. The main feature of the ANT network and subsequently ANT + is its low power consumption. Thanks to this, the transmitting devices can even operate on a coin-cell battery.
An alliance of companies, which was organized by Dynastream Innovations, is currently supporting ANT + technology. As of the end of 2010, more than 300 different companies are participating in this alliance, including Microsoft, Texas Instruments, Sony Ericsson, Timex, Adidas and Concept2.
What is ANT + for?
As already mentioned, ANT + is used to wirelessly receive data from sensors. Most often, devices with ANT + are used in areas such as sports, fitness and healthy image life.
For example, using ANT +, you can transmit data from sensors such as:
- heart rate monitor;
- activity sensor;
- calorimeters;
- Libra;
- speed sensor;
- blood pressure monitor;
- glucometer (measuring blood sugar);
- temperature sensor;
- pedaling speed sensors;
- pedometer;
- power meter;
The phone can be used as the receiving device. To do this, it must be equipped with a special module that will receive and process ANT + signals. With such a module, sports applications on your phone will be able to receive data from your sensors, process this information and display it in a convenient form.
How ANT + differs from Bluetooth
Studying the scope of ANT +, you can come to the conclusion that it can be replaced with a more famous and popular one. After all, Bluetooth can also transmit data wirelessly and is often used in compact devices, in particular, Bluetooth is supported by absolutely all phones.
There are actually quite a few differences between ANT + and Bluetooth. Firstly, ANT + requires much less power, which makes transmitting sensors much smaller and provides them with long battery life. Secondly, ANT + and Bluetooth have different network structures. The information transmitted by the sensors over ANT + can be received by various devices. For example, if you work with a trainer, your heart rate monitor data can be received by both your phone and the trainer's phone. Whereas when using Bluetooth, only one device can receive information from sensors.
This service is similar to system components that allow other forms of wireless communication on your phone (ie. Wireless Internet access, NFC) and will not work or use system resources unless you run an application that requires Ant wireless connectivity. It will be pre-installed by the device manufacturer so that the built-in ANT is already present in your mobile device in order to work. If you do not intend to use this feature, there will be no impact on your system and no further action is required.
If this service is not preinstalled on your phone, you may still be able to turn on wireless connectivity http://www.thisisant.com/developer/ant/ant-in-android/ for more information.
What is an ant?
Ant is a very energy efficient wireless technology. ANT allows you to connect and use various other ant or Ant + devices. Today, this service allows you to connect to popular Ant + compatible sports / fitness / health devices such as heart rate sensors, fitness equipment, sporting goods, scales and more. In the future, it will be possible to use Ant to allow many new applications from your mobile device such as home automation control of lighting, temperature and door interlocking. Visit www.thisisant.com for more information.
How to use:
This system service cannot be started directly. It will run automatically in the background whenever any application that requires wireless connectivity is ant.
Ant + enabled applications also usually require downloading ant plugins http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dsi.ant.plugins.antplus
Some popular applications enhanced with Ant +:
* Samsung S Health
* Garmin Fit ™
* SportsTracker on STL
* Application
* My Tracks
* Launch .GPS Trainer UV
* IpBike, IpWatts, IpPeloton, IpSmartHr
* Loops
* Five
* MapMyFITNESS / ride / run / walk + / hike / boom
Ant Application Development:
Requires Android Permissions:
Full network access: it is normal to never upload or download any data over the internet. This permission is only required because it is possible to install a normal android emulator (i.e. for development purposes) in which case it is wrong to communicate with the ANT USB stick on a Windows host PC using the Android Ant emulator tools. This message requires permission to the Internet, but communicates only from the local computer.
Change system settings: this allows you to initialize whether the ant should be turned off or saved on for airplane mode.
Bluetooth Admin: on some hardware configurations the ant may require communication with bluetooth at the system level. However, this service does not start bluetooth scanning or creating a bluetooth connection.
More details:
* Ant and Ant + in general http://www.thisisant.com
* Ant for android