In the intelligent era of the Internet of Everything, are you still troubled by how to manage hundreds or thousands of smart devices? Traditional Bluetooth Low Energy connections have limited capacity, while Mesh networking is complex and power-hungry. These have become bottlenecks restricting the large-scale deployment of the Internet of Things.

Leveraging the industry-leading Silicon Labs chip platform, RF-star Technology has launched a low-power module featuring PAwR functionality, truly achieving large-scale bidirectional one-to-many communication. Theoretically, a single central device can simultaneously perform bidirectional data exchange with up to 32,640 end devices, completely breaking through the device number limitations of traditional Bluetooth connections and making device management unprecedentedly simple and efficient. Now, let's witness how this technology can create new value for your business!

• Differences Between PAwR and Other Technologies:

Traditional Connected One-to-Many: Typically refers to a host taking turns maintaining connections with a few to several dozen slave devices via time-division multiplexing. The number is limited, and management complexity increases significantly with the number of devices.

Broadcast-Based One-to-Many: Uses a Broadcaster/Observer model. One device broadcasts, and numerous devices can receive. However, this is one-way; observers cannot reply, and all devices receive the broadcast, lacking privacy and targeting.

Bluetooth Mesh Networking One-to-Many: Employs a "flooding" network management approach. Each node that receives a message forwards it, relaying it via other nodes until the target node receives it. Theoretically, a network can accommodate tens of thousands of nodes, enabling many-to-many communication. However, the network is complex, and power consumption and latency are difficult to control.

PAwR One-to-Many: Stands for Periodic Advertising with Responses, a revolutionary feature introduced in the Bluetooth Core Specification version 5.4. According to the Bluetooth SIG specification, one PAwR Broadcaster can simultaneously engage in bidirectional communication with up to tens of thousands of PAwR Subscribers – an astonishing upper limit of 32,640.

• What is PAwR? How is PAwR Applied?

In a PAwR system, the roles are somewhat reversed compared to what we are traditionally accustomed to. The Broadcaster acts as the central hub device, referred to as the Access Point (AP). The Scanner/Responder devices are typically the node devices.

We can imagine it as a teacher (the Broadcaster) in a classroom asking questions to students according to a fixed, recurring schedule. This schedule is divided into a large number of extremely short time windows.

The detailed workflow is as follows:
1. Establish Synchronization: The Broadcaster continuously sends a periodic advertising stream containing specific timing information. Thousands of Subscriber devices listen to this advertising stream and maintain precise synchronization with the Broadcaster's timing. They know in which specific time window(s) they are assigned to communicate.
2. Send Commands: Within its own time windows, the Broadcaster can send public data to all Subscribers or send private data targeted at a specific "group" or even a single device.
3. Receive Responses: At the precise time window allocated to a Subscriber, the Subscriber is "awakened" to listen for any commands directed to it. If there is data to send back (like sensor readings, status acknowledgments), it quickly replies to the Broadcaster within this designated window.
4. Cycle Repeats: This process cycles at a very high frequency. Because each time window is extremely short, the Broadcaster can complete one "conversation" with a massive number of devices within one cycle, while all devices spend most of their time in a deep sleep state.

• Advantages and Limitations of PAwR:

Advantages:

✓ Ultra-Low Power Consumption
Devices are in deep sleep most of the time, significantly extending battery life and reducing maintenance costs.

✓ Precision and Reliability
Time-slot-based communication mechanism eliminates data collisions, avoids channel contention, ensures predictable response times, and guarantees command delivery and timely responses.

✓ Simplified Deployment
Star network topology requires no relays, management complexity is much lower than Mesh, greatly shortening deployment cycles.

✓ Scalability
A single network supports tens of thousands of devices, allowing flexible expansion as business grows, protecting investment value.

✓ Bidirectional Intelligence
Complete uplink and downlink data channels enable a truly intelligent IoT ecosystem.

✓ Privacy and Security
Supports encrypted communication with specific groups or individual devices, more secure than global broadcasting. For instance, when large data transfers (like firmware updates) are needed, the AP can temporarily establish a traditional Bluetooth connection with a specific Tag, coexisting with PAwR communication, balancing throughput and scale.

Limitations:

× Requires Bluetooth 5.4 Hardware
Both the Broadcaster and Subscribers must support Bluetooth 5.4, incurring upgrade costs.

× Coverage Limitations
All devices must be within the direct radio coverage range of the AP; it cannot be extended via relays like Mesh.

× Limited Uplink Bandwidth
The data return window for each Tag is very small, unsuitable for continuous transmission of large data streams.

× Central Node Dependency
The AP is a single point of failure; its performance and stability are crucial.

• How RF-star's PAwR Smart Warehouse Solution Enables Intelligent Device Management:

Imagine a smart warehouse management system deployed in just a few simple steps:

AP Side: RF-BM-BG22A3 Bluetooth Module
Tag Side: RF-BM-BG22B1 Bluetooth Module

A single BG22A3 (AP side) can theoretically manage up to 32,640 BG22B1 (Tag side) devices simultaneously.

Simplified Deployment: Each sensor tag joins the PAwR network simply by setting a unique Group ID and Device ID via an APP or command, increasing network deployment efficiency by 80%.

*   System Initialization: The server sends the Tag's ID information to the AP, which adds the Tag to its management list, completing the "registration".
*   Status Monitoring: The server can query the AP at any time for the list of all bound Tags and their status (like RSSI signal strength). Monitor the status of tens of thousands of devices in real-time, always maintaining a global overview.

Precise Control: The server sends a command for a specific Tag to the AP. The AP delivers the command via PAwR broadcast, triggering an audible/visual alert (like a buzzer or LED) on the corresponding Tag. After confirming the Tag, the server sends a "complete" command, the AP controls the Tag to stop the alert and removes it from the active list. The time-slot-based communication ensures precise command delivery and real-time status feedback, guaranteeing communication reliability.

Ultra-Low Power Consumption: Innovative time-slot wake-up mechanism keeps devices in deep sleep most of the time, enabling battery life of several years.

Elastic Scalability: A single network supports tens of thousands of devices, allowing flexible capacity expansion according to business needs, protecting long-term investment value.

Flexible Customization: RF-star can provide deeply customized hardware and software Bluetooth module solutions tailored to specific application scenarios.

• Expanding PAwR Applications, Empowering Industry Digital Transformation:

Smart Retail
Electronic Shelf Label (ESL) systems enable synchronized updates for tens of thousands of labels in seconds, while also receiving status feedback, greatly enhancing operational efficiency (bidirectional price updates, receiving label status).

Industrial IoT (IIoT)

Factory equipment status monitoring, warehouse and logistics management, supporting simultaneous data reporting from thousands of sensors (e.g., temperature, vibration sensors), building a digital operation and maintenance system.
Smart Building
Building Automation Control Systems (BACS) easily manage tens of thousands of sensors and actuators, creating a truly intelligent office environment. Networking of smart sensors within home units, etc., where the AP (smart gateway) receives data and sends control commands (e.g., adjusting a humidifier).
Smart Agriculture
Large-scale environmental monitoring networks collect soil and meteorological data in real-time, providing data support for precision agriculture.
Healthcare
Remote patient monitoring in hospitals (e.g., heart rate, blood pressure sensors), with the AP centrally receiving data and sending configurations; the low-power characteristic is suitable for wearable devices.

• Outlook

PAwR technology is accelerating the digital transformation process across various industries. Its emergence is not meant to replace Bluetooth Mesh but provides a crucial, complementary solution for IoT applications. As leading Bluetooth module manufacturers like RF-star Technology continue to introduce PAwR application solutions, the barrier to adopting this technology is continuously lowering. It precisely fills the technical gap for "large-scale, low-power, bidirectional, star-topology networks". We believe that PAwR, with its unique advantages, will rapidly gain popularity in retail, logistics, industrial internet, and other fields, becoming one of the core technologies driving next-generation low-power IoT innovation.

PAwR technology is mature, and the market opportunity is at hand. Whether you are a solution developer, system integrator, or end-user, now is the perfect time to embrace this revolutionary technology.

Let's work together to jointly open a new intelligent era for the Internet of Everything!