“The Bluetooth Market Research Report provides an in-depth analysis of the trends and forecasts highlighted in the Bluetooth Market Update. It is well known that governments around the world are using Bluetooth technology for exposure risk notification systems to help track, trace and slow the spread of the new coronavirus in the population. Meanwhile, organizations are experimenting with the technology to help people safely return to offices, commercial buildings, public spaces and public spaces. This supplementary report provides an in-depth analysis of how Bluetooth technology can help keep the public and employees safe in a variety of environments.

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The Bluetooth Market Research Report provides an in-depth analysis of the trends and forecasts highlighted in the Bluetooth Market Update. It is well known that governments around the world are using Bluetooth technology for exposure risk notification systems to help track, trace and slow the spread of the new coronavirus in the population. Meanwhile, organizations are experimenting with the technology to help people safely return to offices, commercial buildings, public spaces and public spaces. This supplementary report provides an in-depth analysis of how Bluetooth technology can help keep the public and employees safe in a variety of environments.

As the global COVID-19 pandemic continues, governments and businesses alike are using Bluetooth technology to help keep the public and workers safe in a variety of environments. Bluetooth technology is being used in regional exposure risk notification and detection systems to help companies formulate strategies for safe return to work, as well as implement safe diagnosis and treatment plans. In terms of enterprise safety return to work solutions, some new safety return equipment has emerged in recent months to help implement social distancing. ABI Research believes that Bluetooth technology can be used more effectively by expanding COVID-19 solutions and developing more future-proof real-time location systems and IoT deployments. Not only can these solutions play an invaluable role during the pandemic, they can also improve efficiency and ROI to help businesses thrive in the post-pandemic era.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we live. Factories, office buildings, schools, shops, restaurants and other venues were forced to close, wreaking havoc on economies and businesses. Governments and organisations around the world are now turning their attention to how to ease quarantine restrictions in a safe way, allowing people to return to work safely while reducing the risk of further spread.

People are waiting for an effective vaccine to return to normal life, and Bluetooth real-time location systems, wearables, smart buildings, and other IoT solution providers around the world offer a range of solutions to help simplify this. transition. This includes enabling workplace social distancing enforcement, contact tracing, hygiene compliance and zero-touch access control, while combining these products with the extensive asset tracking and operational efficiency improvements provided by real-time location system solutions. Bluetooth technology is one of several technologies that can help achieve this. It is estimated that by 2025, the global deployment of Bluetooth real-time positioning system will be close to 550,000.

Achieving a safe return to work in all environments

Bluetooth technology has been widely used around the world to help reduce the spread of the coronavirus. Due to the popularity of Bluetooth technology in smartphones, governments around the world are relying on Bluetooth connectivity to enable public exposure risk notification systems to alert users who have been in contact with someone infected with the new coronavirus. In the UK, for example, the National Health Service (NHS) contact tracing app was downloaded nearly 20 million times within two months of its release. Similar solutions have been published in many countries. While the focus of this report is on safe return to work, it is clear that exposure risk notification systems will also assist in the safe return to work and reopening of many settings including work areas, schools, retail stores, public spaces and more. Technologies such as Bluetooth are helping businesses establish COVID-19 safe return-to-work strategies, enabling employers and building owners to use location data and analytics to create a safer environment for employees and the general public. In recent months, there has been an explosion of Bluetooth solutions for COVID-19, as providers of real-time location systems, smart buildings and other IoT solutions adapt existing products or create new ones to help bring back to work safely .

Companies are eagerly seeking to make up for lost production from the COVID-19 shutdowns. Some of the current solutions range from short-term deployments that do not require additional infrastructure or can leverage existing infrastructure, to long-term real-time positioning system deployments that may require additional infrastructure but also increase the accuracy of location services and further improve services.

According to ABI Research, annual shipments of Bluetooth RTLS tags will exceed 300 million units by 2025, for use cases such as asset tracking, people tracking, vehicle tracking, tool equipment tracking, and more. They often require a combination of techniques due to infrastructure and precision requirements. Many real-time location system vendors have begun to combine no-infrastructure and full-infrastructure solutions to help address challenges posed by quarantines, travel restrictions, and difficulties in field deployments during the pandemic. Many suppliers have turned to COVID-19-related equipment or expanded existing platforms to help businesses get back to work safely. The following will introduce in detail the main application scenarios of Bluetooth technology to help achieve safe resumption of work.

Social distancing, contact tracing and occupancy management

Because the new coronavirus spreads mainly among people who are in close contact, governments around the world are recommending that people stay at least 6 feet apart as much as possible. Several new Bluetooth solutions are emerging to help organizations implement social distancing (Figure 1). Many of these solutions are wearable devices, such as wristbands, necklace pendants, work tags, lanyards, helmets, or pocket-friendly devices that can be used when two people are in close proximity. , with visual, audible or tactile cues telling users to keep a safe distance. This market is developing rapidly. Many Bluetooth integrated circuit (IC) suppliers say they are showing growing interest in these solutions, and new startups are emerging. But since many of these solutions have only emerged in the past few months, deployments are still limited. Some of the well-known use cases for Bluetooth technology in the market today include:

Additionally, other solution providers have adapted already deployed Bluetooth devices to help enforce social distancing measures. Many RTLS vendors have added proximity sensing and contact tracing capabilities to their software platforms to track Bluetooth RTLS currently deployed in enterprise, medical and industrial environments equipment. An advantage of this solution is that it can be deployed quickly and efficiently without the need to install a more complex and extensive real-time location system infrastructure. Additionally, a smartphone, data collector, gateway, or Bluetooth-enabled Wi-Fi access point can be used to enable cloud reporting, contact tracing, and other valuable analytics. This is important during the COVID-19 quarantine, as more and more traditional real-time location system vendors have difficulty deploying and configuring their solutions in the field.

Additional Business Benefits of Safe Return to Work Solutions

Some solutions only offer tips to help with social distancing, while others offer more comprehensive cloud analysis and reporting, giving businesses more tools to improve security. Data can typically be collected from tags and uploaded via smartphones, gateways, and Bluetooth-enabled Wi-Fi access points for subsequent analysis.

If a worker tests positive for COVID-19, data can be collected to help identify all the workers he has come into contact with. This allows businesses to make informed decisions on preventive measures without shutting down entire factories, warehouses, offices or other environments, minimizing potential adverse impacts. In 2020 and 2021, more than 11 million Bluetooth tags are expected to be shipped, and these tags will be used for people tracking, worker safety and access control applications.

Advanced infrastructure anchor and tag RTLS solutions can also provide hotspot analysis, identifying areas where social distancing is frequently violated, or when an area is overcrowded in real time. This allows decision makers to make changes to the work environment that help employees maintain social distancing while being able to carry out their day-to-day work effectively. By tracking people and activity, it provides data on which specific areas of the room are used the most, helping to prioritize cleaning resources and reduce the risk of contracting the virus from contaminated surfaces. Real-time location systems and smart building platforms can also provide real-time updates. Occupancy rates, allowing staff to find available desks or meeting rooms, or prompt if cleaning is required. It is expected that the compound annual growth rate of Bluetooth personnel occupancy sensors will reach 110% from 2020 to 2026; by 2026, its annual shipments will reach 6 million. Indoor navigation using Bluetooth technology and Wi-Fi can also be used to notify users of densely congested areas and provide safer routes to destinations.

Smart buildings usher in new opportunities

As businesses encourage people to return to commercial office buildings, these spaces will increasingly require connected devices to continuously monitor the building environment, ensure the health and safety of occupants, and emphasize the efficient use of building resources. This will drive the development of a new generation of Building Automation System (BAS) solutions such as space management, environmental monitoring, hygiene management and asset management. These new applications will mainly be realized by wireless sensor-based devices, which can be used as stand-alone applications or integrated with traditional BAS. Initially, most new applications operated as standalone subsystems due to the immediate need for commercial space by building managers, and the cost and complexity of integrating with existing building systems. As building managers begin to realize ROI, these new applications begin to integrate with existing BASs.

Companies like Pointr use Bluetooth beacons, sensors and smartphones in their WorkSafeCOVID-19 response solutions. The solution enables contact tracing, usage management, congestion monitoring, cleaning monitoring and safe passage capabilities. While many may opt for some of these no-infrastructure solutions, ABI Research believes that planning an effective RTLS strategy will deliver greater value and maximize business return on investment in the long run, while at the same time It can also bring extremely high operational efficiency and help companies remain competitive in the post-pandemic era. Angle-of-arrival (AOA)-based solutions like Quuppa can also provide 10-centimeter-level accuracy for real-time positioning system applications related to the COVID-19 pandemic, among other applications. Such comprehensive solutions offer additional advantages over more basic tag-to-tag deployments.

It will also help make deployment simpler and more commonplace as Bluetooth Low Energy capabilities and location services are being added to more and more access points from leading Wi-Fi AP vendors. According to ABI Research, the number of Bluetooth integrations in enterprise access points will achieve a compound annual growth rate of 14% between 2020 and 2025 as the value of location technology is more widely recognized. There is currently a strong demand for plug-and-play solutions that can be easily deployed right out of the box without extensive wiring, construction and measurement work. Many use cases that do not require strict centimeter-level accuracy can be achieved with Bluetooth technology, such as room asset tracking or occupancy sensors.

Enforcement of hygiene regulations

To reduce the risk of the spread of COVID-19, governments around the world have increased the need for regular hand washing and cleaning of surfaces. Bluetooth Smart building and real-time location system solutions can further help enforce hygiene compliance, minimizing the risk of virus transmission through touching or contaminated surfaces. In healthcare settings, real-time location systems have been used for some time to help enforce hand hygiene standards. According to the World Health Organization, in developed countries, 5 to 10 percent of hospital admissions to emergency hospitals still suffer from complications from healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). In the United States alone, at least 80,000 people die each year from HAI, which equates to 200 deaths per day.

Below is an example of a Bluetooth solution for hand hygiene from HID Global. By integrating a Bluetooth beacon into the water dispenser, a tag or badge on the employee’s body monitors each use and records the event, which is then uploaded to the cloud through the gateway.

medical application

Other Bluetooth RTLS solution providers such as Quuppa have deployed solutions in hospitals that detect when medical staff enter or leave a room, whether they are using a hand sanitizer dispenser and how close they are to a patient. Quuppa’s technology has been used by the University of Fukui Hospital in Japan, which has resulted in a 300% improvement in hand hygiene compliance for patients at the time of their visit, enabling seamless monitoring without additional intrusion detection or slowing down processes. Additionally, AiRISTAFlow deployed a Bluetooth and Wi-Fi-based hand hygiene compliance solution for all employees and 900 hand sanitizer dispensers at a 240-bed regional medical center. Covering all patient rooms, treatment rooms, lounges, cafeterias and other common areas, the solution increased compliance from 65% to 89% in the first six months.

Enterprise application

In addition to healthcare settings, many corporate environments also help reduce infection risk through hand hygiene compliance. In offices and other workspaces, hand sanitizer can be placed around the entrance to shared spaces such as restrooms, kitchens, canteens, etc., with solutions that help monitor and encourage employees to follow rules every time they enter and leave a room.

Combined with contact tracing capabilities and location analytics, intensive cleaning resources can be prioritized for areas that are used more by employees who test positive, rather than the cleaning of the entire site, reducing unnecessary cleaning and disinfectant costs, avoiding Loss of productivity due to site-wide shutdowns. By tracking cleaning personnel, you can ensure that all potentially contaminated areas have been cleaned, while maximizing the efficiency and effectiveness of existing cleaning resources. By monitoring cleaning staff equipped with applications or work cards, it is possible to ensure that they spend enough time cleaning in one area, while directing labor to the busiest areas to optimize efficiency. In addition, audit trails and completion checks can be conducted and shared with employees to increase the certainty of returning to work. As with many real-time location system deployments, by tracking people and tags, equipment or areas used by employees who test positive for COVID-19 can be traced and disinfected to reduce the risk of contamination spreading or to ensure that assets are being used by others before they are used by others. disinfect. For example, in a hospital setting, shared medical equipment resources such as wheelchairs, ventilators, IV pumps, scanners, etc. can be marked as contaminated or sterilized to prevent further spread of the virus; while office users with shared desks will receive Notice that the desk has been cleaned after the last use. In warehouse and production environments, workers who have been exposed to the same tool or equipment can be traced, while equipment that needs to be sanitized off-hours and not reused until safe to do so can be tagged. Another key application area for Bluetooth solutions is health monitoring and contact management via Bluetooth wearables. Many Bluetooth-enabled wearables are helping early detection of the coronavirus with body temperature, heart rate and other biometric monitoring. About 25% of NBA games at Disneyland use the Oura Bluetooth smart ring to help detect early signs of coronavirus infection, a wearable device with multiple sensors that can monitor resting heart rate, heart rate variability, breathing rate, body temperature and sleep quality . During the game, the NBA can use the Health Risk Management (HRM) platform to assign a unique risk score to players and staff who choose to use the platform. This risk score serves as an indicator of an individual developing symptoms associated with the disease.

Early symptom detection

Likewise, Oakland University recently made an FDA-approved BioButton available to students and staff. The screening device can help identify early symptoms of COVID-19 through subtle changes in body temperature, respiratory rate and other metrics, while also using Bluetooth technology for contact tracing by reporting proximity to other wearers. The solution can be paired with an app that monitors the risk of daily exposure, enabling users to self-report symptoms (such as coughing, etc.) that the device cannot automatically detect. The Cayman Islands has also adopted the BioButton solution for tourists, who can choose to wear the device for 14 days after entry, thereby avoiding quarantine. Additionally, the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC) recently partnered with Empatica to help deploy a wrist-worn Bluetooth device equipped with various sensors and algorithms to enable early detection of COVID-19. EmbracePlus devices will be paired with an app that gives daily infection risk indicators and alerts users of any early signs.

More devices are emerging all the time. British company WaireHealth used Nordic semiconductor and Laird’s Bluetooth technology to create an arm-worn health monitor called C-Detect. The device can measure heart rate, respiratory rate, core body temperature and oxygen saturation every ten minutes for ten days. Like other solutions, C-Detect is used to alert users if they have shown signs of possible infection and if they should stay home and isolate. The solution is also capable of enforcing social distancing as well as contact tracing. Cassia Networks has deployed remote Bluetooth gateways in schools across China, using smart bracelets instead of manual measurements to remotely monitor students’ body temperature, which not only ensures that students’ classes are not interrupted, but also detects any body temperature through real-time monitoring. early signs of anomalies to help implement quarantine measures. But in order for these solutions to be widely accepted and adopted, more work needs to be done to validate their effectiveness in detecting early signs of COVID-19.

Extended Application of Bluetooth Technology in Exposure Risk Notification

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) is also continuing to expand its smartphone-based exposure notification system to wearables, ensuring that all people of all ages who have been in contact with someone who has been in contact with them can be sure to receive timely notifications once someone is diagnosed with COVID-19. . More than 150 Bluetooth member companies have joined the Bluetooth SIG Exposure Risk Notification Working Group to expand support for wearables. At the same time, Bluetooth medical devices that can be paired with smartphones to provide remote monitoring are also increasingly used in patient diagnosis and monitoring. During the NBA resumption, all players were required to measure their vital signs using Kinsa Bluetooth thermometers and Masimo pulse oximeters, recording metrics on a smartphone app.

Several wearables, platforms and medical companies are collaborating on multiple projects that use medical wearables, smartwatches or activity trackers to help track the progress of the virus or monitor the vital statistics of potentially infected people. Wearable tests and devices that record vital signs and monitor symptoms will alert medical professionals if a patient’s condition worsens. This is especially important when many patients are being sent home due to limited hospital beds, as it ensures that critically ill patients are cared for in hospital, while less ill patients can still be monitored at home.

During the pandemic, these wearables could also help reduce unnecessary contact between critically ill patients and medical staff, who are exposed to a high risk of being exposed to the virus and potentially transmitting it to other frail patients. New deployments and research during the pandemic will drive the medical wearables market, including connected blood pressure monitors, continuous glucose monitors, pulse oximeters, and electrocardiogram monitors. The market will reach 12 million shipments in 2020 and will reach 52 million in 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of 34.4%. Additionally, smartwatches and activity trackers that offer other long-term body metrics, health tracking, and contact tracing are expected to grow to nearly 275 million units by 2025.

Zero-touch access and control

SARS-CoV-2 has been reported to survive on various surfaces for up to 72 hours (although this data is constantly changing as our knowledge evolves). Therefore, doorknobs, keyboards, door surfaces, light switches, and other potentially high-frequency areas of cross-contact may increase the risk of infection. Therefore, Bluetooth access solutions, such as door locks that can be unlocked via Bluetooth badges and smartphone-based access control systems, can minimize these risks. Demand for such solutions is likely to increase over time in various corporate and hospitality environments. Such solutions can also be integrated into wider real-time location system deployments and COVID-19 response efforts. Workers who test positive for the virus, for example, may be denied entry to premises until they have all the permits they need to resume work. By restricting access to different areas of the building, large crowds can be avoided or people can be prevented from entering potentially contaminated areas. Building managers can limit access, maintain crowds on site, and reduce the risk of overcrowding and close-contact events. By limiting the number of pathways into the building, workers from different shifts can be prevented from congregating, further preventing transmission. As a result, annual shipments of Bluetooth access control readers and field control panels are expected to reach nearly 16 million by 2026, up from just under 250,000 today, growing at a CAGR of 102% between 2021 and 2026.

To reduce potential contamination on the light switch, the Bluetooth light fixture can be controlled from a smartphone, and the brightness can be adjusted to personal preference without touching a physical switch at all.

Bluetooth commercial lighting solutions are expected to be the fastest growing wireless solution in the next few years, with annual shipments growing to more than 6 million by 2026 and a CAGR of 130%. As shown in Figure 3, Bluetooth building automation management devices within HVAC, lighting, access control, and wireless sensors will grow rapidly over the next few years as use cases continue to evolve, with device shipments rising from about 170 in 2020. million to nearly 50 million in 2026.

market challenges

■Despite this projected increase, there are still some challenges ahead for safe return to work solutions before widespread adoption. These challenges include:

Many solutions for social distancing applications have been around for a relatively short time and are therefore not well-proven in terms of effectiveness. Some organizations may be hesitant to adopt these approaches until more data is available to demonstrate their ability to reduce the spread of infection.

■Similarly, for wearables for early detection, more evidence and research are needed to demonstrate their effectiveness in early detection of Covid-19, and how wearables can improve clinical medical monitoring across the board.

■For some businesses and buildings, where it may be difficult to enforce social distancing measures due to physical constraints, many employers may prefer to continue remote work, shift work or transition to a permanent remote solution, such as Fujitsu has for its 80, 000 employees released permanent work-from-home solutions.

■ Some solutions have limited functionality, providing only proximity alerts without any additional analysis capabilities. While these solutions may be adequate as interim solutions, they do not provide additional safe return-to-work capabilities such as usage management, heatmaps, and process optimization. At the same time, a single-use-case solution also means that more infrastructure and investments are required to enable these additional safe-to-work use cases.

■Some solutions are still very expensive, and it may be difficult for businesses to obtain the necessary investment if they are severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Many devices will require additional infrastructure investment for data logging, such as Bluetooth-enabled WiFi access points or gateways.

■ The precision of some solutions may limit their effectiveness. Tags that use Bluetooth RSSI to measure the distance between people are not always the most accurate solution for tag-type applications, which may limit their effectiveness. RTLS-type applications using advanced infrastructure also provide varying degrees of location accuracy, e.g. RTLS solutions using Bluetooth RSSI typically only provide accuracy within a few meters, which may limit their usefulness in some applications. Effect. The real-time positioning system solution using the new Bluetooth direction finding function can provide centimeter-level position accuracy. In addition, Bluetooth technology also faces strong competitors in real-time positioning system applications, such as Ultra-WideBand (UWB), which also provides centimeter-level accuracy. But Bluetooth technology can usually be used in conjunction with UWB to take advantage of low-power management, ubiquity, and data transmission while UWB is used for ranging.

Some solutions may be obstructed and weakened by objects and body parts, so they must be exposed and oriented in a specific direction, which may reduce their effectiveness and result in a lower user experience and comfort when using this technology Difference.

■As vaccine development progresses, interest in and research momentum in these devices may wane. Businesses will reduce their investment in investing in short-term solutions, or will suspend investment until the vaccine landscape becomes clearer. The value of the COVID-19 response plan will decline as the outbreak itself wanes. Therefore, solution providers should take this opportunity to discuss the other benefits of real-time location systems and Bluetooth technology, and encourage the adoption of asset and device tracking and other operational efficiency solutions to achieve a more comprehensive digital transformation in the post-pandemic era.

■To date, the real-time location system market has attracted hundreds of start-ups and small businesses that have developed a variety of location software algorithms and hardware technologies, including Bluetooth, WiFi, ultra-wideband (UWB), Active-RFID RFID), Visual Lightcommunication (VLC), acoustic sensors, or geomagnetic sensors. The lack of a mature ecosystem for indoor location solutions means that vendors are often forced to create proprietary solutions for proof-of-concept for their technology. As a result, these players have struggled to scale their products, and their installation process often requires a lot of effort and time to customize, making implementation costs in many cases (e.g. anchor positioning, label sizing and testing, and Integration of IT/OT systems, etc.) is higher than the installation cost of the equipment. The spread of the new crown epidemic has worsened the situation for real-time location system suppliers, and quarantine measures have made it difficult for them to bring equipment to market.

■While looming health concerns have led some companies to put privacy concerns on the back burner, such concerns are still a natural concern, and any people tracking solution needs to comply with various regional regulations and restrictions. While the benefits of tracking are obvious, end users have the right to be concerned about how their data is being used, and suppliers must do their best to ensure that no personal information is kept and only events related to responding to COVID-19 or other security applications are logged. While tracking in industrial or medical security applications may be more acceptable, it is less so in office and educational settings. The University of Auckland, for example, was forced to make its BioButton solution an alternative due to concerns and resistance to privacy. Furthermore, when the impact of the outbreak subsides, fears may grow further. End users need to understand how their data is being managed, and organizations need to provide them with feedback on all aspects.

■The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the need for real-time positioning system solutions, while also exacerbating the difficulty of deploying this technology. In 2020, the growth of traditional real-time location system deployments is expected to be significantly impacted due to the constraints of isolation and physical distancing facing deployment and control in the field.

Many suppliers have stated that travel restrictions have caused them significant difficulties, and the deployment of real-time positioning systems often requires a large number of anchors and surveys to maximize the potential and accuracy of the solution, which is difficult or impossible. done remotely. But ABI Research expects that once the restrictions are loosened, companies will take advantage of the renewed interest in Bluetooth RTLS solutions, which will remain one of the fastest-growing markets for Bluetooth technology over the next five years, expected in 2020 The compound annual growth rate for the period to 2025 is 47%. To achieve this, a balance needs to be struck between the ease of deployment and the practicality and accuracy the solution can provide. It’s best to be able to turn your deployment into an out-of-the-box solution that can be configured remotely or simply. Cisco, Juniper, Aruba and other companies continue to integrate Bluetooth technology in WiFi access points, which also helps reduce the cost and difficulty of deploying Bluetooth real-time location systems.

Conclusions and strategic recommendations

While many solutions for COVID-19 applications are emerging, it is still beneficial to design a complete RTLS and smart building solution. This strategy can use location insights gained through Bluetooth technology to provide a full range of use cases related to the new crown epidemic, as well as other broader use cases, while also providing the possibility to gradually add other valuable use cases.

Real-time location systems can help enable broader operational efficiency improvements, asset and equipment tracking, worker safety, sanitation enforcement and access control, while also preventing further outbreaks. In the long run, a real-time location system solution that enables use cases related to the Covid-19 pandemic will certainly provide far greater benefits than a Covid-19 solution that cannot be extended to other use cases. While the value of a COVID-19 social distancing solution may gradually decrease as the impact of COVID-19 subsides, the value of a solution that enables multiple use cases will increase over time to maximize return on investment. Long-term strategy and planning around location services will help companies deal with any similar unplanned outages in the future, and drive various other operational efficiencies.

Therefore, ABIResearch expects that the number of applications of real-time positioning system solutions will grow in the next ten years, as people’s awareness of real-time positioning system continues to improve, and more and more enterprises realize that such solutions can bring wider benefits. continued to grow during the year. The deployment of real-time location systems in manufacturing and logistics environments is expected to grow significantly over the next few years, as companies in these two industries optimize all aspects of their production and logistics operations, need to improve the visibility of assets and resources , and develop more automated and efficient production processes.

ABIResearch expects the deployment of Bluetooth RTLS in manufacturing, warehousing and logistics environments between 2020 and 2025 as the market gradually transitions from smaller-scale pilot applications to broader integrated RTLS deployments will quadruple. In addition, the medical market is expected to witness substantial growth as how to maximize the utilization of the resources of the already stretched medical institutions will become the focus of research in the post-pandemic era. At the same time, the technology is also expected to see considerable growth in some smart building applications. To sum up, as shown in Figure 4, the shipments of Bluetooth tags will reach hundreds of millions in the next few years. But to achieve this goal, deployment challenges in terms of complexity, scalability, cost, education, segmentation and IT/OT integration continue to be overcome.