Bluetooth access control systems are gaining ground, almost every smartphone has bluetooth incorporated. It is a short-range wireless technology standard used for exchanging data between fixed or mobile devices over short range of distances using UHF radio waves in the ISM (Industrial, Scientific and Medical) bands, with range of 2.402 ~ 2.48 GHz. Bluetooth technology consumes less amount of energy 0.01-0.25W at a data transfer rate of 200kbps. BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) introduced as a variation of the Bluetooth wireless standard designed for low power consumption and often used in access control technology as replacement for QR code & other related credentials. BLE is an excellent operation as it does not overload the battery in any case because it is inactive unless not used or activated.
Advantages of bluetooth technology in access controls
As almost every smartphone is incorporated with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and is a readily available feature, hence it helps in the transformation of the future of access control technology. Technically it is a very secure mode of communication in access control technology and imposes no cost implications. The bluetooth using smartphone is used for communication between the access reader and the user thereby helps in eliminating the use of physical cards, tags and other related credentials. As none of the phone users exchanges the device so security automatically becomes the inherent factor without any additional analysis and implementation mechanism. The reduction of cost and security are the most important advantages of the BLE bluetooth access control systems.
Use of bluetooth access control technology
The use of mobile phones with bluetooth as a credential for access control, standalone or networked is simple. The BLE Bluetooth access control systems application is installed on the same mobile phone and linked with the remote or standalone or cloud hosted environment. The devices are configured on the said mobile phone hence can be used to close or open the access locks or any related device. The temporary keys can also be generated in special cases for the visitors or temporary office mates. The general techniques used for the operation of access controls using the bluetooth.
| MODE | OPERATION TYPE |
| Shake | Here the motion control technology used by the mobile phones is utilized for the activation of bluetooth function. Once the device is shaken, the bluetooth code activation happens and the door or lock is operated |
| Hands free | The BLE access reader is pressed to generate the command to communicate with the smartphone with permanently active BLE mode |
| Manual | It is the same as hands free but here the app on the smartphone is pressed to generate the code. |
| Time bond code | Such codes are shared with the temporary visitors and expire after a certain programmed period of time. |
In the cloud based access control using bluetooth technology BLE, access control module is designed to integrate with any access control panel owing to the presence of Wiegand ports for de facto communication. We can use the device either as standalone or in a network mode.
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