NearLink
NearLink logo
Developed byNearLink Alliance
Introduced4 November 2022 (2022-11-04)
IndustryPersonal area networks
Compatible hardwareSmartphones
Personal computers
Audio devices
Embedded devices
Internet of things
Websitehttp://www.sparklink.org.cn/

NearLink (Chinese: 星闪), also known as SparkLink, is a short-range wireless technology standard, which was developed by the SparkLink Alliance, led by Huawei to set up on September 22, 2020.[1][2] As of September 2023, the alliance has more than 300 enterprises and institutions on board, which include automotive manufacturers, chip and module manufacturers, application developers, ICT companies, and research institutions.[3][4]

On November 4, 2022, the alliance released the SparkLink Short-range Wireless Communications Standard 1.0, which incorporates two modes of access, namely, SparkLink Low Energy (SLE) and SparkLink Basic (SLB),[5][6] to integrate the features of traditional wireless technologies, such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, with enhanced prerequisites for latency, power consumption, coverage, and security.[7][4][8]

NearLink employs the Cyclic Prefix-Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (Cyclic Prefix-OFDM) waveform to address latency issues in various applications. The waveform features an ultra-short frame structure and a flexible scheduling scheme of time-domain resources, reducing transmission latency to approximately 20 microseconds. In addition, NearLink applies polar codes and adopts Hybrid Automatic Repeat-reQuest (HARQ) schemes to support applications with high reliability requirements, such as industrial closed-loop control applications for automated assembly lines, where reliability requirements are at least 99.999%.[1]

The first product to feature NearLink technology was the Huawei Mate 60 series smartphone introduced by Huawei on August 29, 2023.[9][10]

History

On September 22, 2020, the SparkLight Alliance was established to formulate the NearLink short-range wireless technology standard.[11]

By the end of 2021, the NearLink 1.0 standards were finalized, establishing a core end-to-end architecture that includes the NearLink access layer, basic service layer, and basic application layer.[12]

On November 4, 2022, the SparkLink Alliance officially released the SparkLink Short-range Wireless Communications Standard 1.0 , which covers two modes of access: SLB (SparkLink Basic) and SLE (SparkLink Low Energy). They also unveiled "The White Paper for Promotion of SparkLink Short-Range Wireless Communication (SparkLink 1.0) for Industrial Use."[13][14]

On August 4, 2023, Huawei officially unveiled the NearLink short-range wireless communication technology at the Developer Conference, providing a new wireless communication method for HarmonyOS.[15][16]

On August 29, 2023, Huawei released the Huawei Mate 60 series smartphones, which are equipped with NearLink technology.[9]

On September 25, 2023, at Huawei's Autumn Full-Scenario New Products Launch event, a new range of products supporting NearLink technology were unveiled. These products include the Huawei MatePad Pro 13.2-inch tablet, the third-generation M-Pencil stylus, and the FreeBuds Pro 3 headphones.[17][18][19]

System Structure

The system structure of NearLink technology mainly consists of three layers: the physical layer, the data link layer, and the network layer.[20][21]

  1. Physical Layer: the core layer of NearLink technology, primarily responsible for the transmission and reception of high-frequency signals.
  2. Data Link Layer: primarily responsible for packaging and unpacking data, as well as data validation and error correction.
  3. Network Layer: mainly responsible for data routing and forwarding, ensuring that data is correctly transmitted to its intended destination.

Access modes

NearLink incorporates two access modes, namely SparkLink Low Energy ("SLE")[Note 1] and SparkLink Basic ("SLB").[Note 2][5][6]

  • The SLE mode is mainly aimed at low-power, low-latency, and high-reliability application scenarios, such as wireless headsets, mice, car keys, etc. It reportedly offers a data transmission rate of up to 12 Mbit/s, or six times that of Bluetooth, and supports bidirectional latency of 250 microseconds, simultaneous access by 256 users, and a power consumption of less than 2mA.
  • The SLB mode focuses on high-speed, high-capacity, and high-precision application scenarios, such as video transmission, large file sharing, and precise positioning. It reportedly provides a data transmission rate of up to 1.2 Gbit/s, or twice that of Wi-Fi, and supports latency of 20 microseconds and simultaneous access by 4096 users.

Modules

NearLink Module H383U[22] NearLink Module H383S[23]
Dimensions
12.00mm X 12.00mm X 2.2mm 12.20mm X 13.00mm X 1.8mm
Protocols
Supports 802.11b/g/n/ax, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), NearLink, USB communication interface, coexistence of WiFi and BLE, as well as coexistence of WiFi and NearLink. Supports 802.11b/g/n/ax, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), NearLink, SDIO communication interface, coexistence of WiFi and BLE, as well as coexistence of WiFi and NearLink.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "SparkLink Low Energy" also referred to as "Smart Link Enchanced" (SLE).
  2. ↑ "SparkLink Basic" also referred to as "Multi Link Enhanced" (MLE).

References

  1. 1 2 Gao, M.; Wan, L.; Shen, R.; Gao, Y.; Wang, J.; Li, Y.; Vucetic, B. (2023). "SparkLink: A short-range wireless communication protocol with ultra-low latency and ultra-high reliability". Innovation (Cambridge (Mass.)). 4 (2). doi:10.1016/j.xinn.2023.100386. PMC 9958389. PMID 36852210.
  2. ↑ "星闪联盟". www.sparklink.org.cn. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  3. ↑ "星闪应用前景广阔上市公司争相布局|上海证券报". paper.cnstock.com. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  4. 1 2 Keumars Afifi-Sabet (2023-09-24). "Some of the world's biggest tech firms have built rival for Bluetooth AND Wi-Fi – here's why you should be worried". TechRadar. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  5. 1 2 "全面升级近距离无线体验！华为推出星闪NearLink技术PK蓝牙：功耗降低60%、传输速率提升6倍！ – 芯智讯" (in Chinese (China)). 2023-08-06. Retrieved 2023-09-28.
  6. 1 2 ""星闪"无线连接技术优势、场景及发展思考_通信世界网". www.cww.net.cn (in Chinese). Retrieved 2023-09-28.
  7. ↑ Li, Deng (2023-08-04). "Huawei Nearlink launched, new wireless technology far ahead of Bluetooth". Huawei Central. Retrieved 2023-10-05.
  8. ↑ Ganji, Hamid (2023-08-09). "Huawei NearLink is here to replace Bluetooth". Android Headlines. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  9. 1 2 "华为Mate 60 Pro+突然发售，不到十秒就被抢光！华为概念股大涨-览富财经网". www.lanfucaijing.com. Retrieved 2023-09-25.
  10. ↑ "Huawei Mate 60 series now supports StarLight connection".
  11. ↑ "星闪联盟". www.sparklink.org.cn. Retrieved 2023-09-12.
  12. ↑ "刚刚，"星闪"正式发布商业化路标，开辟无线短距通信新赛道 - 智东西". zhidx.com. Retrieved 2023-09-12.
  13. ↑ "星闪联盟发布新短距通信技术1.0标准- DoNews". www.donews.com. Retrieved 2023-09-13.
  14. ↑ "新一代无线短距通信技术，星闪 1.0 系列标准正式发布_产业_接入_测试". m.sohu.com. Retrieved 2023-09-12.
  15. ↑ "華為新機相繼展開預購 「星閃」技術引市場熱議". Yahoo Finance (in Chinese). 2023-09-11. Retrieved 2023-09-12.
  16. ↑ Castro. "Huawei Nearlink launched, new wireless technology far ahead of Bluetooth - HUAWEI Community". huawei consumer. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  17. ↑ "华为新品发布会万众瞩目 逾百家媒体下午现场直播 | 国际". 東方網 馬來西亞東方日報 (in Simplified Chinese). 2023-09-25. Retrieved 2023-09-25.
  18. ↑ 每日经济新闻 (2023-09-25). "全球首款！华为发布新品，采用星闪技术！余承东：正加班加点紧急生产Mate 60系列_手机网易网". www.163.com. Retrieved 2023-09-25.
  19. ↑ "【视频回顾】华为秋季全场景新品发布会_证券要闻_财经_中金在线". news.cnfol.com. Retrieved 2023-09-25.
  20. ↑ "华为"星闪"到底是什么？可以秒杀蓝牙！-电子工程专辑". www.eet-china.com. Retrieved 2023-09-12.
  21. ↑ "标准 - 星闪联盟". sparklink.org.cn. Retrieved 2023-09-12.
  22. ↑ "NearLink Module H383U". VLink.
  23. ↑ "NearLink Module H383S". VLink.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.