NearLink
Ushering in a New Era of IoT Connectivity
NearLink Ushering in a New Era of IoT Connectivity
Access SLE Air Interface Technology
High-Precision Positioning SLP Technology
NearLink Network Architecture
The NearLink wireless communication system comprises Manager nodes (G-nodes) and Terminal nodes (T-nodes). In application scenarios, a single G-node manages multiple T-nodes, collectively performing specific communication functions through their connections. A G-node and the connected T-nodes form a communication domain. Communication types based on node relationships:
• G-node to T-node communication
• Inter-G-node communication
• Inter-T-node relay communication via G-nodes
• Cellular network integration through G-nodes
NearLink Protocol Stack
The NearLink wireless communication system protocol stack is divided into the Basic Application Layer, Basic Service Layer, and NearLink Access Layer. The NearLink wireless communication system achieves end-to-end service connectivity through the functions of each layer and their interactions.
The NearLink Access Layer includes Synchronous Low-latency Broadband (SLB) technology, Synchronous Low-energy (SLE) technology, and Synchronous Link Positioning (SLP) technology. Among these, SLB and SLE can operate independently for different application scenarios, supporting access layer security and integrated sensing-communication.
SLB employs multiple technologies including ultra-short frames, multi-point synchronization, two-way authentication, fast interference coordination, two-way authentication encryption, and cross-layer scheduling optimization. It delivers extremely low latency of 20μs and high-precision synchronization at sub-microsecond level, ideal for service scenarios requiring low latency, high reliability, precise synchronization, high concurrency, and high security in transmission, enabling low-cost deterministic quality assurance.
SLE uses Polar channel coding to enhance transmission reliability, supports low latency of 125μs, reduces energy consumption per bit by 40% compared to traditional technologies, improves anti-interference capability by 7dB, and supports over 10 times more connections, making it ideal for low power consumption requirements.
The Basic Service Layer consists of several functional units, including device discovery, service management, connection management, measurement management, QoS management, and security management. The NearLink wireless communication system supports Basic Application Layer functions and system management maintenance by invoking different functional units. The Basic Service Layer also includes NearLink transmission functions and NearLink network functions. The transmission function uses port numbers to indicate specific application instances and provides data transmission channels for application instances through transmission protocols. The network function provides NearLink network address allocation during multi-hop networking and data multi-hop routing. The Basic Application Layer contains multiple atomic capability standards and application instance standards. Application instances define parameter configurations for each layer of the protocol architecture and the behavior of NearLink devices for specific applications. Atomic capabilities define the basic and general functions used in application instances, as well as the control signaling and interaction processes involved in completing these functions. Atomic capabilities support the functions and implementations defined in application instances, enabling scenario-specific functionality through their invocation.
NearLink Technical Features
The SparkLink 1.0 series standards were released in 2022, and the SparkLink 2.0 series standards will be completed and released in 2025.
NearLink Synchronous Broadband Access SLB Air Interface Technology
NearLink SLB operates in unlicensed frequency bands including 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz, using CP-OFDM waveform. It supports ultra-low latency wireless frames with air interface one-way data transmission latency below 20.833μs. Single carrier supports 20MHz bandwidth, with maximum 16 carriers for a total of 320MHz bandwidth. Peak rates support 0.92 coding rate channel coding, 1024QAM modulation and 8-stream MIMO transmission, while maximum coverage supports 1/8 coding rate channel coding and QPSK modulation. SLB supports data link layer transparent transmission mode, significantly reducing system overhead and improving multi-node access capacity. SLB supports optimized access resource configuration for multi-user low-latency system access.
NearLink SLB supports simplified and high-security information security features:
SLB primarily serves scenarios like in-vehicle active noise cancellation, wireless screen mirroring, and industrial motion control, characterized by low latency, high reliability, precise synchronization and high concurrency. Utilizing SLB's precise synchronization and high reliability, its fast group positioning technology achieves <30cm ranging accuracy with high user capacity, refresh rate and precision, offering outstanding advantages in commercial/campus/logistics positioning scenarios.
NearLink Synchronous Narrowband Access SLE Air Interface Technology
The technical specifications for NearLink SLE Low-Power Access Technology are defined in T/XS10002-2022, enabling cost-effective, low-power air interface access. SLE uses single-carrier transmission, supporting bandwidths of 1MHz, 2MHz and 4MHz, with modulation schemes including GFSK, BPSK, QPSK and 8PSK. By adopting Polar channel coding to improve transmission reliability, reducing retransmissions to save power, and streamlining broadcast channel functions and services to minimize congestion possibilities. Compared to existing low-power wireless Short-range technologies, SLE can stably support 128kbps audio transmission under the same deep coverage conditions, supports higher rates (peak 12Mbps), supports lossless audio transmission, supports reliable multicast transmission, supports heterogeneous access, supports hundreds of node connections; SLE is mainly used to carry business scenarios with low power requirements including headphone audio transmission, wireless battery management systems, and industrial data collection.
NearLink SLE has low-power sub-meter ranging capability, using phase-based bidirectional ranging technology (DDR) bidirectional composite channel frequency hopping to stitch virtual large bandwidth, improving ranging accuracy. For security, random disturbances are introduced in the access layer measurement signals to prevent attackers from forging measurement signals. By leveraging multicast base station ranging frame exchanges, multiple anchors perform simultaneous ranging, reducing measurement time and improving positioning accuracy. Currently, NearLink SLE has been used in applications such as NearLink digital car keys and NearLink device finding on mobile phones.
NearLink Synchronous High-Precision Positioning SLP Technology
NearLink SLP uses UWB signals to achieve centimeter-level high-precision positioning. SLP adopts wide-narrow fusion positioning assisted by SLE/SLB, using UWB signals for ranging data frames, while using SLE/SLB signals for data transmission in other stages such as device discovery, connection establishment, ranging configuration and measurement result exchange, thereby reducing chip area and lowering ranging power consumption. SLP also supports high-security ranging through random measurement frames, and further improves ranging accuracy through frequency-stitched ultra-wide bandwidth. Currently, NearLink SLP has a ranging accuracy of +/-10cm and an angle measurement accuracy of +/-5°, and has been used in NearLink pointing remote control applications.
NearLink Audio Technology
A unified system supporting full bitrate wireless audio encoding with up to 1920kbps audio bitrate, multi-channel HD, and lossless streams to capture every sound detail. It features adaptive bitrate adjustment in complex wireless environments to prevent audio stuttering or disconnections.
Leveraging high-speed, low-latency, efficient and reliable wireless connections with flexible multi-mode transmission to deliver seamless stutter-free listening experiences in complex scenarios.
Smart terminals can synchronously manage multiple peripherals for unified operation; optimized compatibility allows free device combinations while maintaining consistent experience.
Empowers peripherals with stronger capabilities to operate independently of host devices for tasks like mixing and audio routing, enabling more direct and convenient human-machine interaction while unlocking peripheral potential.
NearLink MESH Multi-Hop Technology
Enables more service scenarios with multi-hop end-to-end transmission rates reaching Mbps level:
• Unified networking standard for SLE and SLB supporting integrated networking; a separated control/forwarding architecture meeting both narrowband and broadband requirements;
• Lightweight, flexible and scalable network header with 2-byte short address design;
• QoS support for diverse service requirements;
• Extensible routing supporting protocol selection per scenario;
• SLE multi-hop transmission supports both access-layer connection and broadcast modes selectable by scenario.
NearLink Sensing Technology
• NearLink SLE Sensing: SLE's bidirectional ranging also provides efficient wireless sensing through adaptive adjustment/flexible frequency hopping and high-precision algorithms to stably acquire environmental changes and accurately determine target position and status. Widely applicable in smart home, health monitoring, security etc. for contactless, low-power solutions.
• NearLink SLP Sensing: Bandwidth aggregation enables larger effective bandwidth, significantly reducing false alarms while enhancing detection accuracy. With stronger anti-interference and higher resolution, its ideal for precise positioning, object detection, daily behavior recognition and environmental sensing in complex scenarios. Delivers safer, more reliable and power-efficient high-precision wireless sensing solutions.
• NearLink SLB Sensing: Enables "Four-High" sensing: High-precision (bandwidth stitching-standard, algorithm-enhanced), High-reliability (FISA anti-interference-standard, collaborative anti-environmental interference-standard, self-transceiving boundary control-standard), High-efficiency (multipoint sync reducing measurement overhead-standard, low-latency high-refresh-rate), High-scalability (integrated communication/sensing/positioning: self-discovery, self-connection, self-calibration, self-synchronization) for efficient, precise and stable integrated capabilities across diverse scenarios.
