in context: We imagine that most of you are familiar with all major wireless standards – so, in fact, it has become boring. We do not write much about them anymore, beyond normal speculation around 6G, it is not worth saying that. But on our recent visit by Mobile World Congress, we actually came in space something new. New at the point of almost magical feeling – a new wireless standard.
This new wireless standard is not only new, but almost no one we know. Burried at the end of an electromagnetic rainbow like a magical treasure chest, a new wireless standard is slightly exciting, especially when we learned that this standard is already widely deployed – more than 100 million chips have already been sent.
editor’s Note:
Guest writer Jonathan Goldberg is the founder of a multi-functional counseling firm D2D advisor. Jonathan has developed development strategy and alliances for companies in mobile, networking, gaming and software industries.
The standard is called sparklink. Take it a minute for Google, and we imagine whatever you find is a link to guitar equipment. This is the only application of the sparklink available in the US today. And is the second part of this story. Like any good fairy tale about the magical treasure, there is a ‘bogman’ guarding the treasure. Because, of course, this standard was created by Huawei.
We are still studying the history of the sparklink, but it goes on something like this:
In 2018, when Huawei first came under serious American sanctions, it was expelled from several industry groups including Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG). Huawei was eventually allowed to return, but not before starting its limit of alternative standards. Sparklink seems only one that actually receives traction and is now shipping in volume.
Sparklink, also known as a passlink, is deployed as an alternative to Bluetooth, but is designed in a way that addresses all the lessons learned from the shortcomings of that standard-a clean-slate design to address the issues discovered in the years after coming to the scene of the Bluetooth. The air interface of the sparklink appears to be a amalgamation of both elements from both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, with technical glasses that are higher than both. This is a practical comparison of standards.
| application field | Bluetooth 5.3 | Wi-Fi 7 | Sparklink |
| Relationship rate | 24mbps | 146 ~ 172Mbps (Wi-Fi 7, 20mHz bandwidth) 46.1GBPS | More than 900Mbps (20mHz bandwidth) |
| delay | 15-20ms (Private Protocol) | owner | 0.02ms (SLB) |
| Maximum number connection | 8 | 256 | 256 (SLE) 4096 (SLB) |
| Communication distance | About 20-300 meters, about 10 meters indoors | About 50-300 meters | About 600 meters, Bluetooth twice |
| power consumption | Bluetooth 30mw Ble | Generally within 50mw in China | Star Flash Sle 10mw |
| Reliability | Poor | General | Good |
| Security | Poor | Good | Good |
As we mentioned above, some have already been sent like 100 million sparklink devices. It is smaller than Bluetooth, which ships a few billion units in a year, but it is enough to indicate that it is real commercial traction.
What type of devices do sparklink support? All of them.
It is the International Sparklink Alliance website, and it is their membership page. It contains a few hundred names that cover almost every corner of electronics – from phones and computers to cars and industrial systems.
Almost all members are located in China, but we have learned that companies from other countries are starting to include sparklinks in their own products, including remarkable categories such as TV and Auto.
We believe that these foreign companies will bundle sparklinks with products for the Chinese market. At this point, there are probably millions of tens of sparklink users, coming closer to important mass – any company that sold in China will have to consider adopting the standard. Which, of course, opens the question of how far it will go.
Or is there another way, at which point Apple must include sparklinks in the iPhone? Perhaps there is not an urgent question for them right now, but at some point, Apple and every other consumer electronics company will have to review the need for sparklink capabilities.
