Companies often require the ability to track the location of the sensors and other connected devices on their networks, but not every endpoint can provide positioning data, especially in indoor environments.  

Mist Systems Inc. hopes to overcome the challenge with a new cloud-based tool that can pinpoint where a device happens to be in a building using only its transmissions as a guide. According to today’s launch announcement, the Asset Visibility Service relies on the startup’s wireless access points to perform triangulation. It supports not only Wi-Fi but also the Bluetooth Low Energy communications protocol.

Designed specifically for use in connected devices, BLE provides a way to transmit data using considerably less electricity than regular Bluetooth. It’s supported by most of the market’s leading handsets, including the iPhone as well as many wearables, smart appliances and other emerging types of connected devices. The protocol is far from enjoying universal adoption, but it’s much more widespread than embedded indoor positioning systems, particularly among low-power endpoints that by default have a bare-bones feature set.

The Asset Visibility Service can collect metrics from the patented BLE antenna array included in each of Mist’s access points and process them in the cloud to identify where a device is positioned relative to the system. This removes need for standalone transmitters like those used by Apple Inc.’s iBeacon platform and other traditional BLE-based location services, which dramatically reduces maintenance requirements.

As a result, Mist claims, the service can make the technology practical for use in areas where it wasn’t a viable option before. A plant operator, for instance, could equip forklifts and other production floor equipment with BLE-compatible sensors to help employees quickly find the gear they need, while a delivery company might do the same in its package processing facilities.

Another area where the service might prove useful is the retail sector. Brick-and-mortar stores are the main target audience of Apple’s iBeacon, but adoption has been limited so far thanks to the steep costs involved in buying and maintaining transmitters. Eliminating this expense could accelerate the spread of in-store location services while putting Mist in a better position to target a key market.

Image: Mist