Hubble Network is Using the MG24 to Connect Bluetooth® Devices Anywhere on Earth without Additional Hardware
|
Ben Wild has been pioneering long-range connectivity for more than two decades. He founded Iotera, which specialized in long-range IoT protocols using LoRa, well before most people were talking about low-power wide-area networks. When Ben approached Alex Haro with the idea to use a proprietary protocol on existing silicon to achieve ultra-long-range connectivity, the idea seemed radical. But Alex, himself an industry veteran and co-founder of Life360, shared Ben’s vision of solving the ultimate connectivity problem. Hubble was born, and its ability to connect standard Bluetooth LE devices directly to satellites and an existing global network of more than 90 million terrestrial gateways without requiring any new hardware holds enormous potential. Reimagining the world’s most prevalent wireless protocol into a truly global network unlocks new areas of remote environmental sensing, global asset tracking, wildfire detection, and industrial IoT that can’t be matched.
Reimagining the Limits of Bluetooth Low Energy
If you were considering options for (very) long-range connectivity, Bluetooth might not seem like the most likely candidate. The typical range of most Bluetooth devices is generally measured in meters, let alone 650 kilometers, which is what is needed to reach a satellite in low-earth orbit. But it’s also been the go-to standard for conventional short-range asset tracking, making it virtually ubiquitous with billions of devices in use and a mature development ecosystem. Ben’s idea was based on using a proprietary 2.4 GHz protocol on a Bluetooth device with some innovative signal design to get the range needed. By lowering the bit rate and using error control, as well as correcting for things like Doppler shift and atmospheric loss, he was confident it could be done.
The Challenge
Achieving reliable, far-reaching visibility for IoT devices has been a persistent and ambitious challenge. There are still parts of the world that remain effectively out of reach, where assets or equipment cannot be tracked. Traditional technologies, such as cellular, LoRa, and Wi-Fi, fall short due to their limited range or the need for costly infrastructure. Hubble Network set out to solve this challenge by creating the world’s first global Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) network powered by a terrestrial network of 90+ million gateways, as well as a constellation of low-earth orbit satellites.
The Solution
Two key innovations from Hubble helped pave the way. First, the company developed a proprietary wireless protocol that dramatically extends the range of Bluetooth devices. Built on the open-source Zephyr RTOS, Hubble’s software development kit makes integration simple. Developers can get started with just a single line of code. Utilizing the Silicon Labs MG24 SoC, the Hubble protocol enables seamless integration with existing devices, requiring no hardware changes. Second, Hubble built a satellite radio receiver which included a high-performance phased array consisting of more than 100 antennas that work in unison to amplify and focus the signal. Existing embedded devices can be configured in less than 5 minutes.
The Result
In March of 2024, Hubble launched a low-Earth-orbit satellite equipped with a phased array aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 and achieved the first-ever direct Bluetooth transmission between Earth and space. The newly deployed satellites decoded a packet sent from a standard Bluetooth chip over 600 km away, a breakthrough with tremendous potential for low-cost, highly reliable global tracking applications.
Building a Global Wireless Network Without New Hardware or New Headaches
It was important for Hubble to avoid adding any design burden to customers, which is why using off-the-shelf silicon was a priority. Because of the prevalence of Bluetooth in today’s connected devices, its widespread use made it a logical silicon choice. During discussions with prospective customers about what vendors they were using, Silicon Labs was one of the names that consistently came up. This is particularly true in remote sensing and fixed asset static sensing applications, which rely on Silicon Labs thanks to its high-performance 2.4 GHz RF, low current consumption, and security. This gave Hubble an idea of where it could concentrate its efforts to benefit the broadest market.
The Silicon Labs MG24 in particular stood out for two reasons. First, its Secure Vault™ High variant offers secure boot, secure debug, and protection against both logical and physical attacks. Each device generates a unique cryptographic key through a physically unclonable function (PUF), ensuring that even if flash memory is accessed, its contents cannot be decrypted. Second, Hubble built its software development kit on Zephyr, an open, cross-platform RTOS that simplifies integration. With a single line of code, developers are off and running. Finally, the MG24’s robust, field-proven radio and RAIL (Radio Abstraction Interface Layer) APIs provide Hubble developers with exceptional control and flexibility right out of the box.
The Present and Future Coming Together for Hubble
Hubble currently has seven satellites in orbit capable of receiving signals from terrestrial Bluetooth endpoints transmitting signals with power levels ranging from 13 dBm to 20 dBm. Today, the system guarantees global coverage at least once every day, making it possible for users to schedule uplinks from anywhere without requiring any ground-based architecture. Beyond simple connectivity, Hubble’s platform adds powerful capabilities: expanded telemetry support allows temperature, motion, or other sensor data to be included in payloads of up to 13 bytes per packet; real-time data delivery via REST APIs and webhooks integrate seamlessly with downstream customer applications such as ERP systems; and an enterprise-grade dashboard provides intuitive visualization and analytics. Even better, existing mobile apps or embedded devices can be instantly upgraded via a lightweight SDK to serve as local scanning nodes—extending coverage without adding new hardware.
In 2027, the company will begin launching its next-generation satellites, capable of receiving signals as low as 4 dBm. When the full constellation of 60 satellites is operational, customers will have continuous coverage over every corner of the globe. As breathtaking as this achievement is, there are still places where satellites aren’t the best solution. For example, tracking assets in metal containers or indoors, where coverage wouldn’t be available without a terrestrial network. To meet these demands and to satisfy customers who need solutions now, Hubble partnered with Life360 to become part of one of the largest Bluetooth networks in the world.
The terrestrial network, which is already widely available, uses the standard Bluetooth protocol for communication. Hubble designed its SDK for flexibility and compatibility with existing hardware, featuring two modules: a terrestrial network module and a satellite network module. This modular approach allows customers to adapt based on their coverage needs.
Now, with more than 90 million access points distributed across North America, the European Union, and other global regions, Hubble is on its way to making reliable, low-power global coverage a reality.
Hubble Network is rewriting the book on global connectivity. Bridging the coverage gap and doing it without new hardware or complex infrastructure unlocks enormous potential.