Aggregator apps need to make data consumable, so end users can make sense of itĬan you give some examples of how ANT+ is used in the fitness sector? They can just focus on developing great sensor technology, knowing the wireless ecosystem is already there. Nowadays there must be at least 15–20 bicycle power manufacturers in the ANT+ ecosystem, and lots of different ways to measure bike power – crank-based strain gauges, two-sided pedal power, rear wheel sensors… But although all the sensor tech is different, the wireless data they all send up is now of the same standard.įor the consumer, this standardisation means they get to choose the device that works for them and get their data regardless.įor manufacturers, it means great new ideas can come to market quickly, because they can tap in to an existing ecosystem. ![]() ANT+ works well even in crowded studios – it can cope with high levels of data trafficįrom that, the standardised device profile for bicycle power was born – accompanying other use cases such as heart rate and speed – and ANT+ became the de-facto central organising body for a consortium of companies in the sport and fitness electronics market. Although they were competitors, these manufacturers came to understand that collaborating within the ANT+ ecosystem would grow the market as a whole and ensure a bigger slice of the pie for everyone. What ANT did was encourage the different manufacturers to recognise that building one-off solutions for specific customers – thereby creating walled gardens whereby only devices within those restricted ecosystems could speak to each other – would only get the industry so far. Rewind to before the days of ANT+ when, as a prime example, there were lots of different companies building devices to measure bicycle power – but none of them were communicating in the same way. What do you mean by a ‘wireless standard’? That all sounds a bit complex I know, but in a nutshell, what ANT+ represents is a very successful, multi-brand wireless ecosystem. More specifically, ANT+ is the wireless standard that connects an entire product ecosystem: a universal standard that ensures wireless fitness sensor data, whatever manufacturer it comes from, is all of the same format. It’s a collection of what we call Device Profiles, built for very specific use cases, each of which has a specification of how to transmit the information related to that use case over the air using ANT – whether it’s data from an ANT+ heart rate strap, an ANT+ bike power meter, an ANT+ bike speed and cadence sensor… ![]() Meanwhile, ANT is set up to allow a sensor device to connect to many other devices simultaneously, which adds flexibility: you can, for example, connect your heart rate strap with a phone, your watch and the computer on your indoor cycling bike – all at the same time.ĪNT+ is an application that’s been built on top of ANT. Bluetooth is built around fixed pairing relationships: you can typically only connect a sensor to one other device at any one time. They really are complementary technologies. Many people will be familiar with another wireless protocol, Bluetooth, so this is often the best place to start when it comes to explaining what ANT does. To explain what ANT+ is, I first need to backtrack and explain what ANT is.ĪNT is a generic wireless protocol owned by Garmin, which was born from a desire to track how many steps a runner was taking without putting wires all over him. ![]() ![]() Mike Rounding, product manager for ANT+, talks to Kate Cracknell about the wireless ecosystem that’s helping exercisers get the workout data they want, whatever device they choose to use
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