When studying the characteristics of new phones, you can notice an option that was not seen at all a few years ago. This option is called ANT+ and is now available in many flagship and mid-priced phones based on operating system Android.

ANT+ or ANT Plus is another technology wireless transmission data that modern phones are equipped with. ANT+ is designed for use in smart sports gadgets such as pedometers, heart rate monitors, cycling computers, etc. ANT+ technology is based on wireless network ANT, which operates in the 2.4 GHz frequency range and was developed by Dynastream Innovations back in 2004. Main feature ANT network and subsequently ANT+ is low power consumption. Thanks to this, transmitting devices can even operate from a coin cell battery.

Currently, ANT+ technology is supported by an alliance of companies organized by Dynastream Innovations. As of the end of 2010, more than 300 different companies participate in this alliance, including Microsoft, Texas Instruments, Sony Ericsson, Timex, Adidas and Concept2.

What is ANT+ for?

As already mentioned, ANT+ is used to wirelessly receive data from sensors. Most often, devices with ANT+ are used in areas such as sports, fitness and a healthy lifestyle.

For example, using ANT+ you can transfer data from sensors such as:

• heart rate monitor;
• activity sensor;
• calorimeters;
• scales;
• speed sensor;
• blood pressure monitor;
• glucometer (measuring blood sugar levels);
• temperature sensor;
• pedaling speed sensors;
• pedometer;
• power meter;

A telephone can be used as a receiving device. To do this, it must be equipped with a special module that will ensure reception and processing of ANT+ signals. If such a module is available sports apps on your phone will be able to receive data from your sensors, process this information and display it in a convenient form.

How ANT+ differs from Bluetooth

Studying the scope of ANT+, one can come to the conclusion that it can be replaced by a more well-known and popular one. After all, Bluetooth can also transmit data wirelessly and is often used in compact devices; in particular, Bluetooth is supported by absolutely all phones.

There are actually quite a few differences between ANT+ and Bluetooth. Firstly, ANT+ requires much less power, which allows transmitting sensors to be made much more compact and provide them with a long service life. battery life. Secondly, ANT+ and Bluetooth have different network structures. The information transmitted by sensors via ANT+ can be received various devices. For example, if you work with a trainer, then your heart rate monitor data can be received by both your phone and the trainer’s phone. While at using Bluetooth Only one device can receive information from sensors.

Modern sports gadgets are often equipped with both Bluetooth Low Energy and ANT+. Both technologies transmit data over a short distance while consuming very little power. Let's figure out what Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and ANT+ are.

In 2003, ANT+ was first used in running sensors from Nike. Seeing the potential, Garmin acquired the technology in 2006, and ANT+ is now the de facto standard among sports devices. ANT+ technology allows sensors to operate on a single miniature battery for more than a year.

Bluetooth in turn released low energy technology in December 2009, also known as Bluetooth Smart.

Differences between ANT+ and Bluetooth LE

The fundamental difference between these two technologies is that the signal from ANT+ sensors can be received by an unlimited number of devices. That is, if, for example, you work out with a trainer, then he can see the indicators of your heart rate sensor, cadence, and power meter on his watch. You can also see data on your cycling computer and watch at the same time. While Bluetooth LE allows you to receive data from different sensors, but only to one device.

An undoubted advantage of Bluetooth is its prevalence on devices such as mobile phones and laptops. In order to transfer ANT+ data to a computer, you will have to purchase a special receiver for $30. Some phones have ANT+ built-in, but Bluetooth is of course much more common.

The data transfer speed of both systems is approximately the same. Bluetooth has the potential to be faster, but it is limited by device manufacturers to save power.

In 2017, many devices began to be released with built-in Bluetooth and ANT+. This is perhaps the most convenient solution.

If you are going to use Zwift, and you have a choice of which connection to use, then many cyclists recommend Bluetooth, since in their opinion the data transfer is more stable. And in Zwift this is very important, because if your power drops to zero for even one second, you risk falling behind the peloton.

In the description of some electronic devices, such as phones, you can find support ANT+, The question naturally arises: what kind of opportunity is this and how the presence of ANT+ can help the user.

ANT+ what is it

ANT+ this is the standard wireless communication(similar to Bluetooth), its purpose is to transfer information between devices that support ANT+. Uses the same frequency as Bluetooth. One device acts as a sensor from which information is received and the second, which acts as a Hub device receiving data.

Support is implemented in devices through the use of a special chip that allows you to transfer information between devices, the communication range is about 30 meters.

The alliance that developed this standard chose the niche of medicine and home use for implementation. The success of this standard depends on the number of devices that will support it, since the alliance includes many famous and influential companies, such as HbbTV, EBU, France Televisions, Institut für Rundfunktechnik, OpenTV, Philips, Samsung, SES ASTRA, Sony, TF1, The pace of release of devices supporting this standard is quite high.

How ANT+ works

For example, you have installed electronic device with ANT+ support for gate opening, installed on your phone special program which uses an ANT+ connection, if the gate is opened, a message will be sent to your phone indicating that the sensor installed on the gate has been triggered.

Second use case(in medicine): sensors are installed on the patient to indicate his condition. Using an ANT+ connection, a doctor or nurse can, while in the next room, monitor the patient’s condition on a phone or other device with which the status sensors are connected via ANT+.

Disadvantages of ANT+

Some users report problems with ANT+ when using other Bluetooth-connected devices at the same time, especially on one device, for example, if you connected a heart rate sensor via ANT+ and are playing sports, at the same time you connected via Bluetooth wireless headphones Since both devices use the same frequency, packets of information are (sometimes) lost.

The future of this standard is most likely narrowly targeted niches, the main advantage this standard- energy saving, since ANT+ connection is 70% less energy-intensive than Bluetooth.

ANT+ is a wireless data transfer protocol. It operates at 2.4 GHz (similar to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth) and has low power consumption, so it is used in sports and medical equipment such as online calorie and cadence counters, as well as smart home systems.

Standardization means that devices that support them can communicate with each other without additional settings. A classic example of this is a heart rate monitor. The sensor is able to communicate with all Garmin sports watches that support this protocol, as well as with the Health application Samsung smartphone S. An ANT+ device can be used with any device like it.

The protocol is being developed open group ANT Alliance, and ANT Wireless is a division of Dynastream, which is owned by Garmin.

Convenience for the manufacturer

The ANT+ consortium holds developer conferences every year to meet product manufacturers and programmers. This is where discussions happen and product managers request new profiles for upcoming features. It's also a place where startups submit new designs and profiles in hopes that manufacturers will license them, or simply want to make things themselves.

Since June 2012, the ANT+ technology development team has been led by Sebastian Barnovsky, who is creating profiles - a communication language for a specific type of information.

Thus, heart rate data has its own profile, as does power, speed, cadence, etc. This allows you to work with devices from different brands, which is a boon for everyone. Closed systems like Polar's proprietary language simply don't have a future where ANT+ technology is headed.

Integration efficiency

So what happens if someone wants to submit new information that is not in their current profiles? According to Barnowski, this can be done in two ways. First and most quick option is to create your own profile, which is necessary to quickly bring a product to the market or to hide something from other devices. This can be done at any time at the manufacturer level, which significantly speeds up the development cycle.

The second option is to request a new public ANT+ profile. This is necessary if, say, Speedplay wants to convey sole pressure or pedaling speed. This requires a computer company that will receive this data and, upon request, provide it to various electronics for reading and display. In this case, Speedplay representatives will contact ANT Plus and tell you what they need.

Coach

Wahoo Fitness is a brand that touts Bluetooth connectivity and produces iPhone-centric devices. But this company, having first created its own profile for the Kickr trainer, is collaborating with ANT+ to create a standardized trainer profile. This will make it possible to sell different types of them and work with different online training programs. Existing Kickr trainers have been updated since the final public release, but the user will also have to update their computer or mobile device.

For a profile to be valuable, programs that can read its data are needed. A collaboration between Wahoo and Kinomap, the latter's videos are fully integrated with Kickr (and eventually other trainers). This allowed, for example, the software to change the load depending on height or other training program data. In other words, ANT+ technology allows you to synchronize efforts with video and vice versa. When the app starts, it looks for compatible sensors so it knows what data to work with, so it needs to program what piece of information will go to the virtual athlete on the screen.

Kinomap Products

According to the developers, there is a demand for premium content on top of the huge amount of user-generated data. To take advantage of it and discover other possibilities using Kinomap Reply - a new open API that allows other developers to transmit Kinomap content through their own third party application. They can purchase dedicated streaming hours or receive unlimited content for a monthly fee, which is then passed on to the end user.

There is also a Kinomap Group Training model that allows you to track many people and average out their efforts to train at spinning gyms.

Sport display

How else is this technology used? 4iiii produces the Sportiiiis display, which syncs with the ANT+ sensors on your bike to help you simple LEDs show the current workout status. The system mounts on any sunglasses and uses a series of red, yellow and green lights, the latter of which is in the center, to indicate whether the athlete is above or below your target zone. Voice guidance from the rear speaker provides a wider range of data, including heart rate, power, speed and cadence.

Beyond competition

What about Bluetooth? According to Quarq co-founder and CTO Jim Mayer, despite the hype surrounding the relatively low power consumption of this communication standard, the only one that works wireless technology for real power measurements it is ANT+. Its great advantage is that one device can transmit data and several can read it. This is important for products like Sportiiiis and others (racers probably use Bluetooth as their primary display. It's connected to a phone or something and no other device can hear that transmitter.

A real-world example of the benefits of this solution is triathlon. You can connect your sports watch and Garmin cycling computer to the power meter, and they all have access to the measurements. Another example is when the display is in the team car, but the driver wants to see the information on his computer. Everyone probably won't need this, but the important thing is that users can do it. According to research, approximately 30% of customers transfer data to multiple devices at the same time.

Operating range

Although the specification states that ANT+ has a range of up to 30m, it doesn't say that all devices must have that range. Most likely, sensor manufacturers will settle on a fairly minimum, such as the distance from the bike sensor to the handlebars, thereby reducing power and significantly improving the device's internal battery life. Kickr is mains powered so it can afford maximum signal ANT+. The receiver on the PC also operates at full power. Therefore, you should not be surprised if you easily receive signals from Kickr that the online calorie counter installed on your bike stops functioning if the exercise machine is moved a little further from the receiver.

Interference

ANT+ devices do not interfere with each other thanks to channel coding, modulation scheme and very clever time division of signals. But Bluetooth, wireless home phone, smartphone WiFi and even home WiFi also occupy the very crowded unlicensed 2.4 GHz band. All of these ANT+ signals are noise and can cause errors and affect reception range. If there is reason to believe that the data is incorrect, you should look for extraneous sources of radiation (including a microwave oven). Moving WiFi to the 5 GHz frequency so that every device in the room works in this band (if it is modern enough) can help solve the problem.

A USB3 hub can also wreak havoc on ANT+ broadcasts. If there is something similar nearby, you can try to turn it off. If reception improves, then the source of interference has been found.

What is ANT+ in a smartphone?

ANT+ is implemented on mobile phones Sony and Samsung. Apple does not support this technology. Other smartphones, PCs and Macs require a USB adapter. In the first case, you will need to install the ANT USB Service application. Otherwise, the operation of smartphones does not differ from the operation of other devices that support this technology. Thanks to time division techniques, many devices use a single 1 MHz channel. Each source broadcasts in its own time period. The message length is 150 µs, and the period between 8-byte broadcasts varies from 0.5 Hz to 200 Hz. Errors are corrected with a 16-bit CRC. If there is interference, the channel may change. Frequency modulation with Gaussian filtering is used.

Availability

The Alliance is not blind to the fact that many smartphones do not support ANT+ technology. For this reason, new transmitters are being produced that are capable of broadcasting in different formats. 4iiiis has something similar built into the Viiiive heart rate monitor, which allows you to use iOS app to configure your Sportiiiis device on the go. HTC, Sony and Samsung are starting to include ANT+ transceivers in their tablets, phones and laptops, and North Pole Engineering makes ANT-Wifi receivers that capture ANT+ information and relay it over Wi-Fi in a format that can be received iOS devices. To use them, a developer must build a WASP NPE module into their application, and the fitness industry is a leading contender to use it. The cost of implementing hardware and software This technology is approximately the same as for Bluetooth.

This service is similar to the system components that enable other forms of wireless communication on your phone (ie. Wireless access Internet, NFC) and will not work or use system resources unless you are running an application that requires Ant wireless connectivity. It will be pre-installed by the device manufacturer so that the built-in ANT is already present in your mobile device to work. If you do not intend to use this feature, there will be no impact on your system and no further action is required.

If this service is not pre-installed on your phone, you may still be able to enable wireless connectivity http://www.thisisant.com/developer/ant/ant-in-android/ for more information.

What is an ant?

Ant is a very energy efficient wireless technology. ANT allows you to connect and use various other ANT or Ant+ devices. Today, this service allows you to connect to popular Ant+ compatible sports/fitness/health devices such as heart rate monitors, fitness equipment, sporting goods, scales and more. In the future, you will be able to use Ant to bring many new applications from your mobile device, such as home automation control of lighting, temperature and door lock. Visit www.thisisant.com for more information.

How to use:

This system service cannot be started directly. It will work automatically in background, when any application that requires wireless communication ant.
Ant+ enabled applications also typically require downloading ant plugins http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dsi.ant.plugins.antplus

Some popular apps, upgraded from Ant+:
* Samsung S Health
* Garmin Needed™
* SportsTracker on STL
* Application
* My Tracks
* Launch .GPS trainer UV
* IpBike, IpWatts, IpPeloton, IpSmartHr
* Loops
* Five
* MapMyFITNESS/ride/run/walk+/hike/boom

Ant Application Development:

Requires Android Permissions:

Full network access: It is normal to never download or upload any data over the internet. This permission is only required because one can install a normal android emulator (i.e. for development purposes) in this case it is incorrect to communicate with ANT flash drive on Windows host PC using Ant Android emulator tools. This message requires Internet permission, but only communicates from the local computer.

Change system settings: This allows you to initialize whether the ant should be turned off or kept on Airplane mode.

Bluetooth Admin: On some hardware configurations, the ant may require system-level bluetooth communication. However, this service does not start Bluetooth scanning or creating a Bluetooth connection.

More details:
* Ant and Ant+ in general http://www.thisisant.com
* Ant for Android