 NearLink logo | |
| Developed by | NearLink Alliance |
|---|---|
| Introduced | 4 November 2022; 3 years ago (2022-11-04) |
| Industry | Personal area networks |
| Compatible hardware | Smartphones Personal computers Audio devices Embedded devices Internet of things Internet of vehicles |
| Website | http://www.sparklink.org.cn/ |
NearLink (Chinese:星闪; also known asSparkLink and formerlyGreentooth) is a short-rangewireless technology protocol, which was developed by the NearLink Alliance, led byHuawei to set up on September 22, 2020.[1][2] As of September 2023, the Alliance has more than 300 enterprises and institutions on board, which includeautomotive manufacturers,chip and module manufacturers,application developers,ICT companies, andresearch institutions.[3][4]
On November 4, 2022, the Alliance released theSparkLink Short-range Wireless Communications Standard 1.0, which incorporates two modes of access, namely, SparkLink Low Energy (SLE) and SparkLink Basic (SLB),[5][6] to integrate the features of traditional wireless technologies, such asBluetooth andWi-Fi, with enhanced prerequisites forlatency, power consumption, coverage, and security.[7][4][8]
The Alliance unveiled the Standard 2.0 on March 30, 2024, which enhances end-to-end protocol system and extends application standards, supporting native audio and video capabilities, human-computer interaction, and positioning applications.[9]
NearLink employs theCyclic Prefix-Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (Cyclic Prefix-OFDM) waveform to addresslatency issues in various applications. The waveform features an ultra-short frame structure and a flexible scheduling scheme oftime-domain resources, reducing transmission latency to approximately 20 microseconds. In addition, NearLink appliespolar codes and adoptsHybrid Automatic Repeat-reQuest (HARQ) schemes to support applications with high reliability requirements, such as industrialclosed-loop control applications for automated assembly lines, where reliability requirements are at least 99.999%.[1]
The first product to feature NearLink technology was theHuawei Mate 60 series smartphone introduced by Huawei on August 29, 2023,[10][11] followed by FreeBuds Pro 3 on November 25, 2023, M-Pencil 3rd gen with the MatePad 13.2 tablet on 14 December 2023,[12][13] and thePura 70 series on April 18, 2024.[14][15]
On September 22, 2020, the SparkLight Alliance was established to formulate the NearLink short-range wireless technology standard.[16]
By the end of 2021, the NearLink 1.0 standards were finalized, establishing a core end-to-end architecture that includes the NearLink access layer, basic service layer, and basic application layer.[17]
On November 4, 2022, the SparkLink Alliance officially released theSparkLink Short-range Wireless Communications Standard 1.0, which covers two modes of access: SLB (SparkLink Basic) and SLE (SparkLink Low Energy). They also unveiled "The White Paper for Promotion of SparkLink Short-Range Wireless Communication (SparkLink 1.0) for Industrial Use."[18][19]
On August 4, 2023, Huawei officially unveiled the NearLink short-range wireless communication technology at the Developer Conference, providing a new wireless communication method forHarmonyOS.[20][21]
On August 29, 2023, Huawei released the Huawei Mate 60 series smartphones, which are equipped with NearLink technology.[10]
On September 25, 2023, at Huawei's Autumn Full-Scenario New Products Launch event, a new range of products supporting NearLink technology were unveiled. These products include theHuawei MatePad Pro 13.2-inch tablet, the third-generation M-Pencilstylus, and theFreeBuds Pro 3 earbuds.[22][23][24]
On March 30, 2024, the Intelligent Car Connectivity Industry Ecosystem Alliance ("ICCE Alliance") and the NearLink Alliance jointly released theICCE Alliance Digital Key System Part 6: NearLink System Requirements during the 2024 International NearLink Alliance Industry Summit". The Requirements were formulated by various parties includingHuawei,BYD,Changan,GAC,FAW, etc.[25]
On November 12, 2024, Huawei released a beta version of HarmonyOS 5.0.1 targeted for developers that has full support of native NearLink Kit API integration of the operating system for third party applications support.[26]
The system structure of NearLink technology mainly consists of three layers: the physical layer, the data link layer, and the network layer.[27][28]
NearLink incorporates two access modes, namely SparkLink Low Energy ("SLE")[Note 1] and SparkLink Basic ("SLB").[Note 2][5][6]
| NearLink Module H383U[29] | NearLink Module H383S[30] |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | |
| 12.00mm X 12.00mm X 2.2mm | 12.20mm X 13.00mm X 1.8mm |
| Protocols | |
| Supports 802.11b/g/n/ax, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), NearLink, USB communication interface, coexistence of WiFi and BLE, as well as coexistence of WiFi and NearLink. | Supports 802.11b/g/n/ax, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), NearLink, SDIO communication interface, coexistence of WiFi and BLE, as well as coexistence of WiFi and NearLink. |