Qualcomm has paid £1.6bn ($2.5bn) to acquire UK Bluetooth veteran CSR, with the latter’s advanced mesh technology a key attraction. The addition of meshing to Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) could strengthen its defences against the Google-backed Thread Alliance in the battle to dominate the smart home, and Qualcomm is always eager to back a key wireless standard. Some players are promoting 802.15.4 solutions like Thread, 6LoWPAN and ZigBee to challenge Bluetooth’s bid to be the default short-range WPAN connection in the connected household. One of their most powerful arguments is that 802.15.4 standards lend themselves to meshing, which will be important when large numbers of devices need to communicate with one another. By acquiring the wherewithal to help BLE overcome…