BLE mesh the effective way to network wireless sensors in an IOT environment
IOT requires multitudes of sensors and actuators to be interconnected and communicate data amongst them. BLE is a low energy data transmission technology. Creating a mesh with BLE devices is the most energy efficient methodology for interconnection. Webyfy has developed the BLE mesh system to interconnect various devices.
An IOT system has multiple sensors and actuators in operation. They may be connected to controllers and then to servers. The system must be deployed in locations that are already in existence and this would call for extensive wiring and disfiguring of the existing structure. This is not possible in many places. Further, the cabling etc would take up significant amount of time and be expensive.
The best option for such an environment would be to go in for wireless sensors and actuators with built in power sources. Wireless sensor networks consist of distributed, wirelessly enabled embedded devices capable of employing a variety of electronic sensors. Each node in a wireless sensor network can be equipped with one or more sensors in addition to wireless transceiver, and energy source. This efficient system will relay data with minimal power consumption. The most attractive feature of wireless sensor network is their autonomy.
BLE is the only low energy blue tooth wireless technology available on android, iOS and Windows devices since 2012. This is a royalty free standard to allow low cost implementation. This technology which was intended to be a point to point data transmission technology has been enabled to transfer data over long distances by “hopping” through multiple BLE stations.
Mesh networks use distributed intelligence to communicate with all other devices within their range. Not only can all nodes send and receive messages, but they can also function as relay points, and relay messages for their neighbors. Through this relaying process, a packet of data finds its way to its ultimate destination, passing through available intermediate nodes.
Wireless network is a necessity for an IOT system. We may need an independent, self-powered system which can operate over many months if not years. The technology we may adopt is the BLE Mesh technology. Webyfy has carried out considerable work in this field and come out with a secure and extensible mesh technology. This can interconnect with other communication protocols like Ethernet, Wi-Fi etc. The form factor is very small and hence does not take much space or spoil aesthetics. The ‘wake up on demand’ technology reduces battery consumption and hence gives a very long battery life.