The USB mesh dongle PYACI fail to connect to the provisioned LPN node after power cycle

RE: The USB mesh dongle PYACI fail to connect to the provisioned LPN node after power cycle

Hieu — Wed, 23 Aug 2023 10:51:07 GMT

[quote user="James He"]<Reply> Yes, my devices have only LPN sensors and PC dongle, there is not friendship node, I want to dongle communicate with the LPN node directly. it looks impossible.[/quote]

It depends on what you mean by "directly." In a mesh network, a message can be addressed for a single node, but would still need to jump through multiple relays before arriving at the node.

My understanding is that you want the LPN to receive the data right away, and straight from the dongle, without jumping through any relay node. If so, then yes, perhaps that is not possible.

If the LPN doesn't have to receive the messages right away, then the dongle could be the Friend node itself. When the LPN wakes up, it could poll the Friend Node dongle for messages it should receive.

[quote user="James He"]<Reply> Yes, my LPN is broadcasting proxy advertisement. then is it possible that I modify dongle firmware or PYACI to make dongle to communicate with LPN sensor through proxy connection?[/quote]

[quote user="James He"]<Reply> I'm not sure if I misunderstand your points. lets clarify: The mesh shell is in Dongle side or in LPN node side? do you mean I modify dongle firmware to make it to be a proxy client so that it can connect with LPN node's proxy server side?[/quote]

What I meant was setting up the Dongle as the Proxy Client, but still with the Mesh Shell. If you are using the Mesh Shell, then you don't really need to modify anything, other than just enabling the feature in Kconfig.

However, I looked into the Proxy Client support in NCS today, and find that it isn't very versatile. It just connects to any Proxy Node advertising, so you cannot choose which LPN to connect to.

Which means that I am afraid this isn't what you are looking for either.

The last resort would be to not use the SDK's Proxy Client feature, and setup your own. It's exactly "modify the dongle firmware to make it a Proxy Client."

I am afraid that doing this is not going to be trivial and likely require a lot of effort.

I'm sorry that the SDK currently doesn't have the support that you need with your setup.

RE: The USB mesh dongle PYACI fail to connect to the provisioned LPN node after power cycle

James He — Tue, 22 Aug 2023 00:42:22 GMT

Hi Hieu

I previously thought that NCS does not yet have support for the Proxy Client, but it already did. While this is largely inherited from the Zephyr RTOS and Nordic hasn't actively worked on much, it might be what you are looking for.

With that feature, the Bluetooth Mesh Shell can connect to an LPN node's Proxy Server just like the smartphone apps can.

Besides that, the Bluetooth Mesh Shell also supports the Friend feature, if it suited your need.

<Reply> I'm not sure if I misunderstand your points. lets clarify: The mesh shell is in Dongle side or in LPN node side? do you mean I modify dongle firmware to make it to be a proxy client so that it can connect with LPN node's proxy server side?

Thanks

RE: The USB mesh dongle PYACI fail to connect to the provisioned LPN node after power cycle

James He — Tue, 22 Aug 2023 00:37:29 GMT

James He said:

In my product structure there is not additional friendship node. so dongle cannot commminicate with provisioned lpn sensors? a friend node is necessary if dongle want to communicate with lpn node? is it possible that lpn works without friendship node?

You need a Friend Node to tell an LPN of what the LPN missed while it was asleep. This communication only happens when the LPN wakes up and poll the Friend Node.

You seem to be looking for a way to communicate with an LPN anytime the dongle/PC wants. Is that right? That perhaps is not possible.

<Reply> Yes, my devices have only LPN sensors and PC dongle, there is not friendship node, I want to dongle communicate with the LPN node directly. it looks impossible.

James He said:

I test and find that Nordic App 'nrf mesh' can connect the provisioned lpn sensor over PB-GATT, but dongle cannot, because dongle PYACI doesn't support PB-GATT, it supports only PB-ADV?

Is your LPN broadcasting its Proxy advertisements at all time? Then that makes sense how the nRF Mesh app can connect to it. The app talks to the LPN, and it is done through the LPN itself working as the Proxy.
<Reply> Yes, my LPN is broadcasting proxy advertisement. then is it possible that I modify dongle firmware or PYACI to make dongle to communicate with LPN sensor through proxy connection?

RE: The USB mesh dongle PYACI fail to connect to the provisioned LPN node after power cycle

Hieu — Thu, 17 Aug 2023 21:50:04 GMT

Hi James,

With that feature, the Bluetooth Mesh Shell can connect to an LPN node's Proxy Server just like the smartphone apps can.

Besides that, the Bluetooth Mesh Shell also supports the Friend feature, if it suited your need.

Refer:
bluetooth/api/mesh/shell.html#mesh-models-cfg-friend-val-off-on
bluetooth/api/mesh/shell.html#proxy

Regards,

Hieu

RE: The USB mesh dongle PYACI fail to connect to the provisioned LPN node after power cycle

Hieu — Wed, 16 Aug 2023 18:02:13 GMT

Hi James,

[quote user="James He"]In my product structure there is not additional friendship node. so dongle cannot commminicate with provisioned lpn sensors? a friend node is necessary if dongle want to communicate with lpn node? is it possible that lpn works without friendship node?[/quote]

You need a Friend Node to tell an LPN of what the LPN missed while it was asleep. This communication only happens when the LPN wakes up and poll the Friend Node.

You seem to be looking for a way to communicate with an LPN anytime the dongle/PC wants. Is that right? That perhaps is not possible.

[quote user="James He"]I test and find that Nordic App 'nrf mesh' can connect the provisioned lpn sensor over PB-GATT, but dongle cannot, because dongle PYACI doesn't support PB-GATT, it supports only PB-ADV?[/quote]

Regards,

Hieu

RE: The USB mesh dongle PYACI fail to connect to the provisioned LPN node after power cycle

James He — Wed, 16 Aug 2023 08:08:15 GMT

Hi Hieu

if I change to use mesh shell with nRF Connect SDK, I still face the problem that PC USB dongle cannot connect the provisioned LPN node?

my product strcuture is: there are dozens of LPN sensors and one PC mesh dongle these two types of devices. this mesh dongle collects light value from each lpn sensor node over mesh, then dongle uses these info to control adjusting other lamps lightness. now I want to save power in sensors,so I configure sensors as LPN node.

In my product structure there is not additional friendship node. so dongle cannot commminicate with provisioned lpn sensors? a friend node is necessary if dongle want to communicate with lpn node? is it possible that lpn works without friendship node?

I test and find that Nordic App 'nrf mesh' can connect the provisioned lpn sensor over PB-GATT, but dongle cannot, because dongle PYACI doesn't support PB-GATT, it supports only PB-ADV?

Thanks

James

RE: The USB mesh dongle PYACI fail to connect to the provisioned LPN node after power cycle

Hieu — Tue, 15 Aug 2023 13:23:35 GMT

Hi James,

For Bluetooth Mesh projects, we really recommend the nRF Connect SDK over the nRF5 SDK for Mesh. Therefore, before we begin, I must ask: Instead of the PyACI script, is it possible for you to move to the Mesh Shell solution on the nRF Connect SDK?

Regards,

Hieu