Can a proxy node also be a controller node?

[MichaelNordicUser]

Can a proxy node also be a client and server node (a controller node)?

What are the key differences between a server and a client in BLE mesh?

Can a server relay a packet to another server, or are only clients and servers able to relay packets to each-other in a mesh?

[Hung Bui]

Hi Michael,

At section 2.3.6 in the Mesh spec you can find the definition of client and server model, I think it's self explained:

• Server model: A server model is composed of one or more states spanning one or more elements. The server model defines a set of mandatory messages that it can transmit or receive, the behavior required of the element when it transmits and receives such messages, and any additional behavior that occurs after messages are transmitted or received.

• Client model: A client model defines a set of messages (both mandatory and optional) that a client uses to request, change, or consume corresponding server states, as defined by a server model. The client model does not have state.

A proxy node can be a client and server, yes. Note that client, and server are model, not node. And proxy is a role a node can support.

So there is no conflict here.

I think the way the server and client model was designed is that the server is very simple and only holds states. The client is the one trigger command and request data. So communication between 2 servers is not really what designed.

However, the application is free to use access layer to send data between node. So if you don't use the client server model the way they defined in spec, it's totally fine.

[kren]

Does nrf mesh v0.10 support proxy?