Is it possible to perform BLE Scan while participating in an mesh network.

[Sivaguru Ravi]

Is it possible to perform BLE Scan using an server (In the Light Switch Demo Example) while participating in a mesh network?

[ketil]

Hi,

Yes, it is possible to do other BLE activity whilst participating in the mesh network. Please check out the Beaconing example for a quick demonstration. I also recommend that you read the documentation on Coexistence with other Nordic SDKs.

Ketil

[Sivaguru Ravi]

Hi, Beaconing example is for advertisement right? I wanted to do do a BLE scan for beacons in the vicinity and then based on that i need to send some data over the mesh to all he nodes. So i wanted to know how do perform be scan while on mesh.

[ketil]

Hi,

Yes, the Beaconing example is for advertisement. You can do scanning but will have to implement it yourself. Please note that SoftDevice activity is prioritized over Mesh activity when running concurrently. From the Coexistence documentation:

Concurrent SoftDevice and mesh activity

By design, the SoftDevice activity is prioritized over mesh activity. 
Therefore, you should keep the connection and advertisement intervals 
used by the SoftDevice as large as possible (i.e. infrequent) when 
using Bluetooth low energy connections. If scanning, keep the scan 
duty cycle as low as possible. You should also reduce mesh activity 
while the SoftDevice is doing fast advertising and continue normal 
activity after a connection is established.

 

[Sivaguru Ravi]

Please tell me from where i can find the scan APIs in the mesh SDK, or is it ok to use the APIs directly from the normal sdk? If so please share some examples in regard to the same.

Thank you,

Sivaguru Ravi

[ketil]

Hi Sivaguru,

From the Coexistence documentation:

If you plan to use an example from the nRF5 SDK in combination with the mesh stack, move the mesh stack repository into the Nordic nRF5 SDK examples folder and include the necessary source files in the Nordic nRF5 SDK project that you want to use.

I also recommend that you check out Mesh SDK 2.0.0 which is now available for download.

Ketil