Nrf24 vs BLE

[Leonardo]

Hello all,

In a network of sensors with power constraints in a room which protocol is the best?

Newer devices seem to use BLE but I don't want to discard good old nrf24l01+

Sensors are like accelerometers, flex sensors, gyroscopes, led lights, etc.. that should talk with a gateway mini-pc in the room (can have a custom receiver). I don't know number of sensors but I think a dozen max.

Thank you Leonardo

[Asbjørn]

Using nRF24L01+ is a good solution for the setup you describe. You can also have a look at the nRF24LE1, which has the same radio, but also a simple 8051 MCU built into to. So you could potentially run everything on one chip. These also come in cost optimized OTP (One-Time-Programmable) variant.

For the computer side you could have a look at the nRF24LU1+ which is the same nRF24L01+ radio, but with an 8051 MCU and a built in USB controller.

[Leonardo]

8051 isn't too old for nowadays? ARM Cortex M0 seem more powerfull or I am wrong?

[Asbjørn]

You are correct. M0 is much more powerful, but you can do a lot of basic simple stuff with the 8051. For simple sensors it could be a simple method to do it. You will of course have more functionality and power available with the nRF51 and the M0 onboard that one. Good luck.

[Liviu]

(a very late reply)

I personally find working with the radio communication protocols a lot easier. From my experience reaching the same speeds as the nRF24 via bluetooth is massively difficult (if not impossible) — however, maybe I just don't know enough about BLE. The best way I found is to have a receiving device connected directly to your 'output device' (phone, laptop, desktop) that prepares the data received wirelessly from various other sensors.

Hope this helps.

[awneil]

I think comparing BLE to nRF24 is rather like comparing USB to UART.

Sure BLE (like USB) adds loads of extra bells & whistles, but that does come at a cost - espececially if you don't need them.

So, if you want a highly-optimised solution for a very specific problem a "general-purpose, do-everything" thing like BLE (or USB) is possibly not the way to go.

The downside, of course, is that you won't be able to just connect straight to any phone, tablet or laptop on the planet - you will have to make adaptors and gateways and suchlike. But, in this case, that is probably not a problem.