SoC suppporting Mesh and direction finding

[viveknath]

I would like to know if there is an SoC or/and a development kit that supports both Bluetooth Mesh and the BLE Direction-finding concepts

[Karl Ylvisaker]

Hi,

Yes, the nRF52833 and nRF5340 SoCs both support Bluetooth Mesh and Direction finding.
However, is you intention to use both at the same time?

Best regards,
Karl

[viveknath]

Hello,

Thanks for the quick response.

Yes. Evaluating to create an application that needs the use of both the concepts at the same time .

Is it feasible?

[Karl Ylvisaker]

Hello,

Sorry for my late response.
Using direction finding in a Bluetooth mesh node is possible in theory, but it is not something we have support for as of yet.
We do not have any example applications of this either, at this time.
With that said, you are of course very welcome to implement this yourself - and if you get into trouble feel free to ask us here on DevZone for help! :)

Best regards,
Karl

[viveknath]

Thank you for the information.

[Karl Ylvisaker]

No problem at all, good luck with your development.
I look forward to hearing any updates!

Best regards,
Karl

[Cintelex]

Hello,
Since this question/response is a year old, could you please refresh the answer in the context of newer chips such as the nRF5340. Can it support both Mesh and Direction Finding at the same time? Furthermore, is there a chance that it would support LE Audio, Mesh, and Direction Finding at the same time?
Thank You

[Karl Ylvisaker]

Hello,

Cintelex said:

Since this question/response is a year old, could you please refresh the answer in the context of newer chips such as the nRF5340. Can it support both Mesh and Direction Finding at the same time?

Unfortunately, we still do not have any examples of direction finding in a mesh network topology.
Which Mesh protocol are you referring to, by the way? 

Cintelex said:

Furthermore, is there a chance that it would support LE Audio, Mesh, and Direction Finding at the same time?

Theoretically I suppose this might work, but practically I would not think the performance would be sufficient, unfortunately. Most Mesh protocols use the radio for 100% of the time - any reduction of this reduces the performance of the mesh - so it should only be paired with protocols that do not need the radio too often, such as BLE. I therefore would not think that you could combine them all, and still get reasonable performance.

Have you spoken to your local Regional Sales Manager (RSM) about your application and its requirements? They would be more than happy to discuss with you how you alternatively may achieve your requirements.
If you do not know who your local RSM is, please either open a separate ticket on this issue, or send me a private message with your location and I can provide you their contact info.

Best regards,
Karl