nRF52810 - Using in an existing Mesh network

[Rohat KILIC]

First of all, I couldn't find any related topics, sorry. So if there's one, please forward me there.

We are working on an in-house BLE Mesh network project. There will be some devices (e.g. smart plugs, bulbs, switches, etc.) forming a Mesh network. Our problem is, we couldn't manage to "add" a BLE device (i.e. not supporting Mesh) to the network. Or at least, while we are using our smartphones and connected to a mesh network, we still want to access the smart switches (i.e. BLE devices). I know, it sounds odd. Here are some details for clarifying:

- The switches will be battery-operated, and the power consumption is a limiting factor for us. To minimize the consumption, we'd like to use nRF52810 in smart switches. But they won't be a part of the Mesh network.

- The end-user should access a smart switch directly or indirectly (e.g. through a proxy device in the Mesh network) with his/her smartphone.

So the questions are: Can a BLE device be accessible through the Mesh network? Or, can a node in the Mesh network be a proxy for a BLE device that is not part of the Mesh network? If yes, can the BLE device switch to another proxy node (e.g. when the current proxy is not available) in the Mesh dynamically?

Thanks in advance.

[Joakim Jakobsen]

Hi. 

Very sorry about the delayed response time here. 

It is possible for a BLE device to be accessible through the Mesh network. It will have to connect to a proxy node in the Mesh, which in turn can forward messages to and from the BLE device. 
The BLE device should be able to dynamically switch between proxy nodes, but I'll need to talk to our developers if you need more specific information about how that can be handled. 

Br, 
Joakim