Sensor Network with iOS: How many devices?

[Stephan]

Hi all,

what if I want a sensor network in my house with BLE. Can I just install, for example, 16 nodes in my house and connect to all of them with one iPhone? Or would you suggest to install one BLE-node that acts like a central for all sensors and to which the iPhone does connect to collect all data from all other nodes?

Do you have suggestions for that use case?

Thanks and regards, Stephan

[Ling LI]

16 BLE peripherals to one central is no problem, no matter if they are all reachable (small house) or not (large house). You may set a longer connection interval if you expect many concurrent connections.

On the other hand, if you have a large house, it's not always possible to find a spot for a fixed central.

Such a (likely) discrete* BLE network does have some good use; it's even sufficient for some non-pro users. With a mobile central i.e., the phone, the user can move around to survey sensor readings or do controls and settings on them. Maybe it's a viable low-end substitude for a full-mesh installed sensor network? The mobility of the central can somewhat compensate for the lack of full network connectivity... I find it's interesting.

*discrete means the devices are in a network but not reachable all at once.

[Guest]

Hi Ling LI,

thanks for your thoughts! Of course you're right by saying that it's a viable low-end substitute, but on the other hand I like the thought of having all data in a db to access with one click :)

For that purpose: Would it make more sense to develop several (for example) Zigbee Nodes to capture measurements and to act in a network through all the house and just to have one ZigBee/BLE-Bridge to connect to?

I would rather love to implement all this on BLE but I'm not sure if networking stuff (repeating etc) works with BLE?