Power down in BLE MESH EDGE NODE (SENSOR SERVER) without using the LPN and FRIEND NODE

[Akbar]

Hi,

I am facing a problem in adding a power down feature in my application, the details of the application are as follows,

1. I am using the sensor server example given in the SDK.
2. I want to use it in such a way that it should send the data at the interval of 10 seconds.
3. After sending the data it should immediately enter in power down mode and then again after 10 seconds it should wake up and send the packet to the RELAY NODES available in the MESH network.
4. I can't use LPN and FRIEND NODE FEATURE in my mesh network. 
5. EDGE NODES in which I want to add the feature of power down, will be battery based and the RELAY NODES and PROXY NODE in the network will be wall powered with continuous supply  

I am using ,

1. NRF SDK 5 for MESH
2. NRF CONNECT SDK 17.0.2
3. NRF MESH mobile application for provisioning 
4. SEGGER Embedded Studio for developing software
5. nrf52840 dev kits as the different types of nodes.

So, what I have tried till now is as follows,

1. I have read multiple discussions on the community about this but I  couldn't get clear understanding of the solution.
2. I have read about the Power-Down Feature in the documentation and my queries are mostly around this topic only. 

Now, what exactly my questions are is as follows,

1. How should I use this function < mesh_stack_power_down() > and where and when should I call it in the Sensor Server example ?
2. How much will the device consume power once it enter this mode? is it 4 uA if I want to use RTC ON?
3. Now, How should I wake up the device such that it should automatically participate in the network and send data again?
4. Kindly provide me with the detail sequence of waking up the device from mesh_stack_power_down() mode. Which functions shall I use to wake up the device ?

Any other details you want to add from your side which will be useful in getting the proper solution kindly share that too!

Thanks in advance !

Any leads towards the solution or link to the readable material useful in solving the problem will be highly appreciated. 

Regards !

Akbar

[Mttrinh]

Hi,

The power down feature is intended for a full power down situation as described in the documentation you are referring to. It is not suited to be used in the situation you are describing. The Low Power node feature would be the correct solution in this case.

I can't use LPN and FRIEND NODE FEATURE in my mesh network.

Can you elaborate as for why you can't use these features in your network?

I would suggest you look at these two threads, this and this.

[Akbar]

Hi , 

Thank you for your quick response!

Reason : Because, the RELAY NODES in our application will be fixed at some locations but the EDGE NODES will be continuously moving 

APPLICATION : Actually, we are try to build a real time indoor assist tracking for continuously moving assets. So, the idea is the EDGE NODES will be placed on moving assets and the RELAY NODES will be fixed at particular known locations. In this way our application works 

This follows that, we can not assign fixed FIXED FRIEND nodes to each EDGE NODE.

also, I would like to clear that we will be sending only one way messeges from EDGE NODES to RELAYS. 

If you have some suggestions to achieve the above mentioned application, kindly share it. 

Thank you !

[Mttrinh]

Hi,

If you can't use the LPN feature, you can try disable scanner like this. It will help reducing the consumption at least.

Just note this comment.