How many devices are supported in a Bluetooth mesh by nRF52840 and nRF52833?

[salihonur]

Hi,

How many devices can be meshed in Bluetooth? I see that both NRF52840 and NRF52833 support Bluetooth 5.3. As I know normally v5.3 supports up to 7 devices. Is it same for NRF52840/NRF52833 or less?

We want to mesh 4 devices as a standard + 2 devices optional in an audio project. All devices will talk to each other. We are goingto develop an intercom system from scratch.

[Menon]

Hello,

Sorry, I didn't get you well Are you trying to use Bluetooth Mesh in your development? Or are you trying with BLE where you want 6 devices to interact each other?

I wanted to know whether you got mixed with Bluetooth mesh and Bluetooth because, if you are using Bluetooth mesh then device limit is quite high.

Kind Regards,

Abhijith

[salihonur]

Hi Abhijith,

In fact we want to develop a custom walkie-talkie. Only our brand devices can be matched up to 6 devices. No phone or other 3rd party devices will join the network. The topology can be like 1 master + 5 slave (bi-directional audio). I guess BLE is much more efficient such kind of application.

Another question is whether nRF5340 has a significant advantage compared to nrf52840? There is also an ongoing project with NRF52840. If there isn't a big difference then we want to go with nrf52840 to reduce complexity.

[Menon]

Hello,

With 1 central you can have up to 20 peripherals connected. Since its walkie-talkie I guess you are physically switching between the Receivers and Transmitters. 

For your development I strongly recommend you to use nrf5340  as it comes with a companion chip and LE audio support (with LC3 codec involved). As a starting point you can refer this page from nordic. Take a look at the Bluettoth audio broadcast feature which might be useful for your development.

Kind Regards,

Abhijith

[salihonur]

Hi,

Actually with a handle. All devices will work like wireless headsets. Handsfree. Nodes will connect to one master like image.

[salihonur]

Sorry I couldn't find the edit button of my last comment. There is no handle button. Let me explain the project. I would like to share it as a private but it is easier to explain. It is already a signed project so no matter to share generic info.

People who do extreme sports have their own headset. When a group of people comes together (as a team or a support unit) in an event they will pair their devices among the group. Group members can be change in any event.

The topology is that the team leader can hear all and cross talk with others, however other members can hear and talk only with the leader.

If that topology is impossible, then we can think that everyone in the group can hear and talk each other at same time.

There won't be a push button to talk in both topology.