SIMULATION of 100 devices.

[sne_333]

Hello All,

              I am using nrf52840 in my project. So basically the architecture is the sensor devices(ble peripheral) get connected to the central module(ble central). Now I have done the testing of my code with 1 or 2 devices and it works fine. I want to test the same with 100 devices now. For this I needed one simulator. Any idea on how we can simulate the firmware for peripheral and central with 100 devices. How can we code this or are there any available simulators for ble devices??

Thanks & Regards,

Snehal

[tesc]

Hi,

What you ask for sounds like highly specialized software, which is outside the scope of firmware and SDKs for nRF. It is possible to emulate nRF Connect SDK applications using QEMU, but that is not for simulating multiple devices communicating over BLE. For our own testing we use actual devices.

Please note that with our current BLE stacks for the nRF52 series devices, the SoftDevice for nRF5 SDK and the SoftDevice Controller for nRF Connect SDK, the maximum number of concurrent BLE connections is 20. For larger networks, you can either do a multilevel star topology or go for a mesh based solution such as Bluetooth mesh, Thread or Zigbee.

Regards,
Terje

[sne_333]

Hi Terje,

          Thank you for your reply. Can you share some information on how can we use Bluetooth mesh with nordic devices?

Thanks & Regards,

Snehal.

[tesc]

Hi,

We have full Bluetooth mesh support in nRF Connect SDK, including support for all SIG defined models. Mesh "models" correspond to services and characteristics in BLE. You can also make your own vendor specific models. For supporting development we also have the nRF Mesh app. For an introductory presentation to Bluetooth mesh you can have a look at a webinar session from last November: Introduction to Bluetooth mesh. SoCs supported are nRF52832, nRF52833, nRF52840 and nRF5340. For more information, please contact our sales representative for your area. If you do not know who that is, please create a private ticket and ask, then we will provide contact details.

Regards,
Terje

[sne_333]

Hi Terje,

          But implementing Bluetooth mesh will be a completely different project than what we have now. Can we atleast simulate 10 devices through one device? Is there any way to do it?

Thanks & Regards,

Snehal

              

[tesc]

Hi,

For a BLE device, there is support of up to 20 connections using the SoftDevice Controller. If you have 21 devices, you can set up this. Please note that you must have long enough connection intervals for the central to successfully schedule all connections.

If you want to simulate (i.e. on a PC or using fewer devices than what is actually intended) then I am sorry to say we don't really have anything for that.

Regards,
Terje