Bluetooth Mesh and SmartCore
Bluetooth mesh networking enables many-to-many (m:m) device communications and is optimized for creating large-scale device networks. This makes it a good protocol for building automation, allowing communication between the various devices and systems within a space.
Bluetooth Mesh is used across a number of applications, including lighting and sensor network solutions, allowing tens, hundreds or thousands of devices to communicate with one another.
As Bluetooth Mesh is a ratified standard it provides a robust wireless connectivity and communication solution for devices and systems within a building. It is worth noting that traditional Bluetooth solutions are often proprietary, limiting building owners from using multiple vendors or manufacturer products. However, some newer mesh solutions being released, address the issue of interoperability and are developed with open architecture in mind.
Bluetooth Mesh is viewed as an industrial-grade solution; commercial buildings and factory automation are markets that can often require low-power mesh networks and therefore need reliability, scalability and strong security – which Bluetooth Mesh offers.
There are multiple options System Integrators could select from when installing a lighting and building control solution such as SmartCore. If a wireless solution fits the brief, Bluetooth is seen as one of the most mature and trusted.
Bluetooth technology can also add value through things like beacon support for localised information and asset-tracking improving efficiency in applications such as hospitals and schools.
The latest release of SmartCore includes a range of new gateway products that are supported, including Xicato Wireless Mesh.
Xicato’s Bluetooth Mesh lighting controls are designed to provide superior control and monitoring to reduce the implementation and maintenance costs at any site. Tens of thousands of nodes can share a single, highly secure network, and there can be tens of thousands of networks.
The Xicato Wireless Mesh solution is interoperable and scalable, meaning it can work with a broad range of lighting, network, and management systems throughout a building and across entire sites. It is also fast, simple and cost-effective, meaning commissioning only takes a matter of hours instead of days.
In addition, Xicato states that “eliminating wires, connectors, hubs, and central controllers reduce the possibility that one of them will fail and take down the entire system. Xicato’s distributed Bluetooth lighting controls ensure that there is no single point of failure.”
The combination of Xicato Wireless Mesh and amBX SmartCore creates an interoperable, secure, user-friendly and intuitive solution that offers complete flexibility and scalability to installers and end-users.