Jiangsu OctoNet Technology has launched a positioning gateway that uses Bluetooth Direction Finding to help locate key items and personnel. The ‘OctoNet ON-x00-15’ employs Nordic Semiconductor’s nRF52840 SoC for high throughput or long-range Bluetooth LE connectivity, and the nRF52833 SoC’s Angle-of-Arrival (AoA) and Angle-of-Departure (AoD) direction finding capabilities. By combining one or two nRF52840 SoCs with the nRF52833, the gateway can support high data throughput or long range, and multiple concurrent communication protocols (for example, Bluetooth LE, Bluetooth mesh, and Matter).
The nRF52833 supports both receiver and transmitter roles for AoA and AoD applications.The SoC features all of Bluetooth 5.2’s direction finding features, enabling it to calculate distance from, and direction of, a transceiver for precise locationing. The nRF52840 features a 2.4 GHz multiprotocol radio with -95 dBm RX sensitivity and 8 dBm output power for robust and reliable connectivity.
Using a wired Ethernet interface, the OctoNet ON-x00-15 is connected to the local server, which performs the locationing calculations using the data received from multiple gateways. This information can then be sent to the Cloud for further analysis. In the current model, the Ethernet connection also supplies power but the company also plans a battery-powered version of the base station.
