Suppose you have some BLE devices at your home and want to control or scan for those devices while at your workplace. In this project, we will discuss how to access BLE data remotely.
We have already created a script that communicates through BleuIO dongle remotely and gives us the response. You can access the script at
You are free to clone the script and make changes as you wish.
In this script, JavaScript is used to connect to the dongle using google chrome’s serial port. There is a simple PHP script that helps pass data through the cloud.
Step 1: Uploading
Upload the API folder in any server that supports PHP. This script reads and writes data to a JSON file upon request.
We have uploaded the file at http://smartsensor.io/api/api.php
You can use this URL if you don’t have a server to upload.
Step 2: Home computer setup
Open the index.js file found in the root folder and update the URL of the API file on both occasions.
You can leave the url as it is if you want to use file from our server.
Now connect a BleuIO dongle to your home computer and open the index.html file from the root folder.
Click connect and select the COM port where the dongle is connected.
Open the index.html file found in the user folder and update the URL of the API file on both occasions.
You can leave the url as it is if you want to use file from our server.
Now open this file in a browser and start writing AT commands.
Currently, You can access the following AT commands
ATI ( Returns firmware version, hardware type and unique organization identifier, device connection status )
AT+CENTRAL (Sets the device Bluetooth role to central role.)
AT+PERIPHERAL (Sets the device Bluetooth role to the peripheral.)
AT+DUAL (Sets the device Bluetooth role to dual role. Which means it has both Central and Peripheral role capabilities.)
AT+ADVSTART (Starts advertising)
AT+ADVSTOP (Stops advertising. Returns ERROR if not already advertising)
AT+GAPSTATUS (Reports the Bluetooth role)
AT+GAPSCAN=2 (Starts a Bluetooth device scan with the timer set in seconds. Make sure to set a timer for the scan.)
Once you type one of the above commands, you will start to see the response from the dongle on your browser screen.
I am trying to scan for BLE devices at my home where BleuIO dongle is connected. Here I got a list of devices showing on my browser screen. Make sure the device is on central mode to scan for devices.
You can add more AT commands to the script as required. All you need to do is update the index.js file found in the root folder.
Find the list of AT commands our from getting started guide at
The BleuIO is Bluetooth low energy USB dongle that can be used to create new BLE 5.0 applications in the fastest and easiest way. The BleuIO comes with a bootloader that allows you to update the firmware or flash your own application to the dongle.
This guide will show you how to get started with making your own firmware for the BleuIO Dongle by importing our advertising example project and running it on the BleuIO dongle.
Introduction
This project has both USB CDC and BLE in Peripheral Mode. This allows you to create your own command interpreter that takes in commands to the Dongle via a serial terminal. You can then use this to execute BLE tasks such as start set advertsing or response data, start and stop advertsing etc.
The project, like the previous, uses FreeRTOS and handles the usb cdc functions in the usb_cdc_task located in the usb_cdc.c:
And the ble functions in the ble_peripheral_task located in ble_peripheral_task.c:
The example will start advertsing and is connecteble. It also has the Device Information Service (DIS) with some default values taken from Dialog Semiconductor’s ble_peripheral example. This and the advertising data can be changed in ble_peripheral_task.c:
When running the example it will, just like the previous example, open a com port that will echo what every you type into the terminal. It will also start advertising with the name “BleuIO Example”.
You can scan for it using another dongle with the BleuIO firmware or download a BLE scanning App like ‘BLE Scanner’ or ‘LightBlue”.
The BleuIO is Bluetooth low energy USB dongle that can be used to create new BLE 5.0 applications in the fastest and easiest way. The BleuIO comes with a bootloader that allows you to update the firmware or flash your own application to the dongle.
This guide will show you how to get started with making your own firmware for the BleuIO Dongle by importing our example project and running it on the BleuIO dongle.
The project itself is a modified version of Dialog Semiconductor’s ‘usb_cdc’ example project made to work on the BleuIO Dongle.
The ‘usb_cdc’ example will echo anything typed in the terminal back.
Unzip the project and place it inside the SDK like this:
Importing project
Open Smart Snippet Studio and when prompted, select the SDK you just downloaded:
Now click the IDE:
Right-Click in the Project Explorer window and select import:
Select ‘Projects from Folder or Archive’ under the ‘General’ tab:
Click the ‘Directory…’ button and find the ‘bleuio_own_application_example’ project folder inside your SDK folder:
Finally, click ‘Finish’. You have now imported the project!
Building project and creating an image file
To create an image file that you can use to flash to the BleuIO Dongle via the bootloader, you must first build the project to create a bin file. To do that, click the ‘Hammer’ icon in the toolbar. Be sure to build the project for DA14683.
Dialog Semiconductor has a file called mkimage.exe included in the SDK for generating image files. It can be run using the mkimage.bat file located at [SDK_Root]\utilities\scripts\suota\v11. It needs to point to the bin file you want to generate an image file from.
You can open up the command prompt in the same folder and run mkimage.bat like this:
You should now have an image file inside your build folder DA14683-00-Release_QSPI named bleuioown_application_example.1.0.0.1.img that can be flashed to the BleuIO Dongle using the ‘_host_usb_updater.exe‘ (More info about updating the firmware: [Firmware Update](../firmware#How to update your firmware)).
Running the Application
After you flashed the firmware to a BleuIO Dongle, open up a Serial Communication program (like TeraTerm, Putty or CoolTerm etc.), just like you would with the BleuIO Firmware. When first started you should be greeted by this:
If you type any text, the application will now echo what you type in the terminal.
The BleuIO comes with a bootloader to allow you to update the firmware or flash your own application to the dongle. To flash the dongle, you will need an image file containing the new firmware or your own application and a host USB loader application.
You can download the latest firmware, and host USB loader from our getting started guide.
This article will explain how to update a BleuIO dongle using a RaspberryPi.
Connect the BleuIO dongle to your Linux / RaspberryPi.
To identify which device name the dongle is connected to, you will need to run ls /dev on the terminal. You might need to do it twice, once before you connect the dongle and once after, to be able to identify which one is the device name.
The following screenshot shows devices list before and after connecting the dongle.
The BleuIO includes a bootloader that allows you to update the firmware easily. When starting up, the dongle will open up a COM port for the bootloader for 10 seconds to allow you to update the firmware (or flash your own application). Afterwards, it will close that port and open a new port for the BleuIO application.
Now that you know the device name, you can run the following command to update the dongle.
Distance to a Bluetooth device can be measured using RSSI value. The following script will help you locate nearby unique BLE devices within a selected range.
This script scans for nearby unique Bluetooth devices within the given range using a well-known RSSI to distance formula.
Bluetooth ranging technology is very popular. There are many localization systems that exist based on beacons. Beacon technology usually estimates the distance between devices using the received signal strength (RSSI).
Bluetooth can be an excellent way to narrow down a search area at close distances when tracking something. This feature can be used in several fields. such as Secure Locks for Buildings and Automotive, Asset localization & tracking, Indoor navigation etc
GPS tracking isn’t excellent at giving accurate measurements of the close distance, especially in the indoor environment. On the other hand, Bluetooth is excellent in short ranges because the waves can go through walls. This might fill the gap that GPS tracking has when tracking devices in indoor spaces.
However, most calculations of the distance between two Bluetooth devices are estimates. It’s hard to determine the exact distance between two Bluetooth devices because many factors affect the calculations. Despite the challenges, there are methods to determine the distance between two Bluetooth devices with an accuracy of at least 60-80%.
The ranging method is simple to implement, and it has the formula to calculate the distance between two Bluetooth devices. As the name suggests, both devices need to be within Bluetooth range to estimate the distance.
This article will share a simple script written in JavaScript to determine nearby Bluetooth devices and their distance in meters.
This script scans for nearby Bluetooth devices and gets an approximation of the distance by using the well-known RSSI to distance formula.
The script will an index.html and script.js file. Index.html is just has a connect and scan for device button. upon connecting we will be able to scan for nearby devices and. Once the scanning is completed we will be able to see a list of devices and their distance from my computer.
The script.js file uses bleuio javascript library to connect and scan for BLE devices. Once we get the device list, we try to sort it out by RSSI value and convert RSSI value to distance. Finally we print the result into a table.
Here is the script.js file
import * as my_dongle from 'bleuio'
document.getElementById('connect').addEventListener('click', function(){
my_dongle.at_connect()
})
/*
Functions to converts rssi to distance
read more at
https://iotandelectronics.wordpress.com/2016/10/07/how-to-calculate-distance-from-the-rssi-value-of-the-ble-beacon/
*/
const getDistance =(rssi=>{
let n=2
let mp=-69
return 10 ** ((mp - (rssi))/(10 * n))
})
document.getElementById('scan').addEventListener('click', function(){
var element = document.getElementById("scanning");
element.classList.remove("d-none");
my_dongle.at_central().then((data)=>{
my_dongle.at_gapscan(4,false).then((dev)=>{
//convert array string to array of object with key value
const formated = dev.map((item) => {
const [ id, dev,devid,none,rssi,rssival,devname ] = item.split(' ');
return { id, dev,devid,none,rssi,rssival,devname};
});
//array list unique
let uniqueArr= formated.filter(y=>y.devname!=undefined)
//sort based on rssi value
uniqueArr.sort((a, b) => a.rssival > b.rssival && 1 || -1)
let withDistance= uniqueArr.map(r=>{
r.distance=getDistance(r.rssival).toFixed(2)+' meter'
return r
})
//generate output
let mytable = `<h2>Device List</h2>
<table class='table table-striped table-bordered'>
<tr>
<th>Device</th>
<th>RSSI</th>
<th>Distance</th>
</tr>`;
withDistance.map(j=>{
mytable += "<tr><td>" +j.devid+" - "+ j.devname + "</td><td>"+ j.rssival+"</td><td>"+j.distance+"</td></tr>";
})
mytable += "</table>";
document.getElementById("deviceList").innerHTML = mytable;
element.classList.add("d-none");
})
})
})
To run this script , we can use a web bundler called parcel. https://parceljs.org/
lets go inside the folder and in terminal type.
parcel index.html
The script will scan for five seconds for nearby devices. You can update the value based on your requirements.
This tutorial will show how to transfer files wirelessly over the Bluetooth Low Energy protocol. We will use two BleuIO dongles for this project—one for sending and another one for receiving. The sender dongle will be in central mode, while the receiver dongle will be in peripheral mode.
We have already created two python scripts for sending and receiving. You can get the source code from
First, connect two BleuIO dongles to your computer.
Note down the COM port for each dongle. You can find the port using device manager.
Try to find receiver dongle MAC id. To do that, start advertising your receiver dongle and note down the MAC id. Follow the video if you need more details on how to do it.
Open file_recieve.py and file_transfer.py files. Update COM port and MAC id where necessary.
Here is the file_recieve.py
import serial
import time
your_com_port = "COM6" # Change this to the com port your dongle is connected to.
file_name = "result.png" # Change this to match the file type you are recieving
connecting_to_dongle = True
trying_to_connect = False
print("Connecting to dongle...")
# Trying to connect to dongle until connected. Make sure the port and baudrate is the same as your dongle.
# You can check in the device manager to see what port then right-click and choose properties then the Port Settings
# tab to see the other settings
while connecting_to_dongle:
try:
console = serial.Serial(
port=your_com_port,
baudrate=57600,
parity="N",
stopbits=1,
bytesize=8,
timeout=0,
)
if console.is_open.__bool__():
connecting_to_dongle = False
except:
print("Dongle not connected. Please reconnect Dongle.")
time.sleep(5)
print("Connected to Dongle.")
file_data = ""
file_transfer_done = False
connected = "0"
line = ""
while 1 and console.is_open.__bool__() or not file_transfer_done:
console.write(str.encode("AT+DUAL"))
console.write("\r".encode())
print("Putting dongle in Dual role.")
time.sleep(0.1)
console.write(str.encode("AT+ADVSTART"))
console.write("\r".encode())
time.sleep(0.1)
print("Starting advertising and awaiting connection from other dongle...")
while connected == "0":
dongle_output2 = console.read(console.in_waiting)
time.sleep(2)
if not dongle_output2.isspace():
if dongle_output2.decode().__contains__("\r\nCONNECTED."):
connected = "1"
print("Connected!")
if dongle_output2.decode().__contains__("\r\nDISCONNECTED."):
connected = "0"
print("Disconnected!")
dongle_output2 = " "
while connected == "1" or not file_transfer_done:
time.sleep(0.2)
dongle_output3 = console.read(console.in_waiting)
if not dongle_output3.isspace():
if dongle_output3.__contains__(str.encode("\r\nDISCONNECTED.")):
print("Disconnected!")
connected = "0"
elif dongle_output3.__contains__(str.encode("[DONE]")):
file_transfer_done = True
print("File transfer complete!\r\n")
fo = open(file_name, "wb")
hex = bytes.fromhex(file_data)
fo.write(hex)
fo.close()
print("Exiting script...")
exit()
elif dongle_output3.__contains__(str.encode("[Received]:")):
line = dongle_output3.decode()
line = line.replace("\r", "")
line = line.replace("\n", "")
line = line.replace("[Received]:", "")
line = line.replace(" ", "")
file_data += line
print(line)
dongle_output3 = ""
msg = ""
Set the file type that you are expecting to receive. For example, if you are expecting a jpg file, change file_name on file_recieve.py to result.jpg, and for a text file, you can rename it to result.txt
Here is the file_transfer.py
import serial
import time
target_dongle_mac_address = (
"[0]40:48:FD:E5:2D:AF" # Change this to the peripheral's mac address.
)
your_com_port = "COM25" # Change this to the com port your dongle is connected to.
connecting_to_dongle = True
trying_to_connect = False
file_name = "test.txt"
print("Connecting to dongle...")
# Trying to connect to dongle until connected. Make sure the port and baudrate is the same as your dongle.
# You can check in the device manager to see what port then right-click and choose properties then the Port Settings
# tab to see the other settings
while connecting_to_dongle:
try:
console = serial.Serial(
port=your_com_port,
baudrate=57600,
parity="N",
stopbits=1,
bytesize=8,
timeout=0,
)
if console.is_open.__bool__():
connecting_to_dongle = False
except:
print("Dongle not connected. Please reconnect Dongle.")
time.sleep(5)
print("Connected to Dongle.")
connected = "0"
while 1 and console.is_open.__bool__():
console.write(str.encode("AT+DUAL"))
console.write("\r".encode())
time.sleep(0.1)
print("Putting dongle in Dual role and trying to connect to other dongle.")
while connected == "0":
time.sleep(0.5)
if not trying_to_connect:
console.write(str.encode("AT+GAPCONNECT="))
console.write(str.encode(target_dongle_mac_address))
console.write("\r".encode())
trying_to_connect = True
dongle_output2 = console.read(console.in_waiting)
time.sleep(2)
print("Trying to connect to Peripheral...")
if not dongle_output2.isspace():
if dongle_output2.decode().__contains__("\r\nCONNECTED."):
connected = "1"
print("Connected!")
time.sleep(10)
if dongle_output2.decode().__contains__("\r\nDISCONNECTED."):
connected = "0"
print("Disconnected!")
trying_to_connect = False
dongle_output2 = " "
while connected == "1":
dongle_output3 = console.read(console.in_waiting)
want_to_exit = input(
"Press Enter to start sending file or 'exit' to quit script.\n\r>> "
)
want_to_exit = want_to_exit.upper()
if "EXIT" in want_to_exit:
print("Exiting script...")
exit()
hex_to_send = ""
fo2 = open(file_name, "rb")
print("Sending file. Please wait...")
while (byte := fo2.read(1)) :
hex_to_send += byte.hex().upper()
if len(hex_to_send) >= 200:
# my_dongle.at_spssend(hex_to_send)
console.write(str.encode("AT+SPSSEND=" + hex_to_send + "\r"))
time.sleep(0.2)
hex_to_send = ""
if len(hex_to_send) != 0:
# my_dongle.at_spssend(hex_to_send)
console.write(str.encode("AT+SPSSEND=" + hex_to_send + "\r"))
time.sleep(0.2)
fo2.close()
console.write(str.encode("AT+SPSSEND=[DONE]\r"))
print("File transfer complete!\r\n")
print("Exiting script...")
exit()
Keep the file in the same directory with file_transfer.py and change the file name accordingly.
Now run the script file_recieve.py using a terminal. It will start advertising and will be ready to receive.
Now run the file_transfer.py script.
Once both the dongles are connected, you will be asked to send the file from the file transfer script.
The receiver dongle will give you a confirmation once received, and you will find the file stored in the same folder with the receiver script.
Finally, you can check if you received the file correctly by running a checksum.
Please follow the video if you have difficulty in understanding.
Bluetooth low energy technology offers a suitable way of connecting smart devices. However, despite the convenience, you can bear witness that the range offered can be a little limiting. Sometimes the connection tends to drop or lag when you move a little further away from the device. Fortunately, it’s easy to overcome this range limitation with the Bluetooth repeater.
This article will explain how to create a BLE Repeater using BLE USB dongle called BleuIO and python.
The BleuIO is Bluetooth low energy solution that can be used to create new BLE 5.0 applications in the fastest and easiest way. Using this dongle’s multi-connection feature, we will make a simple repeater where one dongle scans nearby devices data and sends it to the repeater. At the same time, the repeater passes the data to the receiver dongle. And that’s how a repeater will help us overcome the range limitation.
For this project, sender dongle will scan for air quality data from HibouAir device and pass the advertised data along with timestamp to the repeater. The repeater dongle will be connected to a Raspberry pi which will forward data to the receiver dongle.
We have already created a sample script in python, which will help us to do the task.
Let’s start by cloning the repository from https://github.com/smart-sensor-devices-ab/bleuio_repeater_example
Once you cloned the script, you will find three different python script called
repeater_example_reciever_dongle.py
repeater_example_repeter_dongle.py
repeater_example_sender_dongle.py
We need to update the ports on those scripts manually.
repeater_example_reciever_dongle.py
import time
from bleuio_lib.bleuio_funcs import BleuIo
reciever_dongle_port = "COM74" # Change this to your dongle's COM port
mac_addr_to_repeater = (
"[0]40:48:FD:E5:2D:74" # Change this to your repeater dongle's mac address
)
buffer = ""
connected = False
connecting = ""
reciever_dongle = BleuIo(port=reciever_dongle_port)
reciever_dongle.start_daemon()
print("Dongle found.")
def save_msg(buffer):
"""
Parses incomming data string for just the data and prints it out.
"""
result = buffer
result_array1 = result.split("\r\n")
result_array = result_array1[2].split(" ")
msg_to_save = str(result_array[0])
print("Recieved = " + msg_to_save)
try:
reciever_dongle.at_dual()
ready = input(
"Press enter to connect to the repeater dongle. (This should be connected first)."
)
print("Connecting...")
reciever_dongle.at_gapconnect(mac_addr_to_repeater)
time.sleep(5)
while not connected:
connected_status = reciever_dongle.ati()
if "\r\nConnected" in connected_status[0]:
connected = True
break
if "\r\nNot Connected" in connected_status[0]:
reciever_dongle.at_gapconnect(mac_addr_to_repeater)
time.sleep(5)
print("Trying to connect...")
time.sleep(2)
print("Connected.")
print("Waiting to recieve...")
while 1:
buffer = reciever_dongle.rx_buffer.decode("utf-8", "ignore")
if "\r\nhandle_evt_gattc_notification:" in buffer:
save_msg(buffer)
time.sleep(0.5)
except KeyboardInterrupt:
reciever_dongle.at_cancel_connect()
reciever_dongle.at_gapdisconnect()
reciever_dongle.at_advstop()
print("Shutting down script.")
repeater_example_repeter_dongle.py
import time
from bleuio_lib.bleuio_funcs import BleuIo
repeter_dongle_port = "COM38" # Change this to your dongle's COM port
repeter_dongle = BleuIo(port=repeter_dongle_port)
repeter_dongle.start_daemon()
buffer = ""
num_of_connected_devices = 0
connection_list = []
print("Dongle found.")
repeter_dongle.at_dual()
repeter_dongle.at_advstart()
repeter_dongle.rx_state = "rx_waiting"
print("Waiting for other dongles to connect...")
def send_msg(buffer):
"""
Parses incomming data string for just the data and sends it forward via the Serial Port Service.
"""
try:
result = buffer
msg_to_send = ""
result_array1 = result.split("\r\n")
for line in result_array1:
if "[Received]:" in line:
msg_to_send = line.split(" ")
msg_to_send = msg_to_send[1]
break
print("Forwarding data to reciever:")
print(msg_to_send)
if not msg_to_send == "":
repeter_dongle.at_spssend(msg_to_send)
repeter_dongle.rx_state = "rx_waiting"
except:
print(" ")
try:
while 1:
buffer = repeter_dongle.rx_buffer.decode("utf-8", "ignore")
if "\r\nCONNECTED." in buffer:
num_of_connected_devices = num_of_connected_devices + 1
print("A Dongle has connected!")
repeter_dongle.at_advstart()
repeter_dongle.rx_state = "rx_waiting"
if "DISCONNECTED." in buffer:
num_of_connected_devices = num_of_connected_devices - 1
connection_list = []
print("No Dongles connected.")
if num_of_connected_devices > 1:
if "\r\n[Received]:" in buffer:
# print(buffer)
send_msg(buffer)
buffer = ""
time.sleep(0.1)
except KeyboardInterrupt:
repeter_dongle.at_advstop()
repeter_dongle.at_gapdisconnect()
print("Shutting down script.")
repeater_example_sender_dongle.py
import time
from bleuio_lib.bleuio_funcs import BleuIo
import random
sender_dongle_port = "COM73" # Change this to your dongle's COM port
mac_addr_to_repeater = (
"[0]40:48:FD:E5:2D:74" # Change this to your repeater dongle's mac address
)
sender_dongle = BleuIo(port=sender_dongle_port)
sender_dongle.start_daemon()
connected = False
data = ""
buffer = ""
def scan_and_get_results():
"""
Starts a BLE scan for three seconds, looking for results including the 'FF' flag in the advertising data.
Then it saves the results in a list and returns one of the results as a string.
:return: string
"""
print("Scanning...")
return_data = ""
result_list = []
time.sleep(0.5)
try:
scanning = sender_dongle.at_findscandata("FF")
if "SCANNING" in scanning[0]:
time.sleep(4)
sender_dongle.stop_scan()
time.sleep(0.5)
result_list = sender_dongle.rx_scanning_results
if not result_list == []:
if len(result_list) > 3:
lines = result_list[2].split("\r\n")
if not lines[1] == "":
data_array = lines[1].split(" ")
lenght = len(data_array)
if lenght == 5:
data = data_array[4]
return_data = data
else:
sender_dongle.stop_scan()
result_list = []
sender_dongle.rx_state = "rx_waiting"
return_data = ""
except:
sender_dongle.stop_scan()
result_list = []
sender_dongle.rx_state = "rx_waiting"
return_data = ""
return return_data
print("Dongle found.")
try:
sender_dongle.at_dual()
ready = input(
"Press enter to connect to the repeater dongle. (This should be connected last)."
)
print("Connecting...")
sender_dongle.at_gapconnect(mac_addr_to_repeater)
time.sleep(5)
while not connected:
connected_status = sender_dongle.ati()
if "\r\nConnected" in connected_status[0]:
connected = True
break
if "\r\nNot Connected" in connected_status[0]:
sender_dongle.at_gapconnect(mac_addr_to_repeater)
time.sleep(5)
print("Trying to connect...")
time.sleep(2)
print("Connected.")
print("Getting services...")
get_services = sender_dongle.at_get_services()
sender_dongle.rx_state = "rx_waiting"
time.sleep(2)
ready = input("Press enter to start sending data to the repeater dongle.")
while 1:
data = scan_and_get_results()
time.sleep(1)
if not data == "":
sent = sender_dongle.at_spssend(data)
time.sleep(0.1)
if len(sent) == 1:
if "[Sent]" in sent[0]:
print("Data = (" + data + ") sent.")
time.sleep(1)
data = ""
time.sleep(1)
sender_dongle.rx_state = "rx_waiting"
except KeyboardInterrupt:
sender_dongle.at_gapdisconnect()
print("Shutting down script.")
Step 2: Connect two dongles on your PC. You can do the process on three different PC or Raspberry Pi. For this project, I have connected both the sender and receiver dongles to one PC. After connecting the dongles, open device manager (windows) to find ports of each dongle.
On my PC, I have two dongles connected on port 5 and 6. Let’s make COM 5 as the sender, COM 6 as a receiver. Now open the scripts and set the ports number accordingly.
We also need to know repeater dongles ID. To do that, we can simply advertise the dongle on Raspberry pi using AT+ADVSTART command .Then do a gapscan using AT+GAPSCAN from sender dongle and look for a dongle called BleuIO
Once we have repeater dongles id, we can put it on our scripts.
Step 3 :
Now lets run the script.
First move to the script directory on Raspberry pi and using command prompt type sudo python3 repeater_example_repeter_dongle.py to run repeater script.
Similarly, run receiver and sender scripts accordingly on PC.
As the name suggests, the repeater will repeat its content. On the terminal, we will see the message sent to the repeater from the sender, and the repeater forwards the data to the receiver dongle.
This project will demonstrate how to easily create an android app and transfer data between PC and mobile phone.
At first, we will connect BleuIO dongle to our pc. This dongle will help us connect our pc to mobile app and also the data transfer between them.
We already created a simple android app for this project. All you need to clone this project and run the app on your mobile phone. You can make changes if you need to.
Requirements
BleuIO connected to a pc with ionic framework installed.
We will set BleuIO dongle as peripheral, and our mobile app will connect to this dongle. Then we can start sending data back and forth.
Connect your BleuIO dongle to the computer.
Connect to dongle using comport and start advertising by AT+ADVSTART.
Clone this git repo. git clone https://github.com/smart-sensor-devices-ab/bleuio_sps_example_mobileapp.git
go inside the folder and run npm install on terminal
The most important file of this script is Home.tsx , which is inside src/pages folder. This script has the service UUID information to communicate with the dongle which is connected to our computer.
It also helps the mobile app to connects to the computer and send messages using SPS.
This file also works as front end of the mobile app and takes input from user to send message to computer or receive and display message on mobile screen.
if you run ionic serve on terminal, you will be able to see the layout on the browser. But for this app, we need mobile phones native feature because we need Bluetooth connection. Therefore connect your android phone to your computer and run ionic cap run android on terminal.
If you get an error regarding gradle, Type ionic capacitor update and run ionic cap run android again.
Your app will install and open up on your mobile phone.
Make sure the dongle is on peripheral mode and advertising.
Click scan for BleuIO devices.
On the scan result, select one of your dongles to connect.
After a successful connection, you can send data back and forth, and you will be able to see your messages on both the mobile app and the terminal.
Recently, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) has become one of the most popular wireless standards for IoT devices. Most applications are now using this technology to transfer sensitive information between devices. Therefore, designers looking to integrate BLE into their products should be aware of the BLE security features and limitations.
The main security issues with the pairing between devices with BLE are passive eavesdropping, man in the middle (MITM) attacks and identity tracking.
BLE offers several security features and levels for communication between devices. A designers has to be aware of the specific security threats facing BLE, and try to implement and mitigate security risk in both hardware and firmware design.
BleuIO team is continuously updating its firmware and libraries to make the BLE connection more secure between devices.
At the moment, we have Numeric Comparison, Just Works or Passkey Entry for pairing and bonding.
Numeric Comparison: In this scenario, both the devices have a display unit able to display a six-digit number. Both displays show the same number, and the user is asked to confirm that these numbers match.
Passkey Entry: The Passkey Entry is initially intended for the case that one device has a keyboard, but no display unit and the other device has at least a display unit, for example, a BLE and a PC keyboard scenario. The user is shown a six-digit number (from “000000” to “999999”) on the device with a display and then is asked to enter the number on the other device. If the value entered on the second device is correct, the pairing is successful.
Just Works: This model is primarily intended for the most constrained devices in terms of I/O. The Just Works association model uses the Numeric Comparison protocol, but the user is never shown a number, and the application may simply ask the user to accept the connection. This method doesn’t offer protection against a Man in the Middle (MITM) attack, but it provides the same protection level against passive eavesdropping as the Numeric Comparison.
BleuIO security features :
Set the passkey for passkey authentication on your dongle yourself.
Set the minimum security level your dongle will use. This can be done either when already connected to a device or before. If the device you are connecting to does not meet the security level requirement, the dongle will disconnect from it.
Choose if the dongle should auto accept the numeric comparison authentication request or manually.
Can access protected characteristics that need an increased Security Level.
Please take a look at our Get Started guide to know more about it.
Following video shows how to securely pair between two BleuIO devices.
