SmartMesh IP

SmartMesh IP Functional Overview

A SmartMesh IP network consists of a highly scalable self-forming multi-hop mesh of wireless nodes, known as motes, which collect and relay data, and a network manager that monitors and manages network performance and security, and exchanges data with a host application.

In addition to regular "mesh-mode" (described below), SmartMesh IP also supports an ultralow power roaming node feature, called Blink Mode.

SmartMesh IP Motes

SmartMesh IP Motes are the wireless nodes in a SmartMesh IP network. They connect to sensors/actuators and route data from other motes, yet remain low power.

Each mote can both send and receive messages (supports bidirectional data). Each mote may have a different data reporting rate and the network manager will automatically coordinate individual pair-wise communications to efficiently route the traffic.

Each mote may have a different power supply capability (e.g. line-, battery-, or energy- harvested power). The network manager will load balance traffic accordingly to extend time until the network's first battery replacement.

SmartMesh IP networking software is compiled and fully tested. Motes have an on-board ARM Cortex-M3 processor that supports customer application software using the SmartMesh IP On-Chip Software Developer Kit. Alternatively, a mote may be controlled by an external microprocessor through its serial API interface.

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SmartMesh IP Network Managers

SmartMesh IP network managers perform two major functions for the mesh network. First they serve as an access point mote, connecting the wireless mesh to customer host applications. Second, network managers run sophisticated network management algorithms to maintain performance of the network

SmartMesh IP network managers come in two versions: EManager (supports up to 100 motes) and VManager ( supports thousands of motes).

SmartMesh IP EManager

An EManager, or embedded manager, runs as a Manager-on-Chip™ where both the access point function and the network management algorithms run on board the SmartMesh IP 802.15.4 hardware (e.g. LTC5800-IPM)

EManagers support up to 100 motes in the network and are ideal for low power gateway operation.

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SmartMesh IP VManager

VManager is a software-based manager and separate Access Point Motes that enables:

VManager software runs on an x86 virtual machine (VM), which can be installed on a variety of hardware platforms, from cloud servers down to low power embedded x86-based processors. The VManager software is delivered from Linear Technology as a pre-compiled and tested VM application that may run on VMWare, or Oracle VirtualBox VMs.

One or more  Access Point Motes (AP Motes) connect the SmartMesh IP network to the VManager software. An AP Mote is the combination of AP Mote software running on SmartMesh IP 802.15.4 hardware (e.g. LTC5800-IPM)

Click here for a short video introduction of VManager.

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Hardware Form Factors

SmartMesh IP 802.15.4 hardware is available in chip package, or as pre-RF-certified printed circuit board assemblies (PCBA). The 802.15.4 hardware's network behavior is defined by the type of SmartMesh IP software loaded onto the hardware (i.e. mote software, network manager software, or access point mote software).

Starter Kits

SmartMesh IP Starter Kits provide all the tools for evaluating SmartMesh^® network performance with respect to your application needs, including high reliability, ultralow power, scalability and ease of installation. A Starter Kit comes with 5 nodes and a network manager, and is pre-loaded with SmartMesh IP networking software, so that users may quickly deploy a network in their application environments.