New Development Kit enables developers to embark on Bluetooth mesh designs

Nordic Semiconductor ASA has introduced the "nRF5 SDK for Mesh", an SDK which allows engineers to develop with Bluetooth mesh. The launch of the SDK coincides with the Bluetooth SIG formal adoption of Bluetooth mesh 1.0. The SDK can be downloaded from Nordic's website and includes the company's first release of its Bluetooth mesh software protocol ("stack"). The SDK is compatible with the nRF51 and nRF52 Series SOCs, and the S110, S130, and S132 Bluetooth 4.0-compatible SoftDevices . With the nRF5 SDK for Mesh, developers who already have a Nordic nRF52 Development Kit (DK) can immediately start building Bluetooth mesh-based applications. "The official adoption of Bluetooth mesh is going to have a transformative impact on the lighting sector. The industry is finally getting a wireless technology that is technically capable of delivering the qualities and services everyone has been waiting for," says Rafal Han, CEO of Silvair, a company creating an environment for the smart home. "It's an open, global, and interoperable standard enabling wire-like reliability even in large, sensor-driven lighting installations. On top of that, you get many exciting value-added services, such as beacons, asset tracking, or indoor navigation."