Relay Antennas for the Bluetooth mesh Principle

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Principle

Extend the range of the app's Bluetooth network with relay antennas installed in cities. A Bluetooth message that reaches an antenna benefits from its much longer range to reach another phone, very far from the sender.

How it works

1. Reception: the antenna behaves like an ordinary phone on the Bluetooth network and picks up messages around it.
2. Translation: it converts the message to another frequency with better propagation.
3. Relay: it broadcasts it only to other antennas, which talk to each other on this long-range frequency.
4. Redistribution: each antenna that receives it rebroadcasts it over Bluetooth to the phones around it.

Two-layer architecture

• Local layer (Bluetooth): phones and antennas exchange as they do today, with no change for the user.
• Backbone layer (long range): only the antennas form a mesh network, hop by hop.

Community-built infrastructure

Antennas are built and installed by users themselves, in many places. The more antennas, the wider the coverage, with no need for an operator or central investment.

Why it matters

• Messages are no longer limited to a few dozen meters between phones.
• A single access point connects you to the whole network.
• The network grows with the community.