The ADR tweaks were necessary - otherwise you’d be paying a 2-400ms penalty for negotiation for no reason. In cases where multiple packets are needed (small file transfers - an experimental feature) both sides negotiate the best data rate settings they can maintain, switch settings, verify they can still talk, then data transfer happens before they drop back to the base mesh settings.
I did manage to get some additions to the #SpectraMesh protocol, specifically a route trace where each node that passes a message adds its hash to the packet headers, which allows us to do node discovery (find more neighbors), as well as build a routing table that helps us with knowing how to route unicast packets.
I’m also doing some more tweaks to adaptive data rate, ensuring we only do the handshakes and setup in situations where the benefit outweighs the impact of the negotiation itself.
Additionally, I think I’m going to try to port my Aurora firmware for the Lilygo T-Deck from MeshCore over to SpectraMesh. That’d bring the total number of supported devices to 4, which still isn’t a lot but is a start.
At this point I also need help testing this - I can test things all I want in my lab and around my house but more people and different environments will be helpful in tuning network performance.
If interested you can email me or DM me!
Today in “adventures with #SpectraMesh” - I’m going to test automatic location info with my GPS enabled T-114 from Heltec, as well as continue multi-hop testing. I think ADR might need some tuning / tweaking as I think it may be causing some dropped traffic in some scenarios when it shouldn’t be - I’ll have to test with it on and off to see if that’s the cause, then troubleshoot.
I also want to tweak the network join / sync logic to be slightly more resilient.
It took a while but I finally got #SpectraMesh firmware to work for the Heltec T114, to bring us to three boards that have working firmware - one of which has GPS!
I'm contemplating loading SpectraMesh onto the #hackersTownPager with a config setting to select between it and MeshCore for the mesh protocol.
I also want to make firmware for the Lilygo T-Deck.
Anyone with a spare Heltec V3, T114, or Xiao ESP32S3 WIO (ideally more than one...) want to help test this?
#SpectraMesh natively supports position data (manually entered or via GPS/GNSS), and the companion app has a map command that will give you your neighbor nodes and their position relative to your position.
This is helpful if you want to set up directional links and/or plot out your network deployment.
Location data is auto propagated to neighbors (IF you provide it, it is optional), so they need do nothing to make use of it.
There will be options for precise or “general area” fixes.
It may not look like much, but a simple TUI companion app for #SpectraMesh is in a solid starting place.
It supports direct messages, private channels, broadcast messages, GPS / location support, as well as handles the encryption and key exchange (with trust and verify functionality built in).
Currently there's firmware for Heltec V3, Heltec T114 (in development), and Xiao ESP32S3 WIO.
I'm on a roll.... and having fun!
A basic version of #SpectraMesh is working in my lab!
Key features:
TDMA - replaces the CSMA implementation in MeshCore and Meshtastic and should reduce collisions significantly in networks > 20 nodes.
FHSS - currently implemented only for NA (but other regions coming soon), the network syncs and hops through 130 possible channels. Avoids noise and thwarts narrow band jamming.
ADR - experimental but adapts radio config to match conditions for best results.
(1/n)
The Wrew (Pager Monger)