Bluetooth Mesh

Not a net-new protocol, but built on top of BLE. Mesh has two basic BLE operations: advertising and connected. The advertising packets are used to send much more data than with traditional BLE advertisements.

Nodes

Each device can be one or more of four different node types.

Proxy Node

Translates messages between GATT and advertising messaging.

Relay Node

Sends advertising messages on to larger networks.

Friend node

This is the buddy of the LPN. It stores messages for the LPN and only forwards them on when the LPN is ready for them.

Low Power Node (LPN)

These nodes keep their radio off most of the time in order to achieve minimal power usage. They function by finding a Friend Node to pair with and only receive new messages at a fixed interval when they let the Friend know that they're ready.

Models

Models are sets of defined functionality for devices. Each device supports one or more models. The Configuration model, at least, is mandatory. Some default model examples are:

Generic OnOff

Generic Power OnOff

Generic Power Level

Generic Battery

Light Lightness

Light CTL

Light HSL

Light xyL

Models can also be defined by the programmer to perform all sorts of functionality.