Reader device uses Nordic-enabled Bluetooth mesh to control door access

Spintly’s SMACC-UNO employs Nordic nRF52832 SoC for wireless connectivity between readers, smartphones and a gateway

Access control technology company, Spintly, has launched what it claims is the world’s first Bluetooth® mesh-based access control reader.

The ‘SMACC-UNO’ solution is designed to upgrade regular doors to smart doors. It eliminates the need to install wired controllers on site and enables seamless smartphone-based access to internal doors, boom barriers, and turnstiles at commercial office spaces, shared workspaces, residential buildings, and other facilities.

The Nordic nRF52832 SoC-powered SMACC-UNO reader devices scan credentials via the user’s smartphone or NFC card and allow access to a door following successful authentication, without recourse to a central device or gateway. The reader and controller not only acts as a device to wirelessly communicate with the user’s smartphone, but also as a node in a Bluetooth mesh network to relay access and permissions data to other readers and/or a gateway.

We selected the Nordic nRF52832 SoC for our SMACC-UNO solution because it supports the Bluetooth mesh protocol and provides generous memory capacity

Rohin Parkar, Spintly

Bluetooth mesh network

The company has also released the ‘FI-B Gateway’ (also featuring the nRF52832 SoC) that communicates with all the readers over the Bluetooth mesh network and connects to the Cloud using the MQTT protocol. All events such as access histories and door events are transferred to the Cloud via the gateway. HR and security administrators receive notifications in real-time about movements in the facility through a smartphone app or web-based application.

Nordic’s nRF52832 SoC enables the Bluetooth mesh connectivity between all reader devices and the gateway as well as the Bluetooth LE wireless communication with a smartphone. The SoC includes a 2.4 GHz multiprotocol radio (supporting Bluetooth 5.3, Bluetooth mesh, ANT™, NFC, and 2.4 GHz proprietary RF protocol software) and generous 256/512 KB Flash memory and 32/64 KB RAM. The nRF52832 supports Bluetooth mesh with the nRF5 SDK (Software Development Kit) for Mesh.

Generous memory capacity

“We selected the Nordic nRF52832 SoC for our SMACC-UNO solution because it supports the Bluetooth mesh protocol and provides generous memory capacity,” says Rohin Parkar, President and CEO of Spintly.

“Nordic’s detailed reference designs helped us make schematics for all of our nRF52832 SoC-based products, while the Nordic DevZone forum helped provide resolutions to any issues we faced during the development process.”