ESP32 Forum

Would it be possible to use the Bluetooth radio to send/receive raw radio non-Bluetooth packets? much like using nRF24 radio and sending to a broadcast address?

I currently use nRF24L01 radios for low powered broadcast packets between devices, would it be possible to use the Bluetooth radio to broadcast send/receive data packets in a similar way?
I know the nRF51 can be set to number of different protocols including ESB (the same protocol as the nRF24) or ANT instead of Bluetooth so I am hoping the ESP32 can do something similar.

I can't do it with BT as there is normally about 10-200 devices attached to people moving around sending status+id broadcast in a P2P mode a few times per minute.

..ps I know the ESP32 BT radio is not onair compatible with the nRF24 ESB protocol and not expecting it to be, I want to use it as a substitute.

Yes, we have ESPNow, which is a way to send and receive user-defined management frames. No need for association to an AP or requesting a DHCP, you basically get to define the payload of a raw WiFi management frame. See https://espressif.com/en/products/softw ... w/overview for more info.

Ah, technically this happens on the WiFI side of things, not the BT side. Not sure if that matters much here, though.

I did see ESPNow and going to experiment with it but a big turn off for using the WIFI radio is the power consumption.
I would prefer to power down the WIFI radio when not needed to extend battery power if possible.

The datasheet does not details power consumption of just BT RX (WIFI and BT in RX mode 80~90mAh)

In terms of power consumption if you are using ESP-NOW and backing off in terms of power, i.e. transmit 0dBm, i think you would get similar performance as Bluetooth. Although, the transmission occupies a large bandwidth, but the transmission time is much shorter. It might be good enough. In short, you just need to reduce the transmit power.

May I ask, did you finally realize your docking with the NRF ESB protocol on the esp32? I am trying to do this, but I do not know what plan should be adopted to complete it, I need your help