Particle has announced the launch of third generation hardware development kits. They have been named as Argon, Boron and Xenon and are powered by Particle Mesh technology. Particle Mesh, a technology built on Thread, connects the spaces between Wi-Fi and cellular deployments. Utilizing this technique, the development kit is able to create local wireless networks which can be joined by other devices. It is said that this will enable the collection of sensor data, exchange of messages as well as sharing of connections to the cloud.
Particle Mesh deals with IoT applications and problems that affect different connected solutions. The cost of hardware has been kept in mind for the solution to enable collection of data. Also, the network ensures protection of the product from downtime. All the devices of the hardware family have been built around the Nordic MCU and mesh radio platform. Moreover, they follow the Adafruit Feather specification.
Argon, a Wi-Fi plus mesh device, exhibits the capability of acting as a Wi-Fi endpoint or a Wi-Fi gateway for a Particle Mesh network. It is possible to build a local network and share the connection to the cloud over Wi-Fi using Argon. It has features such as Bluetooth 5 and NFC. Plus, it also uses ESP32 from Espressif.
The next one i.e. Boron, supports LTE and is capable of functioning as a LTE endpoint or LTE gateway for a Particle Mesh network. Boron can be deployed in regions where Wi-Fi is not present. Boron makes use of u-blox cellular modem for its functioning. When talking about its compatibility, Boron supports LTE CAT-M1/NB1 cellular technology. Moreover, it comes in 2G/3G versions too.
Another member of the hardware family i.e. Xenon. Xenon can behave as a endpoint or repeater in a given Particle Mesh network. It can be used to connect sensors, actuators, and various endpoints within a network. For extending the range, one can add more Xenons and connect the spaces where Wi-Fi and cellualr capabilities are absent.
Particle Mesh has been built on the OpenThread platform. Majority of the hardware employs Adafruit’s Feather form factor that provides pin-to-pin compatibility.
