ANT Forum

I am working on a project that requires transmitting data from 40 nodes to a master. Each node generates 5-byte packets @40Hz and data need to be delivered reliably. An earlier design that I developed with colleagues uses Bluetooth which obviously is point-point and wouldn't scale.

I would appreciate any thoughts about an ANT-based solution, whether it is possible to support 40 nodes at the above data rate? If not, what if data can be buffered on each node for some time would that make it more attainable?      

A single ANT device would be able to transmit at 40Hz (your nodes), but a single ANT device cannot receive from 40 nodes at 40 Hz (your master). The most channels a single device has is 8, and the max bandwidth of the combined 8 channels is about 200 Hz. Possibly you could use multiple masters with each one talking to a few dedicated nodes, but that would be quite a complex solution.

This is the sort of thing I would recommend mocking up with ANTWare II first, but you would need a large number of USB sticks / hubs to test it out properly.      

Thanks, this is very helpful.

What if we buffer the data on each node for 1 minute (generating 12k), would it be possible to multiplex 40 nodes over the 8 channels. Perhaps the nodes can join and leave the network as long as that does not have a very high cost.

My understanding is that ANT uses TDMA to scale, under that scheme why wouldn't it be possible to support as many as 40 nodes.