Im doing a research about connectivity.
But Im still wondering what the costs are for implementing a bluetooth chip or wifi module in a device that will allow me to connect to the iPhone. Does somebody here know something about these costs?
A website with these modules is also sufficient.
Thanks in advance
They're both relatively cheap. However, bluetooth is very limited when it comes to connectivity due to the half-ass job Apple did in implementing the required protocols to do something constructive with it. Wifi is limited because you have to establish some sort of AdHoc network (unless you have a wireless router in between), but after that you are basically limitless (though you have to do a lot of manual labor when it comes to implementing something useful.)
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I'm looking to connect my iPhone to an RS-232 serial device via Bluetooth. Has anyone implemented this successfully and can offer advice on hardware to use? It's kind of tricky because of the need for the Apple Authentication Processor with the device. The best potential device I've found is this guy but it only comes in an embedded package, its serial port interface is just logic-level UART rather than line-level RS-232, and I can't find a supplier with it in stock.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
I'm considering just using WiFi to serial instead, but please ignore that possibility for the purposes of this question.
most of the question was answered by yourself already.
Basically you have 5 (+2) choices.
Join the MFi program. This might be hard to impossible if you are not part of a at least mid-size company.
Buy the OEM Bluetooth Module. I'm not sure if this is even allowed by the apple policies.
Use WiFi. Keep in mind that you want to use a wifi chipset that can act as at least ad-hoc access point. Those chipsets are quite expensive, and you have to think of a way to join existing networks (customers don't want to leave their home network to use your product). This will add a lot of cost to the BOM of your device.
Jailbreak might be an option. I never tried to use accessories with a jailbreak, so I don't know if it's possible to use bluetooth without authentication.
Work with a company that is member of the MFi program.
(Maybe an option, and depending of the speed you want to have via RS232: Eventually you can convert the audio output of the head-phone jack to RS232 levels and vice versa)
(Not really an option: develop for Android and do whatever you want)
If you jailbreak your device, you can use BTstack.org (disclaimer: I'm the author of BTstack) to connect to a Bluetooth device that supports the Serial Port Profile. You can get Bluetooth Modules that implement SPP and provide UART level output. As David R. above points out, you then need a UART to RS232 converter, e.g. the MAX232.
Ok. Another option. There are one or two companies that sell RS232 cables for iOS, eg. Skywire here: http://www.southernstars.com/products/skywire/index.html
Then, you could uses a Bluetooth RS232 extender, which consists of a RS232-to-SPP and a SPP-to-RS232 pair. Ugly, but within Apple's rules.
Well. It seems like my answer could be something you didnt ask for.
But the guy you referred to is the answer. Buy his product and you are good to go, all you need is a MAX232 chip. Converts logic level UART to RS232.
the diffrence high + voltage low zero voltage is converted to high +~10volts low -~10volts.
I use the MAX232 chip with my microprocessor, that uses logic level USART to communicate over RS232.
There is a lot of tutorials out there explaining how to hook things up.
This product works: https://serialio.com/product/bluetooth-serial-adapter/bluesnap-smart-bluetooth-40-ble-rs232-adapter
The only downside is that the adapter requires power.
It should be possibly I would think to create something in the middle that accept the bluetooth commands and convert them to serial, similar to what this does with TCP connections: https://www.npmjs.com/package/stellar-socks
What would be the best method to achieve realtime device to device communication within an application? I've been experimenting with the Apple Push Notification Service but find it spotty at best for realtime messaging. Is there a way to utilize sockets for this or am I just stuck into using the APNS?
If you are a beginner, use GameKit.
When you get sick of that, use AsyncSocket.
GameKit is so simple a child can use it; AsyncSocket is probably the most beautiful library in all of networking on any platforms - incredibly easy to use.
In both cases, you will first use Bonjour (two lines of code) to "find" the other device.
Here is the full explanation...
Tablet(iPad/Android)-Server Communication Protocol
Critical secret knowledge about GK you will need...
Client/Server GKSessions
Another quick summary ...
Most effective way to do networking on Mac/iPhone?
For the record, APNS has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with what you are trying to achieve! Utterly forget about APNS.
WHAT IS THE RADIUS? -----------------------***
Please note that BLUETOOTH ONLY WORKS over about twenty feet. (Ten meters.)
Please note that for a local WiFi connection, you must both be connected to the same local WiFi hub. WiFi hubs have a range of perhaps 20 meters only, say one house and the next house only (depending on how thick the walls are).
Please note that: IT IS NOT PHYSICALLY POSSIBLE TO CONNECT TWO COMPUTERS (OF ANY TYPE) OVER A COUPLE OF MILES.
There is no such networking device. (You could perhaps build one using say "ham radio" but to be clear it would be a completely novel, new research project that would take a large company years to complete.)
There is absolutely nothing that works like that - I'm sorry to tell you the bad news.
The ONLY two possibilties are Bluetooth and WiFi, and they work only over about 20 and 30 feet respectively.
So how do you connect two remote computers like that? The answer is, via the internet.
The only way to do it is with an internet connection. There is no 'direct' connection possible with any existing technology.
If you need to know more about how to connect two computers (say two iPhones) using the internet, you will probably have to ask a new question! You will be pleased to know it is very easy and will cause you little trouble.
Note that both iPhones MUST have a good solid internet connection. If they are more than say 30 feet away from each other, the ONLY way to connect to iPhones is via the internet. THey must each have a good internet connection, or there is no possibility.
I hope this helps clarify things!
You can use GameKit's peer to peer services (bluetooth)
Gamekit how to do p2p wifi connection in iphone
Check out Apples GameKit framework GameKit Or a sockets based networking look at AsyncSocket which also includes an iPhone demo.
I need a product to simulate network latency for testing mobile applications (in particular iphone and android). I plan to set up a wifi router connected to a linux box, and write a number of scripts to approximate different types of connectivity issues.
So far, I've taken a cursory look at Netem and ns-2 (or its offspring ns-3). Netem looks very easy to deploy and configure, but they both look like they'll require some in-depth investigation.
Does anyone have positive/negative experiences with either of those solutions that they could share? Or maybe used a different solution for this problem?
If anyone comes here looking for tips, I've found a solution that seems to work well.
Ubuntu comes with Netem installed, so I went ahead and just made use of that. Basically, I got a computer with two ethernet ports, forwarded one to the other and applied Netem latency settings to the connection. Then I attached a wireless router to one, and LAN to the other. Netem lets me play with all kinds of latency and packet loss settings.
Btw, I also tried to use a few different laptops and set the internal wireless card up as an ad-hoc wireless router. I got it working for the most part, but finding a laptop with an internal wireless card that plays nice with ad-hoc in Linux is tricky at best... can't recommend it.
I am looking for a way to establish a wireless connection between an iPhone and a desktop client. Gamekit looks promising but all the examples / documentation only explain iPhone to iPhone.
Are there examples / documentation for an Gamekit peer on the desktop (cocoa or java)?
What are the alternatives without doing to much low level socket programming?
The iPhone emulator does not run these bluetooth p2p connections. Hence, it can only be tested with real hardware.
It is a little confusing because the GKSession reference talks only about being a way to connect peers over bluetooth, while the GKPeerPickerController states "can be configured to select between Bluetooth and Internet connections." However there's a clear note there that they're not really going to help you with internet based connections.
This is unfortunately a non-answer, but...
GameKit is an abstraction of the bluetooth and wifi networking layers, allowing a specific set of protocols for communication between two devices -- to communicate with a desktop client, you would need to replicate all of the GameKit functionality on the desktop, since there is no comparable API on the desktop. This would not be a simple undertaking.
I would highly suggest developing something over bonjour, as #Jordan suggested. Bill Dudney's project (blog article). It's a great place to start.
Citing Game Kit Framework Reference's Features paragraph:
Peer-to-peer connectivity allows your game to create an ad hoc Bluetooth or wireless network between multiple iPhones in the same local area. Although designed with games in mind, this network is useful for any type of data exchange among users of your app. For example, an app could use peer-to-peer connectivity to share electronic business cards or other data. This functionality is only available on iOS. You can also get the same functionality using Game Center.
I am looking to develop an iPhone application that will require point-to-point WiFi communications on an iPhone. I would like to use the WiFi interface and have the application stream between the phone and a WiFi device. Does anyone have some experience with this? Is it even possible? I know there is a discovery application but I am looking for something a little more robust.
As far as I know (as the SDK stands now), the only thing available is communication over the existing network connection. The SDK doesn't allow for setting up wireless network connections, or creating ad-hoc networks. I believe the only way to join or create wifi networks is through the settings app.