Glossary

Our iOS application that was previously named "BlueRange App" or "BlueRange Enrollment App". The reasoning behind the name change is, that it also allows calibration and some building setup and might also be used to diagnose problems. Also, we might introduce more Apps in the future which is why calling it "BlueRange App" would be too generic. In its short form, e.g. one the home screen of a smartphone, it can be called BlueRange Admin

Often also called Backend, this is the Software that we can install on premise or in the cloud.

Our legacy management portal that can be accessed through a web browser.

This is the current version of our portal with a focus on usability and productivity.

Our web interfaces provides, besides some parameters for monitoring, the possibilities to customize configurations. In addition to this, it can also be used to enroll the gateway in a network.

As we have extended our MQTT broker with a special authentication plugin, so we prefix "BlueRange" to avoid confusion.

This is a package of software that we are going to deliver to our partners or to customers that pay us. We will also give them access to all of the open source parts that can be used in addition. Here are the parts:

A number of our components are (or will be) open source or are at least publicly available, here is a list with their names:

A number of other parts that did not fit the above categories:

The term BlueRange device or in marketing material BlueRange Ready device or a device that is BlueRange Ready covers all devices that we can manage with our platform. This means that we can enroll them, update their firmware, configure them, etc,…​ This covers all of our hardware such as the BlueRange Gateway, BlueRange Mesh Nodes or our BlueRange Tags. If these terms are used to describe a category, they should be written in lowercase letters. If they are used as a product name, they must be capitalized. The term BlueRange should always be written in camel case.

This is different from a 3rd Party Device. All of our BlueRange Ready devices come with a unique serial number that matches the format of all other BlueRange devices.

A 3rd Party Device is e.g. a Beacon running firmware from a different vendor. We might support tracking this Beacon through our Asset Tracking but it will most likely only have basic support: it cannot be updated, cannot be connected, automatically enrolled, etc,…​.

The device might have a product name such as Gira KNX Brightness Controller, Warema Blind XYZ, etc. after it is enrolled and the user can later rename it to Greenhouse brightness control or Office Light Shades.

Previously often called MeshGateway or Edgerouter, we now simply call it BlueRange Gateway or in short Gateway as it is not only a gateway for the mesh but also e.g. a gateway for KNX or BACnet.

When talking about its functionality, we can still say that it serves as a "mesh gateway" or as a "KNX gateway". Our product offering will be called e.g. BlueRange Gateway V4 for our next generation hardware. The exact name is not yet specified.

The software that runs on this hardware is simply called:

The BlueRange Gateway has a web server that can be accessed using any browser which is called Gateway WebUI while a second user interface is available under /system/portal/ which we call Gateway Console.

Our Gateway uses an integrated Bluetooth Low Energy device that we call Mesh Bridge which has most of the functionality that other Mesh Nodes have. Additionally, it can communicate with our Gateway. On some Gateways, the Mesh Bridge might be an external device such as a USB Dongle.

Every device that runs on BlueRange Firmware or FruityMesh will now be called Mesh Node as all of these are interoperable and can be used to create a mesh network. These devices have previously been called e.g. SmartBeacon. A Mesh Node can be used to advertise iBeacon messages, collect sensor data, control a light fixture, etc,…​.

There are a number of devices that act as Mesh Nodes. Below is a list of some of them. These are also the names that these devices should have after they were enrolled:

The firmware parts running on a Mesh Node are called:

Some Mesh Nodes can work in a special Leaf Node mode, but this is typically only a term that is important for developers.

In contrast to a node we offer Tags. These cannot form the core structure of a mesh network but can send and receive data either through advertising messages or by temporarily connecting or being connected to the mesh. All of our Tracking Tags are trackable through our Asset Tracking but it is also possible to give them a fixed position through our platform. Some of them also have sensors and can report their measurements, these are called Sensor Tags. When just talking about a generic one, we call it BlueRange Tag or simply Tag.

Once a tag was given a fixed position it would be possible to call it a fixed Sensor Tag or if it is known to be moving and correctly configured for tracking, it would be a trackable Sensor Tag.

Most Tags are running on either our BlueRange Firmware or on FruityMesh. This allows us to automatically enroll, configure, track, update and monitor them. There are 3rd Party Tags that we also support for tracking in our platform, these do however have a very limited features as they are running on 3rd Party Firmware.

The different kind of Tags will show up in the platform with their product names such as:

Our Asset Tracking offering can track Tags running on BlueRange Firmware or FruityMesh. Also, we are able to track Tags from 3rd party vendors. To do the tracking, it needs a number of Mesh Nodes installed at fixed positions in a building or outdoors. These can be Mesh Nodes that are only used for the purpose of tracking something or they could be built into smoke detectors, lamps, etc. to add additional functionality.

Once you glue a Tag to something that you want to keep track of and you have set up this Tag to be trackable, it is called Asset.

Asset Tracking also allows you to work with Geofences so you are able to evaluate whether a Tag or an Asset enters or exists a defined region.

Our platform has a legacy of an MDM platform and is therefore the perfect fit to manage a multitude of different devices.

It provides functionality such as Enrollment, sometimes also called provisioning which is basically a term for adding new devices to the system while also letting the device know about the platform.

When working with Mesh Nodes, you will typically create a Network. A network consists of a number of Mesh Nodes and exactly one BlueRange Gateway to be functional.

The Network was previously known as a Site but has been renamed after we introduced our building structure.

Configuring advertising messages such as Eddystone or iBeacon formats for our Mesh Nodes is useful for integrating with other apps, running marketing campaigns, etc,…​.

It is possible, but not mandatory to manage Networks by using a building structure. A Building is composed of a number of Floors and it is possible to have multiple Networks on one Floor. A Floor allows you to position all the Devices on a floor plan that you can upload.

Also, it is possible to group devices in a hierarchy that contains Rooms and Zones.

Our platform offers a lot of other features such as User Management, Device Groups, Multi Tenant Management, Monitoring e.g. through Notifications, Configurations, Actions, …​.

You will typically use a Rule to configure e.g. monitoring. You might for example get notified with an E-Mail once a Gateway or Mesh Node was not reachable for a certain time.

To schedule automatic updates on the other hand, you can use a Setting.

If you want something to happen immediately, such as turning on a lamp, you can do this by using an Action.

In order to deliver high quality software, we have to test a multitude of different hardware in one system to make sure that it is interoperable and that there are no bugs that occur on specific devices from one vendor.