HACKER Q&A
📣 MrWiffles

What kind of chip for short-range continuous small-data broadcast?


I'm not sure what term or phrase to search for, and that's really all I'm after here...

I'm thinking about spiking an idea/prototype for a system where you mount a microchip or other small tool on/in a wall in a grocery store, hospital, etc. and it broadcasts a simple UUID string on a radio frequency several hundred times per second continuously until it burns out or gets replaced. Max range only needs to be about ~50 feet, tops. What's the name of that kind of technology that I'd need to look up to learn more about it?

EDIT: Bluetooth occurs to me, but I'm thinking more low-level, fundamental than that, entirely without the need to receive (just broadcast only).


  👤 RicoElectrico Accepted Answer ✓
Bluetooth Low Energy beacons work exactly as you described, as BLE allows for connection-less broadcast packets.

Other than that - nRF24L01 (Nordic Semi, very similar protocol to BLE), CC1100 (TI, sub 1 GHz band), SiLabs.


👤 mikewarot
Once per second should be enough to get the job done. Any faster than that, and you're basically throwing away battery life.

👤 airbreather
With what kind of receiver did you have in mind?