advlib is a library for decoding ambient wireless packets into web-standard JSON with a vendor/technology/application-agnostic set of properties.
advlib is a lightweight Node.js package that can run on resource-constrained edge devices as well as on powerful cloud servers and anything in between. It is included in reelyActive's Pareto Anywhere open source middleware suite with its complementary processor and interpreter modules. There's even an interactive, browser-based version hosted from the gh-pages branch of this repository: reelyactive.github.io/advlib/
advlib is protocol-agnostic and currently supports the following processor modules:
- advlib-ble for Bluetooth Low Energy
- advlib-epc-tds for RAIN RFID (Electronic Product Code Tag Data Standard)
- advlib-esp for the EnOcean Wireless Standard (via the EnOcean Serial Protocol)
advlib currently supports the following interpreter module:
For example, process several raw packets received from a beacon by selecting Bluetooth Low Energy as the processor (advlib-ble) and including any relevant processor and interpreter libraries.
const advlib = require('advlib');
const PROCESSORS = [
{ processor: require('advlib-ble'),
libraries: [ require('advlib-ble-services'),
require('advlib-ble-manufacturers') ],
options: { ignoreProtocolOverhead: true } }
];
const INTERPRETERS = [ require('advlib-interoperable') ];
let packets = [
'c21d04acbe55daba16096164766c6962206279207265656c79416374697665',
'c21904acbe55daba1216aafe10fc017265656c7961637469766507',
'c21804acbe55daba1116aafe20000c4815200000004500000258'
];
let processedPackets = advlib.process(packets, PROCESSORS, INTERPRETERS);
console.log(processedPackets);Paste the code above into a decoder.js file. From the same folder, install package dependencies with the commands npm install advlib, npm install advlib-ble, ..., npm install advlib-interoperable. Then run the code with the command node decoder.js and observe the packets combined, in order of precedence, into a single JSON:
{ name: "advlib by reelyActive",
txPower: -4,
uri: "https://www.reelyactive.com",
batteryVoltage: 3.144,
temperature: 21.125,
txCount: 69,
uptime: 60000 }advlib observes the following standard properties to represent the information extracted from ambient data packets. New standard properties are added whenever new data cannot be effectively represented using the existing properties. Once established, a standard property should not change (unless otherwise noted).
| Property | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| acceleration | Array of Number | [ x, y, z ] In g |
| accelerationSamplingRate | Number | In Hz |
| accelerationTimeSeries | Array of Array | [[x],[y],[z] ] In g |
| ammoniaConcentration | Number | In ppm |
| amperage | Number | In amps |
| amperages | Array of Number | In amps |
| angleOfRotation | Number | In degrees |
| appearance | String | From Bluetooth |
| batteryPercentage | Number | 0 to 100 (%) |
| batteryVoltage | Number | In volts |
| carbonDioxideConcentration | Number | In ppm |
| carbonMonoxideConcentration | Number | In ppm |
| deviceIds | Array of String | |
| dissolvedOxygen | Number | 0 to 100+ (%) |
| distance | Number | In m |
| elevation | Number | In m |
| heading | Number | In degrees |
| heartRate | Number | In beats per minute |
| illuminance | Number | In lx |
| interactionDigest | Array of Object | |
| isButtonPressed | Array of Boolean | |
| isContactDetected | Array of Boolean | |
| isLiquidDetected | Array of Boolean | |
| isMotionDetected | Array of Boolean | |
| languages | Array of String | ISO 639-1 |
| levelPercentage | Number | 0 to 100 (%) |
| magneticField | Array of Number | [ x, y, z ] In G |
| methaneConcentration | Number | In ppm |
| name | String | |
| nearest | Array of Object | |
| nitrogenDioxideConcentration | Number | In ppm |
| numberOfOccupants | Number | |
| passageCounts | Array of Number | [ entries, exits ] |
| pH | Number | 0 to 14 (typical) |
| position | Array of Number | [ lon, lat, ele ] |
| pressure | Number | In Pa |
| pressures | Array of Number | In Pa |
| relativeHumidity | Number | 0 to 100 (%) |
| relay | Object | See note below |
| soundPressure | Number | In dB |
| speed | Number | In m/s |
| temperature | Number | In Celcius |
| temperatures | Array of Number | In Celcius |
| txCount | Number | |
| txPower | Number | In dBm |
| uptime | Number | In milliseconds |
| uri | String | |
| uuids | Array of String | |
| version | String | Format pending |
| volatileOrganicCompoundsConcentration | Number | In ppm |
| voltage | Number | In volts |
| voltages | Array of Number | In volts |
Properties are intended to be as flat as possible to facilitate data manipulation, especially with respect to database schemas. One exception is the relay property which encapsulates ambient data intended for external processing by a third party. A relay Object has only one mandatory property, type, which is a String identifying the third party, and may also include any number of third-party-specific properties.
Some properties have a singular and plural form where the latter is to represent multiple properties of the same type from a single device (ex: sensor beacon with multiple temperature probes). In this case, the length of the Array is expected to correspond to the number of such instances supported by the device, with Array elements represented as null in the absence of a value.
Some properties represent values captured over time, and are referenced against a cyclic counter to indicate a new capture or sample. In this case, the cyclic count is represented as a separate property which adds a Cycle suffix, for example, passageCounts and passageCountsCycle.
Some properties may be extended to represent time series data, sampled at a given rate. In this case the data is represented as separate properties adding a TimeSeries suffix and a SamplingRate suffix, for example accelerationTimeSeries and accelerationSamplingRate.
See the reelyActive Developer's Cheatsheet for more details about the standard properties above which are considered to be dynamic ambient (dynamb) data.
The name advlib, which is derived from "advertising library", sounds like ad-lib, hinting at the fact that decoding ambient data is often improvised, especially when little or no documentation is available!
The function of advlib is not unlike the Babel fish in Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy: "if you stick a Babel fish in your ear you can instantly understand anything said to you in any form of language." Hence, the Babel fish would make an obvious choice of mascot.
Why then did we choose the cuneiform symbol ð’„© (KU6) as the advlib mascot? Something's fishy...
Let's ad-lib shall we? The Babel fish is likely a reference to the Tower of Babel which itself is a parable meant to explain why the world's peoples speak different languages. The tower may well have existed in ancient Babylon where the Sumerian/Akkadian languages were spoken. Cuneiform, the earliest known writing system, was originally developed to write the Sumerian language. And ð’„© is the Sumerian cuneiform symbol for fish. So ð’„© can arguably be decoded as Babel fish: the obvious choice of mascot indeed!
Does that seem like a completely implausable decoding of a cryptic message? Well that's exactly what advlib development often seemed like over the years!
The advlib project began in 2015 and was published in a scientific paper entitled Low-Power Wireless Advertising Software Library for Distributed M2M and Contextual IoT presented at the 2nd IEEE World Forum on Internet of Things (WF-IoT) in Milan, Italy that same year.
In 2020, advlib was redesigned and updated to v1.x which is modular, more efficient, protocol-agnostic and better supports the broad range of use cases that have emerged since its initial conception. The previous version remains available in the release-0.1 branch and as advlib@0.1.4 on npm.
advlib is easily combined with the following complementary software modules:
Learn more about the reelyActive Open Source Software packages, all of which are bundled together as Pareto Anywhere open source IoT middleware.
Discover how to contribute to this open source project which upholds a standard code of conduct.
Consult our security policy for best practices using this open source software and to report vulnerabilities.
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