ANNOUNCEMENT: Introducing the Photon

Any chance on letting the API / configuting take part in the claiming of the core too? so the app can match a coreID on the server?

Not sure I understand the question here; can you provide a bit more detail on what you're looking for?

Thanks! Is there any possibility for longer function argument lengths and function return types other than integer?

hm yeah, could have written that more clearly :slight_smile: Can the app read out the core ID during the configuration and/or pass a piece of the data to the core (together with the SSID and password) that the core can later pass to the cloud to know which user (who is already logged in with the app) belongs to which core.

Yes, definitely! This is how the new set-up process will work, that way devices are associated with an account as soon as theyā€™re connected.

Z

Awesome. 19$ is really good price, and 10$ for the module itself to bootstrap mini production or miniaturize small product even further is also awesome option.

I already own 5 spark cores and they serve me well (home automation, sensor monitoring and general easy prototyping), but I really miss IPv6 support. I heard that the Spark Core is just too limited to run IPv4 and IPv6 (probably not enough memory - I think it is possible but there would be just not enough space for anything else beyond the network stack), but Spark Photon looks to have enough memory to fully support IPv6. That would be awesome for directly connecting different Spark Photons together in local network without hassle or issues with internet or cloud servers being offline for any reasons. It also alows for much faster response by bypassing Internet, and should allow Spark network to handle millions of devices without overloading Spark servers. :smile:

For me IPv6 would be a killer feature, and I would easily obtain 10 or more of Spark Photons with it :smile:

Is native IPv6 support planned?

This sounds Awesome! Exactly what I'm needing and I'm sure you guys will make it really easy to work with.

What is the current status and timeline for the mobile SDK your building? I'm eager to see more about this.

Please consider adding support for WPA2 Enterprise. This is already a deal-breaker for us with the Spark (currently itā€™s using the guest network). The Broadcom chip apparently supports WPA2 Enterprise so it should most likely be only a firmware issue.

Where did you see that WPA2 enterprise is supported? Iā€™ve yet to see any mention of it in the API documentation or on the community site.

Itā€™s a bit hard to find, but at least this certification application specifically mentions WPA2 enterprise and uses the same BCM chip:

http://certifications.prod.wi-fi.org/pdf/certificate/public/download?cid=WFA55705&ei=GzShVNS1JIKAU6m0gagL&usg=AFQjCNE9bpFSzspH8XQXVGIRPQ85xgZ7gA&sig2=bmpiWRzmxCPct7a2XBoSQA

Thanks. My guess is that this is using their own firmware plus support in android. Sadly thereā€™s nothing in the SDK provided by broadcom that supports WPA2 Enterprise, so building this will require implementing our own WPA2 enterprise client, surely not a small undertaking!

Hm, I see. That is really a pity because with WPA2 Enterprise support 802.1x support (eduroam) is not far away and I guess that Spark/Photon projects are or will be very common in universities.

Well, at least now you know that ā€“ should it be possible to implement WPA2 Enterprise yourself and you decide to do so ā€“ there will be some happy users who appreciate your efforts :slight_smile:

2 Likes

Thanks for the feedback @winternight! We'll see what we can find out from our friends at Broadcom, and we will keep this in mind.

Z

3 Likes

The WM-N-BM-09 (P0 module) datasheet does claim ā€œHardware WAPI acceleration engine, AES, TKIP, WPA and WPA2 are supportedā€¦ā€ so it might be automagically handled by the Broadcom Wi-Fi radio that is within the P0 module, and if so would not require any special firmware.

EDIT: Completely missed the fact that you were talking about ā€œEnterpriseā€ā€¦ that should require some custom firmware.

1 Like

Is it possible to know the draw/device consumption when the photon is operating in sleep, deep sleep (low power modes)? I suppose they would be similar to the Spark Core, but I am just curious because Iā€™m already planning future projects with this thing!

EXTREMELY excited about this release. I think Iā€™m going to buy some more, muahaha!

@markbratanov had the same question: http://community.spark.io/t/photon-power-consumption-info/9019

This question is about the P1, the description indicates that its basically a P0 with additional flash, antenna + u.fl. I would like to know how much more flash over the P0 and does anyone have a pointer to the datasheet?

This is the best reference I found for the WM-N-BM-14 module I believe Spark is using for the P1. It says 1 MB of Flash:

http://www.cnblogs.com/shangdawei/p/3485122.html

@Pixelmatix
Thanks for the link. It looks like the P0 has 1MB flash, then with the P1 you get that 1MB and an extended 1MB (8Mb) flash.

@mtnscott Youā€™re totally right, I was looking at the wrong ā€œFlashā€. The diagram on that same page shows the 8Mbit (1MB) flash, but no details on connection.

Spark team, can you share some details on how the STM32 accesses the extended flash, and if it would be possible to add the same flash chip external to the P0 or Photon for software compatibility?