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ASF Sensor Hub – Industrial Gap Resolution & Architecture Proposal
Target Platform: ESP32-S3
SDK: ESP-IDF v5.4
Domain: Industrial / Agricultural Automation (Smart Poultry Farm)
1. Introduction
This document provides a comprehensive proposal to close the identified system gaps in the ASF Sensor Hub design.
The focus is on industrial-grade reliability, security, maintainability, and scalability, aligned with best practices used in commercial automation and IoT systems.
The solutions proposed here are technology-backed, ESP32-S3–aware, and suitable for long-term field deployment in harsh farm environments.
2. Communication Architecture
2.1 Selected Technologies Overview
| Layer | Technology |
|---|---|
| Physical / Link | Wi-Fi 802.11n (2.4 GHz) |
| Messaging | MQTT |
| Security | TLS 1.2 (Mutual Authentication) |
| Peer-to-peer | ESP-NOW |
| Payload Encoding | CBOR |
2.2 Wi-Fi 802.11n (2.4 GHz)
Background
Wi-Fi 802.11n at 2.4 GHz is the most widely supported industrial wireless standard for embedded devices.
It offers a good balance between:
- Range
- Penetration through farm structures
- Throughput (sufficient for OTA updates)
Why Chosen
- Native support on ESP32-S3
- Existing farm infrastructure compatibility
- Mature ESP-IDF drivers
- High data rate for OTA firmware updates
How It Works
The Sensor Hub connects to a local Access Point and establishes a persistent TCP/IP connection to the Main Hub or Edge Gateway.
2.3 MQTT (Message Queuing Telemetry Transport)
Background
MQTT is a lightweight publish/subscribe protocol designed specifically for unreliable networks and constrained devices.
Why Chosen
- Store-and-forward messaging
- Built-in keepalive mechanism
- QoS levels for delivery guarantees
- Massive industrial adoption (SCADA, IIoT)
How It Works
- Sensor Hub publishes data to topic hierarchies
- Main Hub subscribes to relevant topics
- Configuration and commands flow in reverse direction
Example Topic Structure: