ANT Forum

Hello all,

I have confusion regarding Network keys for ANT+.

firstly, what is the difference between the private key and ANT+ managed network key.
For ANT+ ,if i want to have a secure network so what i have to do..For this , manufacturer support is required but if i have private key in case of ANT+ also ,..I can not set it on slave side because no android APIs are available for setting network key and other channel parameters in ANDROID for ANT+.

I referred all the documnets ,tech FAQs related to Network key but still i did not have clear understanding of this.


Thanks in Advance.      

Could you clarify what you mean by "Secure Network"? Describe the requirements for your app in more detail?

This FAQ question should help clarify the topic of Network Keys:
http://www.thisisant.com/developer/resources/tech-faq/what-is-the-difference-between-public-managed-and-private-network-keys-1/      

I would also recommend reading on the difference between ANT and ANT+:
http://www.thisisant.com/developer/ant-plus/ant-antplus-defined/

The objective of ANT+ is interoperability.The ANT+ Managed Network key is restricted for devices that adhere to the requirements of ANT+ Device Profiles ensuring interoperability across different manufacturers and models.      

Hello Usamak,

Thanks for your reply.

"Secure Network" (ANT+):
I have a heart rate monitor(ANT+) and one more person near me also has heart rate monitor .now i want my display device to show my heart rate measurement that is obvious . so with app i can control it ..
If other person has display device, receiving my heart rate that i do not want ,for this using proximity pairing is one of the option to control it. but in case of wider scenario where I have many sensors ,i want my sensor to communicate with my display device and not to others(No other receive my sensor's data) .How I will control it?      

When you open a slave channel to connect to a master (= sensor), you specify 3 parameters:
the device type, transmission mode and serial number of the sensor you want to connect to.
You can use a wildcard for every single one of these 3 parameters to connect to arbitrary devices.

When you connect to a sensor for the first time ("pairing") you'll specify the sensor type and use a wildcard for the serial number. The two devices should be close to each other and no sensor of the same type nearby. When the sensor has been found, you'll store the serial number for further reference.
You'll use this serial number for subsequent connects to connect to YOUR sensor and not Jim's or Susie's.
The serial numbers are of course not unique, but the chance to have two sensors with identical serial numbers close to each other is just small.

OMB