Compatible equipment and requirements
dex-embedded runs on MDVRs with Linux. There is no closed list of models: what decides it is what is inside the device. This page shows what we check before preparing a package.
What the device needs
| Requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| Linux | aarch64 (64-bit ARM) or armv7 (32-bit ARM). The binary is static and does not depend on the distribution. |
| Bluetooth Low Energy | Built in, or through a USB dongle (see below). |
| BlueZ | The Linux Bluetooth stack, with the bluetoothd service running. |
| System D-Bus | Used to talk to BlueZ. |
| Correct clock | Correct date and time (events carry timestamps). |
| Internet access | Port 443 (HTTPS) to the Dersalis cloud. |
| Persistent storage | A writable directory that survives a restart. Memory (/tmp) will not do. |
| System service | The installer registers a systemd service. With another init system, talk to Dersalis. |
The space needed is small: the binaries add up to about 8 MB.
Packages by architecture
Architecture (uname -m) | Package | Note |
|---|---|---|
aarch64 | aarch64-unknown-linux-musl | 64-bit ARM. |
armv7l with FPU | armv7-unknown-linux-musleabihf | 32-bit ARM with hardware floating point. |
armv7l without FPU | armv7-unknown-linux-musleabi | Fallback, for CPUs without a floating-point unit. |
Other architectures (for example x86_64) can be supported on request.
Bluetooth: built in or USB dongle
- Device with built-in Bluetooth: the simplest case. It only needs BlueZ running.
- Device without Bluetooth: works with a USB Bluetooth dongle, as long as the kernel has the
driver (
btusb) and a USB port is available. The dongle Dersalis validates and recommends is the Nordic nRF52840 with Zephyr "HCI USB" firmware, which needs no firmware file on the device.
Lean Linux images for MDVRs often ship without BlueZ or D-Bus. If they are missing, the gateway cannot listen to the watches. Check this in the technical survey before anything else.
What we have validated
We have run the gateway on 64-bit ARM with built-in Bluetooth and, on a bench with a Raspberry Pi, on 64-bit ARM with a USB dongle. The 32-bit ARM packages exist and are being validated with partners. Each new model goes through a preflight of about 15 seconds, read-only, that checks all of this on the device itself.
Not sure yours qualifies?
Run the technical survey: it is just a few commands, and the answer tells us what is missing, if anything.