Connectivity Sampling Package

carp_connectivity_package adds four phone measures to a CARP Mobile Sensing (CAMS) study. They record the networks the phone uses, the Wi-Fi network it is connected to, and the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) devices and iBeacons around it. Use them when a study needs the network context of a participant's phone, or the devices and places around it.

The package builds on four Flutter plugins: connectivity_plus for the network status, network_info_plus for the Wi-Fi network, flutter_blue_plus for Bluetooth scans and dchs_flutter_beacon for iBeacons.

Features

Measure types

The package has four event-based measure types, all collected on the phone:

For the measure types of the other sampling packages, see Measure types.

Requirements

How it works

Adding the package to a study takes three steps:

1. Register the package

   Registering a ConnectivitySamplingPackage in the SamplingPackageRegistry makes the four measure types and their data and configuration classes known to CAMS. It also adds the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth name hashing to the default privacy schema.

2. Add the measures to a protocol

   The measures run on the phone. Start them with an ImmediateTrigger, and they run until the study pauses. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth sample at their own interval, and beacons need the regions to monitor.

3. Deploy the protocol

   CAMS asks for the Bluetooth and location permissions that the measures declare, then starts them. Wi-Fi also needs location access, which CAMS does not ask for. To ask for it in the app, see Location permission.

This example registers the package and collects the connectivity status and nearby Bluetooth devices:

import 'package:carp_core/carp_core.dart' hide Smartphone;
import 'package:carp_mobile_sensing/carp_mobile_sensing.dart';
import 'package:carp_connectivity_package/connectivity.dart';

void main() {
  CarpMobileSensing.ensureInitialized();
  SamplingPackageRegistry().register(ConnectivitySamplingPackage());

  final phone = Smartphone();
  final protocol = SmartphoneStudyProtocol(
    ownerId: 'owner@example.com',
    name: 'Phone connectivity',
    dataEndPoint: SQLiteDataEndPoint(),
  )..addPrimaryDevice(phone);

  // Event-based measures run from the time the study starts
  protocol.addTaskControl(
    ImmediateTrigger(),
    BackgroundTask(
      measures: [
        Measure(type: ConnectivitySamplingPackage.CONNECTIVITY),
        Measure(type: ConnectivitySamplingPackage.BLUETOOTH),
      ],
    ),
    phone,
  );

  // ... deploy the protocol and start sampling
}

Next steps