Help setting nRF 52833 Tx Power to +8db

RE: Help setting nRF 52833 Tx Power to +8db

developer02Calypso — Tue, 06 Jun 2023 06:39:01 GMT

Hi again,

I think it might be just a hardware problem on the PCA10100, because I can notice changes in the output signal when changing Tx power level. It's just that, even with +8Bm, the power output doesn't seem higher than the PCA10040 with +4dBm (in RSSI and range). I will manage to get another PCA10100 to try see if the issue disappears. So, I think this is kind of solved; I will come by to confirm that it was the board when I test a new one.

Thanks for your help, it solved several of my problems and I feel I have a better understanding of Segger and the SDK now.

Have a nice day,

Miguel

RE: Help setting nRF 52833 Tx Power to +8db

Jørgen Holmefjord — Mon, 05 Jun 2023 12:30:58 GMT

Hi,

How close are the devices when you test? You might not see big difference in RSSI if the signal strength is good in both test cases. If the SoftDevice API allows you to set the +8 dBm value, this should be the one used.

Can you see if your get better range with the +8dBm setting compared to +4 dBm? You can also measure the output power from the antenna port of the DK if you have the correct equipment.

Best regards,
Jørgen

RE: Help setting nRF 52833 Tx Power to +8db

developer02Calypso — Mon, 05 Jun 2023 07:23:49 GMT

Hi again,

You were right! The problem was RAM allocation. I had already enabled the logs, but the backend wasn't; so setting "NRF_LOG_BACKEND_RTT_ENABLED = 1" did the trick and I could get the logs about the RAM. Thanks for the comment about nRF Connect SDK, that seems like the right way to go. I will check it out and inform the small company I am working in about it.

With the RAM size and start point fixed the program runs flawlessly, even when TX_POWER_LEVEL set to +8. Although, I cannot see any significant improvement over a PCA10040 with tx power at +4. RSSI seems to behave the same when checking with nRF Connect android app. Any idea why could this be? It seems as if the tx power is still working at +4db... Somehow.

Regards,

Miguel

RE: Help setting nRF 52833 Tx Power to +8db

Jørgen Holmefjord — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 12:08:53 GMT

Hi,

Good to hear that it compiles and flashes successfully!

My suspicion is that the problem you are seeing now is due to insufficient RAM allocation for the SoftDevice. If you build the application in "Debug" configuration, and make sure the the logger is enabled (NRF_LOG_ENABLE set to 1 in sdk_config.h), you should be able to see the exact error code and line/file where the error originated on the log output (UART or RTT, depending on enabled logger backend). In case the error is caused by insufficient RAM, the logger will also output the required size.

I would also like to inform/remind you about the following statement regarding our SDK offerings, to make sure you make the correct choice for your application. If you are starting a new project and want access to new development/features, the nRF Connect SDK is the way to go.

Best regards,
Jørgen

RE: Help setting nRF 52833 Tx Power to +8db

developer02Calypso — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 11:40:37 GMT

Hi again,

Yes, you were right, those two corrections fixed the issue. The program compiles and I can flash it to the PCA10100, though now the debug run is stopping at NRF_BREAKPOINT_COND inside app_error_weak.c. I am completely aware that this amount of information is probably not enough for you to conclude anything... I am still learning and still not sure of how to track and find this kind of errors. Any tip about it would be helpful, as I would like to not have to disturb in DevZone for this little things.

RE: Help setting nRF 52833 Tx Power to +8db

Jørgen Holmefjord — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 11:17:11 GMT

[quote user="developer02Calypso"]Increase RAM: I guess this is in Project -> Options... -> Common configuration -> Code -> Linker -> Section Placement Macros (and edit RAM size line)[/quote]

Correct, but you should also update the size under "Memory Segments".

[quote user="developer02Calypso"]Replace file: This is in Project -> Options... -> Common configuration -> Debug -> Loader -> Additional Load File[0] (I am just loading one file, as far as I know)[/quote]

Yes, this is the correct location. I forgot one step in my previous post, which may cause the issue you are seeing. From the IDE's perspective, you have two load files; the application and the softdevice. When changing the softdevice variant, you need to adjust the RAM start and length according to the size given in the Softdevice release notes (can be found in components\softdevice\s1xx\doc. For S140, the size is 0x27000, while for s132 it is 0x26000. You will need to reduce the length of application accordingly. Not changing this will cause the softdevice to overlap with the application. The new softdevice variant may also have different RAM requirements, this can be modified later if the application returns an error, See this guide regarding Flash and RAM sizes.

RE: Help setting nRF 52833 Tx Power to +8db

developer02Calypso — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 10:52:55 GMT

Hello Jørgen,

Thanks for your reply. I have followed your indications, but I am getting the error message "cannot download multiple load files" when trying to debug, which is a bit strange, since I am not aware of having multiple load files. Just to make it clear, the two last steps are supposed to be:

Increase RAM: I guess this is in Project -> Options... -> Common configuration -> Code -> Linker -> Section Placement Macros (and edit RAM size line)
Replace file: This is in Project -> Options... -> Common configuration -> Debug -> Loader -> Additional Load File[0] (I am just loading one file, as far as I know)

Is this right? Or I messed up somewhere?

Regards,

Miguel

RE: Help setting nRF 52833 Tx Power to +8db

Jørgen Holmefjord — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 08:56:16 GMT

Hi,

In order to support +8 dBm output power, you need to use a SoftDevice variant that supports this setting. This should be supported in latest releases of S140 (v7.3.0) and S113 (v7.2.0). The pca10040 project is most likely setup to use S132 or S112 softdevice, which does not support higher output powers, as this is not supported in nRF52832.

The main changes required to port a project from pca10040 to pca10100 is the following:

Preprocessor symbol change:
- BOARD_PCA10040 to BOARD_PCA10100
- NRF52832_XXAA to NRF52833_XXAA, remove NRF52
- S132/S112 to S140/S113
Header include path changes:
- components/softdevice/s1xx/headers (from s132/s112 to s140/s113)
- components/softdevice/s1xx/headers/nrf52 (from s132/s112 to s140/s113)
Increase RAM size from 0x10000 to 0x20000
Replace path to softdevice hex file under additional load files

Let me know if you have specific issues with this approach.

Best regards,
Jørgen