Urgent Assistance Required for nRF24L01 RF Testing and KC Certification

[jinho]

Dear Nordic Semiconductor,

I am reaching out to request assistance with passing the RF test for the nRF24L01 product in order to obtain KC certification. I am aware that the testing procedure is the same as that for CE certification or certifications in the USA, and I believe Nordic is knowledgeable about these requirements as well.

Our company's product line incorporates the nRF24L01 module, and we have completed all stages from development to preparation for mass production. We are poised to commence mass production as soon as we secure the certification, with customers already awaiting its completion. It is my understanding that for this test, it is not required to certify every component of the product; certification can be granted as long as the nRF24L01 module itself passes the test. However, we have encountered issues with controlling the module via PC applications provided by Nordic, such as nRFgo Studio and nRF24L01 EC, which have all failed.

Therefore, I am seeking to purchase specific components or a development kit that is suited for the RF testing of the nRF24L01. I would greatly appreciate it if Nordic could provide or recommend a solution that we can directly apply. There is a growing sense of urgency as our customers are becoming impatient, and our company is in dire need of moving forward.

Following previous discussions, I was advised to explore newer alternatives such as the nRF52 series. However, this suggestion pertains to future product developments. This current request is strictly for testing purposes, considering our development phase is nearly complete, and we are committed to using the nRF24L01.

I look forward to your prompt response and any assistance you can provide.

Sincerely,
jinho, [email protected]

[Kenneth]

Hello,

There is no such tool, the nRF24L01 is a pure radio transceiver, so it is the host MCU that need to implement the functionality to setup the various test modes that is required.

You will need to port the rf_test library for the nRF24LE1 to your third party MCU, the library is found in\nRFgo SDK 2.3.0.10040\source_code\lib\rf_test

The nRFgo SDK v2.3 can be download from: https://www.nordicsemi.com/Products/nRF24-series

The above SDK is for nRF24LE1 and nRF24LU1+ have both a nRF24L01+ embedded radio internally, using an internal SPI interface for usage and configuration. So you should be able to re-use the rf_test for your host MCU.

We don't have anything else for the nRF24L01+, other than possible:
https://infocenter.nordicsemi.com/topic/struct_appnotes/struct/appnotes_nan24-12.html 
https://infocenter.nordicsemi.com/pdf/nan_24-08.pdf 

Typical usage is for example:

            rf_test_init();

            rf_test_set_modulation_payload();

            rf_test_start_mod_carrier();

            // short delay 1ms

            CE_HIGH();           

            hal_nrf_reuse_tx();

            while(1);

Normally you need to repeat test for channels 2, 40, and 82 (low, middle and high) channel. For receive you use rf_test_start_rx_carrier() instead of rf_test_start_mod_carrier().

I would like to mention that the nRF24 series is no longer supported or recommeded for new development.

Kenneth