Multiple advertisement (beacon + connectable advertisement) on NRF52

RE: Multiple advertisement (beacon + connectable advertisement) on NRF52

lara_ — Tue, 14 May 2024 23:30:15 GMT

Hi Einar,

I'll try using app_timer and alternate between my advertising sets.

Thanks for your help,

Lara

RE: Multiple advertisement (beacon + connectable advertisement) on NRF52

Einar Thorsrud — Tue, 14 May 2024 12:18:48 GMT

Hi Lara,

I understand. The SoftDevice simply does not support multiple advertising sets, so that cannot be configurd. But there are ways around it, as you have described. The most common approach is to alternate between the two (or more) advertising sets. Use an app_timer or similar to trigger re-configuration at a regular interval. This is simple and will likely work equally good on a high level.

Another posibility is to implement an additional advertiser using the SoftDevice Timeslot API. I would not recomemnd that approach though, as it is more complex, you will be using a custom implementation for the advertising in timeslot that requiers aditional Bluetooth qualification work. Also, the end result will likely not be much better.

RE: Multiple advertisement (beacon + connectable advertisement) on NRF52

lara_ — Tue, 14 May 2024 06:05:25 GMT

Hello Einar,

Thank you for your response.

Unfortunately, I am already in an advanced stage of development and starting the project from scratch with the nRF Connect SDK is not a viable option for us. While I find the SDK interesting, I would like to know if it is still possible to have multiple advertising with nrf52 even if it is not as easy.

Our original idea is for our device to serve as both a beacon and a connectable advertisement, triggered by a button. When the central device detects the beacon, a notification will be activated, prompting the user to connect to the device.

If this option is not feasible, we are considering alternative solutions, such as having the device act as a beacon that can receive data and trigger a notification on the central device when data is detected. This notification would then send back data to the beacon, causing it to switch modes and advertise connectable once again.

Another option we are considering is to advertise as a beacon for a few seconds before switching to a connectable mode.

Thank you.

Lara

RE: Multiple advertisement (beacon + connectable advertisement) on NRF52

Einar Thorsrud — Fri, 10 May 2024 06:52:20 GMT

Hi Lara,

Are you early in development? If so, I would stronlgy advice that you migrate to the nRF Connect SDK (see nRF Connect SDK and nRF5 SDK statement). This is prticularily relevant here, as multiple advertising sets is supported out of the box in the nF Connect SDK (see BLE multiple advertising sets sample).

Einar