BLE radio testing (TX continuous modulated)

RE: BLE radio testing (TX continuous modulated)

CRD — Fri, 21 Jun 2024 13:14:13 GMT

Thank you!

I think I just needed fresh day. I deleted everything (for the 15th time), started from scratch, and grabbed a different J-link probe. Built the project and now it works with the shell over RTT.

Full steps to reproduce it:
Copied the sample project from: "nrf/samples/peripheral/radio_test"

Added this to the default proj.conf

CONFIG_USE_SEGGER_RTT=y
CONFIG_SHELL_BACKEND_RTT=y

Created new file "boards/myboard.overlay" with the following contents:

/ {
	chosen {
		zephyr,shell = &rtt0;
		zephyr,console = &rtt0;
	};

	rtt0: rtt_chan0 {
		compatible = "segger,rtt-uart";
		status = "okay";
	};
};

Build (My board is nrf9160dk_nrf52840), added proj.conf and boards/myboard.overlay
Flash
Open J-Link RTT Viewer (v7.96f)
Connect via SWD 4000khz target (NRF52840_XAA)
Then you see the shell log printed to the console and can send cli commands to the console.

RE: BLE radio testing (TX continuous modulated)

Einar Thorsrud — Fri, 21 Jun 2024 09:02:41 GMT

Hi,

I tested the configuration I shared yesterday so that shoudl work. Can you revert your changes and use the radio test example with only the changes I suggested there?

Also, if you use RTT Viewer note that the cursor must be in the input field in order to input data. That is highlighted with red here:

RE: BLE radio testing (TX continuous modulated)

CRD — Thu, 20 Jun 2024 20:35:08 GMT

Thank you,

I'm trying very hard to get this working but I just can't seem to get anything (using J-link RTT viewer). I can send bytes but nothing ever logs or responds.

I also cannot seem to get the "printk" statements to log out anymore so I'm not even sure if the project is building properly now. I feel like I'm going backwards....

I have added this:

# To log printk over RTT
CONFIG_LOG=y
CONFIG_LOG_PRINTK=y
CONFIG_LOG_BACKEND_RTT=y
CONFIG_USE_SEGGER_RTT=y
CONFIG_UART_CONSOLE=n
CONFIG_RTT_CONSOLE=y

I had this working yesterday and I would see:

> Starting Radio Test example

> Clock has started

Since trying to add the shell backend I can't get anything working and I'm not sure what I have changed...

RE: BLE radio testing (TX continuous modulated)

Einar Thorsrud — Thu, 20 Jun 2024 14:14:27 GMT

Hi,

Yes, you can use RTT over SWD instead of UART. You can control it via RTT instead of UART by adding this to prj.conf:

CONFIG_SHELL_BACKEND_RTT=y

And adding an app.overlay file with this:

/ {
	chosen {
		zephyr,shell = &rtt0;
		zephyr,console = &rtt0;
	};

	rtt0: rtt_chan0 {
		compatible = "segger,rtt-uart";
		status = "okay";
	};
};

RE: BLE radio testing (TX continuous modulated)

CRD — Wed, 19 Jun 2024 19:07:35 GMT

I am able to log data out from the radio_test program over RTT. Would it be possible to send the shell commands to the radio_test using the RTT interface instead of UART?

RE: BLE radio testing (TX continuous modulated)

CRD — Wed, 19 Jun 2024 14:52:01 GMT

As far as I can tell that sample is made for the following boards (nrf52dk_nrf52832, nrf52840dk_nrf52840, nrf5340dk_nrf5340_cpunet, nrf7002dk_nrf5340_cpunet).

Our design follows the nrf9160dk design. So the only uart connected to the nrf52840 is the inter-chip uart between the nrf9160 and nrf52480. I would need to heavily modify the radio_test sample to control it from the nrf9160 chip anyways.

I feel like I must be able to start modulated tx using the standard adv libraries that I currently use on the nrf9160 while leaving hci_lpuart running on the nrf52840 and avoid flashing different firmwares just to run the test.

RE: BLE radio testing (TX continuous modulated)

Einar Thorsrud — Wed, 19 Jun 2024 12:57:35 GMT

Hi,

For radio complience testing I would try to make this simpler and use the radio test sample. You need a way to program the nRF52 anyway, and that can probably also be used during the radio testing. What is the reason for wanting to control this from the 91 side?

(That said, if you do need to control it you could probably still use the radio test sample with minor adjustments and control it via GPIO from the 91 as you only need to cycle through a few modes).