Using radio_test sample on custom board.

[nicoled123]

Hi,

I want to run the radio_test sample on a custom board, how do I go about doing this?

The custom board uses a UBLOX NINA B401- which utilises the nRF52833 chip. Do you have any examples available for the UBLOX NINA B401 chip, including how to set up a dts for custom boards etc. 

I have the radio test sample running successfully using two nRF52840-DK boards, using nRF connect SDK on Visual Studio.

[Einar Thorsrud]

Hi,

If you do not have board files fro your device yet you can add an overlay file that re-configures the UART pins for the DK to match your hardware, and connect to those pins. You can also simply change the pin configuration in the DK pinctrl file itself, and build for the DK. If so, update the uart0 pins in zephyr/boards/nordic/nrf52833dk/nrf52833dk_nrf52833-pinctrl.dtsi.

Also, if the module does not include the DCDC componts, set CONFIG_BOARD_ENABLE_DCDC=n in prj.conf. In the same way, if it does not include the 32.768 kHz crystall, set CONFIG_CLOCK_CONTROL_NRF_K32SRC_RC=y in prj.conf.

[nicoled123]

Thanks for your response! Do you have any examples available for the UBLOX NINA B401 chip and is it possible for the radio_test sample to work on it, or does it require any specific hardware that is in included in nrf52840-DK?

Is it only the UART pins i need to change in the overlay files or will there be others too?

[Einar Thorsrud]

Hi,

nicoled123 said:

Is it ok for the 52840 DK to not have the same TX power as custom board in this test, I understand the additional power for custom board comes from FEM gain. or do i need to use two boards with FEM?

As you write, the nRF52840 DK does not include a FEM, so the maximum output power on that will be 8 dBm. But wether that is OK or not depend on what you want to achieve/test?

nicoled123 said:

I keep adding the dependencies but another is thrown am I missing something?

I suggest you look at the RFf21540 DK board fiels for reference (zephyr/boards/nordic/nrf21540dk/). You can also look at the nRF21540 shield files to see only the changes needed for the FEM (nrf/boards/shields/nrf21540ek/). You can also refer to the documentation for details: Enabling FEM support.

[nicoled123]

Hi,

I have set  ONFIG_RADIO_TEST_POWER_CONTROL_AUTOMATIC=n so now I should be able to get 8dBm from nrf52833 chip on my custom board but now also able to set the nrf21540 FEM output power using fem tx_power_control command. So, to confirm the total output power will be that from out_power command (max 8dBm) plus power set from fem tx_power_control.

Could you explain the rx and tx sweep functions too and what to be expected to see. Also is it possible to connect the custom board to the RSSI viewer to get a visual representation of the sweep, as currently it says 'no device set up found'

Also, can you confirm difference in commands start_tx_carrier and  start_tx_modulated_carrier

[Einar Thorsrud]

Hi,

nicoled123 said:

Could you explain the rx and tx sweep functions too and what to be expected to see

For both tx and rx sweep you specify the start and end channel using start_channel and end_channel. Then start the sweep. The time spent on each channel is also configurable by the time_on_channel command.

nicoled123 said:

Also is it possible to connect the custom board to the RSSI viewer to get a visual representation of the sweep, as currently it says 'no device set up found'

Note that you would need a separate device for the RSSI viewer. This is then in Tx and is scanning the frequency band (channel by channel) to show the activity. This should work with any nRF52 series DK, but may not work on custom board, and not boards without DCDC and 32.768 kHz oscillator as it programs the device with a pre-compiled hex file that is needed.

nicoled123 said:

Also, can you confirm difference in commands start_tx_carrier and  start_tx_modulated_carrier

start_tx_carrier will output a clen carrier wave, without any modulated signal. start_tx_modulated_carrier on the other hand will output a modulated signal with a random payload.

[nicoled123]

Thanks for your help!

Could you aslo provide the answer for: 

'I have set  CONFIG_RADIO_TEST_POWER_CONTROL_AUTOMATIC=n so now I should be able to get 8dBm from nrf52833 chip on my custom board but now also able to set the nrf21540 FEM output power using fem tx_power_control command. So, to confirm the total output power will be that from out_power command (max 8dBm) plus power set from fem tx_power_control'

Thanks,

Nicole

[Einar Thorsrud]

Hi Nicole,

You are right. If using SDK 2.7 or newer, you use "fem tx_power_control" to set the gain of the FEM when you have set CONFIG_RADIO_TEST_POWER_CONTROL_AUTOMATIC=n. With this, the output power will essentially be the output power of the nRF5 in dBm plus the configured gain of the FEM in dB. (some deviation in output power is expected with different frequency, supply voltage and temperature).

Br,

Einar