Possibility of using Nordic nRF52840 as PAwR advertiser and the other device as PAwR scanner

[nordic_maxin]

Hi,

I am currently investigating the possibility of using Nordic nRF52840 as the PAwR advertiser and the other device (from a different vendor) as the PAwR scanner. 

I don't want to include in the PAST procedure in my first demo, and found this ticket related: PaWR subevent data - Nordic Q&A - Nordic DevZone - Nordic DevZone

I have went through the recommended `periodic_adv_conn` sample application. But I am not really sure whether it is possible to get this working. Moreover, I am actually not using the STACK on the other device, but writing the application based on the radio driver. 

Would appreciate it if you can give some suggestions

[nordic_maxin]

I modified the example as follows:

	int err;
	struct bt_le_ext_adv *pawr_adv;
	init_bufs();

	/* Initialize the Bluetooth Subsystem */
	err = bt_enable(NULL);
	if (err) {
		printk("Bluetooth init failed (err %d)\n", err);
		return 0;
	}

	/* Create a non-connectable advertising set */
	err = bt_le_ext_adv_create(BT_LE_EXT_ADV_NCONN, &adv_cb, &pawr_adv);
	if (err) {
		printk("Failed to create advertising set (err %d)\n", err);
		return 0;
	}

	/* Set periodic advertising parameters */
	err = bt_le_per_adv_set_param(pawr_adv, &per_adv_params);
	if (err) {
		printk("Failed to set periodic advertising parameters (err %d)\n", err);
		return 0;
	}

	/* Enable Periodic Advertising */
	printk("Start Periodic Advertising\n");
	err = bt_le_per_adv_start(pawr_adv);
	if (err) {
		printk("Failed to enable periodic advertising (err %d)\n", err);
		return 0;
	}

	printk("Start Extended Advertising\n");
	err = bt_le_ext_adv_start(pawr_adv, BT_LE_EXT_ADV_START_DEFAULT);
	if (err) {
		printk("Failed to start extended advertising (err %d)\n", err);
		return 0;
	}

	/* Send the HCI subevent data request */
	struct net_buf *buf;
	struct bt_hci_evt_le_per_adv_subevent_data_request *evt;
	buf = bt_hci_evt_create(BT_HCI_EVT_LE_PER_ADV_SUBEVENT_DATA_REQUEST, sizeof(struct bt_hci_evt_le_per_adv_subevent_data_request));
	if (!buf)
	{
		printk("Unable to allocate event buffer\n");
		return -1;
	}

	/* Update the parameters */
	evt = net_buf_push(buf, sizeof(struct bt_hci_evt_le_per_adv_subevent_data_request));
	if (!evt)
	{
		printk("Unable to allocate memory for the request event\n");
		return -1;
	}

	uint8_t adv_handle;
	err = bt_hci_get_adv_handle(pawr_adv, &adv_handle);
	if (err)
	{
		printk("Failed to get the advertising handle (err %d)\n", err);
		return -1;
	}

	evt->adv_handle = adv_handle;
	evt->subevent_start = 1;
	evt->subevent_data_count = NUM_SUBEVENTS;

	/* Request... */
	extern void bt_hci_le_per_adv_subevent_data_request(struct net_buf *buf);
	bt_hci_le_per_adv_subevent_data_request(buf);

	while (true) {
		k_sleep(K_SECONDS(1));
	}

When running this PAwR advertiser application, I got the following errors

[nordic_maxin]

I did check the meaning of this -5 error. According to Zephyr documentation, this is an I/O error. But I don't really understand what does this I/O error mean in this context. Could u please shed some light on understanding and resolving this issue?

[Einar Thorsrud]

Hi,

I am having some problems getting the full picture here. Which example did you modify, and with which SDK version? Can you share the modified project or a diff?

[nordic_maxin]

- My local repository is based on the main branch of Zephyr (zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr: Primary Git Repository for the Zephyr Project. Zephyr is a new generation, scalable, optimized, secure RTOS for multiple hardware architectures.)
- I modified the example of `periodic_adv_rsp`
- The updated main.c is shared in the following code snippet

/*
 * Copyright (c) 2023 Nordic Semiconductor ASA
 *
 * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 */

#include "zephyr/drivers/bluetooth.h"
#include <zephyr/bluetooth/att.h>
#include <zephyr/bluetooth/bluetooth.h>
#include <zephyr/bluetooth/conn.h>
#include <zephyr/bluetooth/gatt.h>
#include <zephyr/bluetooth/hci.h>

#define NUM_RSP_SLOTS 5
#define NUM_SUBEVENTS 5
#define PACKET_SIZE   5
#define NAME_LEN      30

static K_SEM_DEFINE(sem_connected, 0, 1);
static K_SEM_DEFINE(sem_discovered, 0, 1);
static K_SEM_DEFINE(sem_written, 0, 1);
static K_SEM_DEFINE(sem_disconnected, 0, 1);

struct k_poll_event events[] = {
	K_POLL_EVENT_STATIC_INITIALIZER(K_POLL_TYPE_SEM_AVAILABLE, K_POLL_MODE_NOTIFY_ONLY,
					&sem_connected, 0),
	K_POLL_EVENT_STATIC_INITIALIZER(K_POLL_TYPE_SEM_AVAILABLE, K_POLL_MODE_NOTIFY_ONLY,
					&sem_disconnected, 0),
};

static const struct bt_le_per_adv_param per_adv_params = {
	.interval_min = 0xFF,
	.interval_max = 0xFF,
	.options = 0,
	.num_subevents = NUM_SUBEVENTS,
	.subevent_interval = 0x30,
	.response_slot_delay = 0x5,
	.response_slot_spacing = 0x50,
	.num_response_slots = NUM_RSP_SLOTS,
};

static struct bt_le_per_adv_subevent_data_params subevent_data_params[NUM_SUBEVENTS];
static struct net_buf_simple bufs[NUM_SUBEVENTS];
static uint8_t backing_store[NUM_SUBEVENTS][PACKET_SIZE];

BUILD_ASSERT(ARRAY_SIZE(bufs) == ARRAY_SIZE(subevent_data_params));
BUILD_ASSERT(ARRAY_SIZE(backing_store) == ARRAY_SIZE(subevent_data_params));

static uint8_t counter;

static void request_cb(struct bt_le_ext_adv *adv, const struct bt_le_per_adv_data_request *request)
{
	int err;
	uint8_t to_send;
	struct net_buf_simple *buf;

	to_send = MIN(request->count, ARRAY_SIZE(subevent_data_params));

	buf = &bufs[0];
	buf->data[buf->len - 1] = 0x12;
	subevent_data_params[0].subevent = 0;
	subevent_data_params[0].response_slot_start = 0;
	subevent_data_params[0].response_slot_count = NUM_RSP_SLOTS;
	subevent_data_params[0].data = buf;

	err = bt_le_per_adv_set_subevent_data(adv, 1, &subevent_data_params[0]);
	if (err) {
		printk("Failed to set subevent data (err %d)\n", err);
	} else {
		printk("Subevent data set %d\n", counter);
	}
}

static bool print_ad_field(struct bt_data *data, void *user_data)
{
	ARG_UNUSED(user_data);

	printk("    0x%02X: ", data->type);
	for (size_t i = 0; i < data->data_len; i++) {
		printk("%02X", data->data[i]);
	}

	printk("\n");

	return true;
}

static struct bt_conn *default_conn;

static void response_cb(struct bt_le_ext_adv *adv, struct bt_le_per_adv_response_info *info,
		     struct net_buf_simple *buf)
{
	if (buf) {
		printk("Response: subevent %d, slot %d\n", info->subevent, info->response_slot);
		bt_data_parse(buf, print_ad_field, NULL);
	}
}

static const struct bt_le_ext_adv_cb adv_cb = {
	.pawr_data_request = request_cb,
	.pawr_response = response_cb,
};

void connected_cb(struct bt_conn *conn, uint8_t err)
{
	printk("Connected (err 0x%02X)\n", err);

	__ASSERT(conn == default_conn, "Unexpected connected callback");

	if (err) {
		bt_conn_unref(default_conn);
		default_conn = NULL;
	}
}

void disconnected_cb(struct bt_conn *conn, uint8_t reason)
{
	printk("Disconnected, reason 0x%02X %s\n", reason, bt_hci_err_to_str(reason));

	k_sem_give(&sem_disconnected);
}

void remote_info_available_cb(struct bt_conn *conn, struct bt_conn_remote_info *remote_info)
{
	/* Need to wait for remote info before initiating PAST */
	k_sem_give(&sem_connected);
}

BT_CONN_CB_DEFINE(conn_cb) = {
	.connected = connected_cb,
	.disconnected = disconnected_cb,
};

void init_bufs(void)
{
	for (size_t i = 0; i < ARRAY_SIZE(backing_store); i++) {
		backing_store[i][0] = ARRAY_SIZE(backing_store[i]) - 1;
		backing_store[i][1] = BT_DATA_MANUFACTURER_DATA;
		backing_store[i][2] = 0x59; /* Nordic */
		backing_store[i][3] = 0x00;

		net_buf_simple_init_with_data(&bufs[i], &backing_store[i],
					      ARRAY_SIZE(backing_store[i]));
	}
}

#define MAX_SYNCS (NUM_SUBEVENTS * NUM_RSP_SLOTS)
struct pawr_timing {
	uint8_t subevent;
	uint8_t response_slot;
} __packed;


int main(void)
{
	int err;
	struct bt_le_ext_adv *pawr_adv;

	init_bufs();

	printk("Starting Periodic Advertising Demo\n");

	/* Initialize the Bluetooth Subsystem */
	err = bt_enable(NULL);
	if (err) {
		printk("Bluetooth init failed (err %d)\n", err);
		return 0;
	}

	/* Create a non-connectable advertising set */
	err = bt_le_ext_adv_create(BT_LE_EXT_ADV_NCONN, &adv_cb, &pawr_adv);
	if (err) {
		printk("Failed to create advertising set (err %d)\n", err);
		return 0;
	}

	/* Set periodic advertising parameters */
	err = bt_le_per_adv_set_param(pawr_adv, &per_adv_params);
	if (err) {
		printk("Failed to set periodic advertising parameters (err %d)\n", err);
		return 0;
	}

	/* Enable Periodic Advertising */
	printk("Start Periodic Advertising\n");
	err = bt_le_per_adv_start(pawr_adv);
	if (err) {
		printk("Failed to enable periodic advertising (err %d)\n", err);
		return 0;
	}

	printk("Start Extended Advertising\n");
	err = bt_le_ext_adv_start(pawr_adv, BT_LE_EXT_ADV_START_DEFAULT);
	if (err) {
		printk("Failed to start extended advertising (err %d)\n", err);
		return 0;
	}

	struct net_buf *buf;
	struct bt_hci_evt_le_per_adv_subevent_data_request *evt;
	buf = bt_hci_evt_create(BT_HCI_EVT_LE_PER_ADV_SUBEVENT_DATA_REQUEST, sizeof(struct bt_hci_evt_le_per_adv_subevent_data_request));
	if (!buf)
	{
		printk("Unable to allocate event buffer\n");
		return -1;
	}

	/* Update the parameters */
	evt = net_buf_push(buf, sizeof(struct bt_hci_evt_le_per_adv_subevent_data_request));
	if (!evt)
	{
		printk("Unable to allocate memory for the request event\n");
		return -1;
	}

	uint8_t adv_handle;
	err = bt_hci_get_adv_handle(pawr_adv, &adv_handle);
	if (err)
	{
		printk("Failed to get the advertising handle (err %d)\n", err);
		return -1;
	}

	evt->adv_handle = adv_handle;
	evt->subevent_start = 1;
	evt->subevent_data_count = NUM_SUBEVENTS;

	/* Request... */
	extern void bt_hci_le_per_adv_subevent_data_request(struct net_buf *buf);
	bt_hci_le_per_adv_subevent_data_request(buf);

	while (true) {
		k_sleep(K_SECONDS(1));
	}

	return 0;
}

My biggest confusion is how the PAwR advertiser starts sending the subevent, i.e. AUX_SYNC_SUBEVENT_IND. I explored the code base. According to my understanding, the subevent data are set in the callback `pawr_data_request`, which is triggered when in the function `bt_hci_le_per_adv_subevent_data_request`, and this function is actually the event handler of `BT_HCI_EVT_LE_PER_ADV_SUBEVENT_DATA_REQUEST`.


So does it mean that to kick-off the PAwR (well, let's say, sending out the AUX_SYNC_SUBEVENT_IND), there must be a HCI event. Then I don't understand how this sample application works. 

I also tried using the BLE sniffer to capture the traffic over the air of the nRF52840DK running the PAwR advertiser, but didn't really see the AUX_SYNC_SUBEVENT_IND.

Can u please give me a high-level overview of how the PAwR advertiser is implemented in Zephyr? I mean I want to understand how to get the PAwR advertiser working at least.