nRF7002 cannot connect to SSID after a while

[Ben_Squar3d]

Hi,

As the title states, after a while, the nRF7002 fails to connect SSID after a while. It happens either we perform net_if_up/down or not. I suspect the nRF7002 to be in a bad state because when I measure the consumption with the ppk2, I have around 750µA instead of around 80µA idle on my system, or ~150µA when interface is Up but IDLE

During connect attemp, I have several mA spikes, but not even close to the  ~200mA spikes and ~60mA floor I am supposed to have when connecting/transmitting.

I am sorry I did not captured the trace as I wasn't expecting to post the issue here at first. As it happend after several days of working, I did not managed to attach a debug session to it yet.

Maybe you have some insight on what is going on, or what could be the issue.

Thank you for your help

[Elfving]

Hi,

Are you using the nRF7002DK? And what NCS version are you using?

Regards,

Elfving

[Ben_Squar3d]

Hi,

It is a custom design, ncs v2.7.0. When everything is fine, mean consumption is ~85µA or ~150µA when net_if is up but not communicating. After each communication, we disconnect from network and turn off the interface. The system is not in hard fault because everything else is working, it is only not able to connect to SSID anymore, as if the radio was in a bad state.

Thank you

[Elfving]

Might be that some things need to be set up again after you've turned off the interface. You could for instance have a look at how the STA sample handles this, with the CONFIG_WIFI_READY_LIB and wifi_ready_state_changed_sem. Or just follow the guide below (I think it should still be valid for NCS 2.7):

• To enable the RPU recovery (in v2.5-branch and newer), you need to enable this kconfig: https://docs.nordicsemi.com/bundle/ncs-2.6.2/page/nrf/drivers/wifi/nrf700x/nrf700x.html#cmdoption-arg-CONFIG_NRF_WIFI_RPU_RECOVERY
• And implement the Wi-Fi Ready library + handle the events in the application itself: https://docs.nordicsemi.com/bundle/ncs-2.6.2/page/nrf/libraries/networking/wifi_ready.html
• An example of such an handling is implemented in the wifi/sta sample: https://docs.nordicsemi.com/bundle/ncs-2.6.2/page/nrf/samples/wifi/sta/README.html#rpu_recovery
• See the implementations guarded with "CONFIG_WIFI_READY_LIB" here: https://github.com/nrfconnect/sdk-nrf/blob/v2.5-branch/samples/wifi/sta/src/main.c#L56

This will only reset the nRF7002, not the application. A reset of the nRF7002 will require that the application re-connects to the network and also handle any previous connections as such.

Regards,

Elfving

[Ben_Squar3d]

Hi, thank you for your answer.

• I have RPU recovery kconfig enabled in an extra KConfig frangment (wifi_overlay.conf) 

Do you confirm it is a valid way ? 

• I have enabled wifi-ready library and implemented this semaphore following a private ticket I created and the bug still appear. 

Here is my loop : 

Net_if_up -> k_sem_take(wifi_ready_sem) -> wifi_connect -> http transmit -> wifi_disconnect -> net_if_down

Should I wait between disconnect and net_if_down? Even though I should, wasn't RPU recovery supposed to recover my system ?  

Thank you for your answer

[EDIT] This morning, I had another device that was in bad state. This time, I remembered to save the ppk trace, but it was not consuming 750µA but around 60mA (!) like it was communicating all along.

Here is the trace : radio_NOK.ppk2

The relevant part is this one, when I removed the battery to measure only ppk2 current and when I attempted a manual loop (net up, wifi co, etc...). The consumption slightly increase, but nothing happens