nRF54L15 Legacy Advertising not detected by ESP32-S3 NimBLE scanner

[Jamie0]

Hello Nordic Support,

I am using nRF54L15 with NCS v3.2.3.

The device is using Legacy Connectable Advertising with Flags and Complete Local Name in the advertising data. The advertising is visible on a smartphone BLE scanner app with about -50 dBm RSSI.

However, an ESP32-S3 scanner using ESP-IDF v6.0 + NimBLE does not receive any advertising report from this nRF54L15 device, while it can detect other BLE devices normally.

Are there any known compatibility issues or required settings in NCS v3.2.3 / SoftDevice Controller for nRF54L15 that could cause Legacy Advertising to be visible on smartphones but not detected by an ESP32-S3 NimBLE scanner?

Best regards,

[Hung Bui]

Hi Jamie, 
There could be an incompatibility issue here. But it could also be application issue. Is there any chance that you filter out the advertising ? Have you tried to test with other advertising from the nRF54L ? 
One test you can do is to clone the same advertising packet with an app on the phone so that the phone would advertise the exact same packet and check if the ESP32 can catch it or not. You can do so with our nRF Connect app on the phone. Simply select the advertiser when you scan and click Clone. 
In theory, if the ESP-IDF v6.0 + NimBLE is qualified with Bluetooth Spec it should be compatible with Nordic stack. Do you know if they have an QDID? 

[Jamie0]

Hi,

I am testing both sides myself.

1. The scanner is an ESP32-S3 using ESP-IDF v6.0 + NimBLE.
The advertiser is an nRF54L15 using NCS v3.2.3.

2. On the ESP32-S3 side, I am checking the raw advertising reports before any advertising data parsing.
The ESP32-S3 receives raw advertising reports from other BLE devices, but it does not receive any raw advertising report from the nRF54L15.

3. I am checking the raw advertising reports, so the advertising name or payload parsing is not reached for the nRF54L15.

4. I tested the clone case using the nRF Connect app on my iPhone.
When I cloned the nRF54L15 advertising packet and let the iPhone advertise it, the ESP32-S3 scanner could detect it normally.

5. I also tested the same firmware behavior on an nRF52840 advertiser before, and the ESP32-S3 scanner detected it normally.

Please let me know what else I should check on the nRF54L15 advertiser side.