How to find direction with distance to nRF52832

[Lukic]

Hi Guys

I have a project where we are using nRF52832 chip. We need to make an app that can scan for beacons and give us "angle direction" to the nearest beacon.

The distance can be found through RSSI, but what about the 360 angle so that user knows in what direction the chip is.

Are there any examples of this kind of implementation? Do we need to install antennas to the nRF52832 or can we somehow use the chip to provide us with that info?

[FormerMember]

An antenna is required for any operation that include the radio, for sending and receiving signals.

Unfortunately, there is no simple way to get the direction of the nearest beacon

The "simplest" solution would be to use directive antennas, antennas that can only receive signals from specific directions. The problem is that such antennas are typically very large, and therefore not really possible to use for small designs.

Finding the direction would therefore require multiple antennas and the ability to measure time difference of the received signals, and from there do some triangulation as mentioned by @Wojtek This solution may also require multiple chips because of the ability to measure time difference of the received signals..

RSSI for measuring the distance will not give you very accurate results. As you probably know, RSSI, received signal strength indication, is the signal strength of the received signal. That signal strength depends among other on the following:

1. The power of the signal when it is being sent.
2. The antenna for the sending device: if it is lossy, quite a bit of power can be lost before the signal is being transmitted
3. Most antennas are somewhat omnidirectional. However, there will be a difference between various directions.
4. The environment where the signals are being transmitted: an open space will have less loss than a crowded space.

The RSSI can be used to indicate a rough distance, far away or close, for instance.

[Lukic]

Thanks for the feedback!