Can the NRF52 output an unmodulated continuous tone at a specific channel?

[ray]

Hi all,

I'm a grad student trying to innovate on the BLE concept. I require a continuous signal as a source: preferably unmodulated, but a long duty cycle could also work. Would the NRF52 (or any other Nordic bluetooth device) be able to accomplish this?

Thank you, Ray

[Øyvind Karlsen]

Hi,

Yes you can do this. I recommend using either the radio test example or alternately direct test mode. Both implement this already and can be found in the SDK under nRF5_SDK_11.0.0_89a8197\examples\peripheral\radio_test and nRF5_SDK_11.0.0_89a8197\examples\dtm\direct_test_mode.

Best regards,

Øyvind

[ray]

Thank you! Could you confirm whether the NRF52 supports full-duplexing while the TX is a constant carrier?

I know DTM disables the stack features, but the radio test example doesn't seem to use any feature that stops the RX from operating as normal.

Regards, Ray

[Øyvind Karlsen]

No, it does not support full-duplex. There's no hardware to isolate the RX and TX, so they are connected in turn. If you want to use the chip this way the only way I can see it working is by using two chips.

[ray]

That's too bad. Last question, would you know any bluetooth product that can support true full-duplexing?

[Øyvind Karlsen]

At this price point, no. Perhaps you could elaborate a bit more on the use case, and I could suggest some alternatives.