ibeacon Distance Increase

[UGUR ORTAC]

Hello there,

I am working on the iBeacon project.

I want to get the distance to 50m.

Now it detects 5-10 meters.

Soldermask on antenna

Project inspired:

Thanks.

[AmbystomaLabs]

You should start first by checking the range using a basic ble ranging app on Android. The android device will not care that it broadcasts as iBeacon.

On iOS, Apple does some strange things in their core location framework  that severly limits the useful range of iBeacons. Its just an iOS issue as the same beacon will perform fine under core bluetooth. 

If under droid or core bluetooth you are still not seeing the range you expected than as awneil suggested look into improving your link budget.

but a basic 52832 DK can easily do 50 meters line of sight. If this is a custom board then you likely did not addess the RF matching correctly.

[UGUR ORTAC]

I do all the testing on the android device.

Other iBeacon devices show distance 0.1m while near the phone. But my iBeacon is showing distance 3.5m.

I think frimware is the source of the problem.

Is there a setting other than tx power on firmware?

Also I think problem source of C3 (0,8pF) and L1(3,9nH) on pcb.

I need to adjust them according to the antenna impedance.

Is It True?

[AmbystomaLabs]

You can not do much wrong on the firmware other than setting the tx power incorrectly. Just look in the api reference manual for the correct api command to set the tx power. Max for 52832 is 4dBm.

Assuming you are broadcasting at full power then either the antenna is poorly designed or incorrectly matched to the nRF. 

Normally the cap and inductor on the nRF just match it to 50ohm. There should be a separate matching network for the antenna.

Matching requires a VNA and someone who knows how to use it. But, if you wish to post your layour, I can comment on obvious errors.

[awneil]

UGUR ORTAC said:

my iBeacon is showing distance 3.5m

What do you mean by that?

How is it "showing" ?

[awneil]

AmbystomaLabs said:

either the antenna is poorly designed or incorrectly matched to the nRF. 

or both!

There could also be other aspects of the design that adversely affect performance; eg, case material, badly placed components - especially big metal things like the battery - etc, etc, ...

Poor power supply could also have an effect?

What the beacon is sitting on ...

Orientation of the beacon relative to the Android device

etc, etc, ...

[UGUR ORTAC]

My antenna shows a capacitive effect because the sample is long from the pcb and is 1.6mm between the ground plate.

To correct this, I changed the output filter to 1.2pf to 0.5pf.

Now it is 100m +.