Reading WS2812b leftover data through I2S

[Winz]

Hello there,

I am currently trying to read the leftover WS2812b LED strip data which was sent using a single channel I2S. The data sent from the board (through I2S) looks like this:

with around 34 mV for high and around 2~6 mV on low. I decided not to send FFF, but 888 instead.

I am aiming to calculate the length of the LED strip. Each LED chip will read the first 24 bits of the data, cascade (discard) it, then pass it to the next one. Therefore, the strategy is to get the data after being cascaded by the last chip and calculate the length of it (which later will be divided by 24 to see how many are left).

The question is: How will I be able to read those data? I tried reading as usual (set a buffer for the i2s, start it, listen for it (delay), stop it, then check its buffer), but I got my buffer filled with all FFF instead. and a thing is that... when I tried to read anything from the pin, although I am not sending any data (the LED strip is not powered on, but connected to other's ground), there will be data, which should not happen. I assigned pin 22, 23, 24, 25 to be the i2s input pin (which will be assigned and unassigned when used or unused), and they are configured as follows:

nrf_gpio_cfg_sense_input(DIN1_PIN, NRF_GPIO_PIN_PULLDOWN, NRF_GPIO_PIN_SENSE_HIGH);

Thank you in advance.

[Winz]

Hi Einar,

Sorry, please disregard 34 mV and 2~6 mV, it's wrong, it should be 2.79 V for High and -15.9 mV (or 0 V) for Low. This is the data signal created on WS2812B's Data out.

I connected the strip directly to the board's VDD to power it on, P0.11 for Data, and ground. I did not use any level converter (I know that I'm suggested to supply 5v and use a level converter, but 3.3 V is able to turn the LED on so, I'm trying it).

When there is no data being transferred through the WS2812b, the voltage of the DOUT is around -0.8 mV ~ -78.92 mV. At this state, if I call the board to read any data, by using

i2s_config_init(DIN2_PIN, 17);

where DIN2_PIN is defined by

#define DIN2_PIN 23

, followed by

i2s_start();
nrf_delay_us(I2S_DETECTION);

for (i = 1; i < I2S_BUFFER_SIZE; i++) {
	if (I2SRxBuffer[i] != 0 || I2SRxBuffer[i] != -1) {
		printf("isi: %x\r\n", I2SRxBuffer[i]);
		printf("as: %d\r\n", I2SRxBuffer[i]);
		if (I2SRxBuffer[i] > 0x11111110) {
			lengthz++;
		}
	}
}

i2s_stop();

, I2SRxBuffer[i] will always print ffffffff.

[Einar Thorsrud]

Hi,

OK. The logical levels for the nRF are supposed to be above 0.7 * Vdd for high and below 0.3 * Vdd (but > 0 V) for low. However, I would not expect that the logical levels are OK for the nRF, and the low negative voltage for logical '0' should be ok. But I would not do it like this in an actual end product.

I do not have any idea if the voltages are acceptable to the WS2812b, though. It is out of spec after all (according to the datasheet it should be between +3.5 and +5.3). Can you show us logic analyzer plots of the data out of the WS2812b? Is it all FF's there as well? If so then I would try using a level shifter and supplying the WS2812b with a voltage within spec before digging any further.

By the way, are you basing your endeavors on this blog post?

[Winz]

Einar Thorsrud said:

level shifter which will provide valid logic levels for the nRF

Hmm, would you recommend one for me? I am using this one, which uses this. Will this provide valid logic levels for the nRF?

Einar Thorsrud said:

could just use normal GPIO pins

Hmm, are you referring to GPIOTE? Is GPIOTE interrupt fast to catch the data (as fast as i2s)?

I have tried the example "pin_change_int", which uses GPIOTE, and here is the result:

The yellow line is probed right to the pin which has been registered as the input to be monitored.

The green line is probed right to the pin which has been registered as the output.

[Einar Thorsrud]

Hi,

Winz said:

Hmm, would you recommend one for me? I am using this one, which uses this. Will this provide valid logic levels for the nRF?

I don't have any particular recommendations, it is up to you.

Winz said:

Hmm, are you referring to GPIOTE? Is GPIOTE interrupt fast to catch the data (as fast as i2s)?

I am not entirely sure about the questions. GPIOTE is essentially just a way to generate events on inputs or control the outputs using tasks, which is a concept used in nRF devices. Then you can hook it up to for instance a timer using PPI to measure the duration of a pulse. That could make sense in this case.

Winz said:

The yellow line is probed right to the pin which has been registered as the input to be monitored.

The green line is probed right to the pin which has been registered as the output.

I am not sure what I am looking at The yellow light looks like noise?

[Einar Thorsrud]

Hi,

Winz said:

Hmm, would you recommend one for me? I am using this one, which uses this. Will this provide valid logic levels for the nRF?

I don't have any particular recommendations, it is up to you.

Winz said:

Hmm, are you referring to GPIOTE? Is GPIOTE interrupt fast to catch the data (as fast as i2s)?

I am not entirely sure about the questions. GPIOTE is essentially just a way to generate events on inputs or control the outputs using tasks, which is a concept used in nRF devices. Then you can hook it up to for instance a timer using PPI to measure the duration of a pulse. That could make sense in this case.

Winz said:

The yellow line is probed right to the pin which has been registered as the input to be monitored.

The green line is probed right to the pin which has been registered as the output.

I am not sure what I am looking at The yellow light looks like noise?

[Winz]

Okay, I stopped using COMP. As discussed above, I am confident that my Level Shifter is able to do the job: step down the data's voltage to be suitable for the nRF.

I tried to setup a ppi with the following:

err_code = nrf_drv_ppi_channel_assign(m_ppi_channel1, \
                                      nrf_drv_gpiote_in_event_addr_get(PIN_IN), \
									  nrf_drv_gpiote_out_task_addr_get(PIN_OUT));
APP_ERROR_CHECK(err_code);

And as a result, I got the (almost) exactly same data in the PIN_OUT as in the PIN_IN, which is as expected.

Otherwise, this is still not done yet. nRF needs to know how many there are. Therefore, I think I should set the TEP to somewhere else. I'd like to send it to a function code. Otherwise, as Ole Morten said,

Ole Morten said:

Any task is a valid end-point for a PPI channel (not just tasks in timers and GPIOTE), but not a code function. The PPI can only be used to connect tasks and events from different peripheral blocks inside the nRF51, not co

it seems that I can't send it to a function code. Therefore, where should I send it? Any suggestion? Timer? or..?

[Winz]

Ah right, I forgot to mention that I have made another TIMER, named "COUNTER" using this way:

const nrf_drv_timer_t COUNTER = NRF_DRV_TIMER_INSTANCE(1);

The argument of NRF_DRIVER_TIMER_INSTANCE is 1 because I used 0 for another timer, "MY_TIMER" (I suppose it's the right way to do it?)

And this timer is the one I'd like to connect to the PPI as PPI's TEP.