nrf52832 channel selection #2

[Ricco]

Before buying the Teledyne BPA low energy protocol analyzer, I asked a question here based on the Teledyne not supporting BLE 5.

I was told that it would work fine with the nrf52832 as long as I wasn't using a specific BLE 5 feature.

• Offline Hung Bui 3 months ago

  Hi Ricco, 

  BLE5 is backward compatible with BLE4.x. So for the most part there isn't any difference and your sniffer (I assume support 4.2) should be able to follow the connection. As long as you avoid new features on BLE5.0 you should be fine. They are: 

  - Different PHY: 2Mbps, Coded PHY S8/S2 (only use 1Mbps)

  - Avoid using Advertising extension (most phones doesn't support this) 

It appears that this advice was not correct as the nrf52832 is using Channel Selection #2 which is BLE 5 and not supported in the Teledyne.

This is reported by the Teledyne CONNECT_IND packet.

Other queries in Devzone indicate that this cannot be changed to Channel Selection #1.

I am using two nrf52832 - one periph and one central.

Before I bury my $999

Can I change something (and if so what) to allow ble_app_multilink_central and  ble_app_blinky to use Channel Selection #1?

 

[Kenneth]

Hi,

Sorry, I have checked around, but it's not possible to force CS#1 when both are BLE5.x. So one end needs to be an BLE4.x device in this case if you require CS#1 to be able to sniff the communication.

Maybe this tool can be helpful: https://www.nordicsemi.com/Software-and-Tools/Development-Tools/nRF-Sniffer 

Best regards,
Kenneth

[Ricco]

Please be specific here.  My two devices are BLE5.  During development I could replace the 52832 with a 51822 (BLE4).  Should I replace the Central or the Peripheral or would I need to change both?

[Kenneth]

As long as one side of the link is BLE4 you should be good, so you can replace either peripheral or central.

Best regards,
Kenneth