How can I use a "long range mode" in the proprietary mode in the nRF52840?

RE: How can I use a "long range mode" in the proprietary mode in the nRF52840?

Hauser — Tue, 12 Feb 2019 06:53:10 GMT

Hi Simon,

thank you for the support, I gonna check the code.

Best regards!

RE: How can I use a "long range mode" in the proprietary mode in the nRF52840?

Simonr — Mon, 11 Feb 2019 09:12:10 GMT

I have finally been able to track down the coveted long range demo project files! Just keep in mind that this project was made two years ago, for SDK 12.2 and does not use a SoftDevice. This might make it hard to work with right away, but you should be able to tell how long range mode is enabled with proprietary radio. Keep in mind that we do not have the resources to go into detail on old example projects like this, so you will be on your own in converting this project into a functional and up-to-date product.

devzone.nordicsemi.com/.../nrf52840_2D00_long_2D00_range_2D00_demo_2D00_master.zip

Best of luck and kind regards,

Simon

RE: How can I use a "long range mode" in the proprietary mode in the nRF52840?

Hauser — Thu, 07 Feb 2019 15:22:37 GMT

Hi Simon,

thank you, I checked that case now:

Sondre Nesset is exactly writing what I can also confirm:

Have tried to set the MODE register to 5, and set noack=1.

But cant receive any data

I checked his project and the nRF52840 data sheet concerning the settings of the radio chip and did many tests. But there is no clear statement in the data sheet about the configuration. The source code of the long range demo still seems to solve the issue.

Have a nice evening!

RE: How can I use a "long range mode" in the proprietary mode in the nRF52840?

Simonr — Thu, 07 Feb 2019 13:42:44 GMT

Having a hard time finding the demo project as the guy who wrote it is not available. But I found this case, which might have code relevant to your application. I will update you if I am able to get the demo project.

Best regards,

Simon

RE: How can I use a "long range mode" in the proprietary mode in the nRF52840?

Hauser — Thu, 07 Feb 2019 10:19:37 GMT

Thank you Simon! Yes, the ACK-timing issue will be considered as soon as the long range mode is active.

For this reason, getting the c-files of the mentioned long range demo would be very helpful!

I would really appreciate if you could check for it and come back to me. Thank you for the support!

RE: How can I use a "long range mode" in the proprietary mode in the nRF52840?

Simonr — Thu, 07 Feb 2019 10:08:20 GMT

Sorry for the misunderstanding! Yes this should be possible, however we don't have any support in our libraries for something like this, so it won't be easy. Also using the new radio modes will not be backwards compatible with other ESB devices. Another issue will be time on air, as the ESB library won't wait for an ACK packet (+ACK payload). This long range demo uses a simple proprietary protocol that is similar to ESB. I will try to get my hands on the .c-files so we can see exactly how it is done, but it might take some time to find it.

Best regards,

Simon

RE: How can I use a "long range mode" in the proprietary mode in the nRF52840?

Hauser — Thu, 07 Feb 2019 06:45:10 GMT

Hi Simon,

I'm talking about proprietary radio (like ESB), not BLE. I refer to this ESB example where the ESB only allows

typedef enum {
    NRF_ESB_BITRATE_2MBPS     = RADIO_MODE_MODE_Nrf_2Mbit,      /**< 2 Mb radio mode.                                                */
    NRF_ESB_BITRATE_1MBPS     = RADIO_MODE_MODE_Nrf_1Mbit,      /**< 1 Mb radio mode.                                                */
#if !(defined(NRF52840_XXAA) || defined(NRF52810_XXAA))
    NRF_ESB_BITRATE_250KBPS   = RADIO_MODE_MODE_Nrf_250Kbit,    /**< 250 Kb radio mode.                                              */
#endif //NRF52840_XXAA
    NRF_ESB_BITRATE_1MBPS_BLE = RADIO_MODE_MODE_Ble_1Mbit,      /**< 1 Mb radio mode using @e Bluetooth low energy radio parameters. */
#if defined(NRF52_SERIES)
    NRF_ESB_BITRATE_2MBPS_BLE = RADIO_MODE_MODE_Ble_2Mbit,       /**< 2 Mb radio mode using @e Bluetooth low energy radio parameters. */
#endif
} nrf_esb_bitrate_t;

In my opinion, the long range feature is part of the nRF52840-hardware, thus the software should somehow make use of it. The question is how?

Thank you!

RE: How can I use a "long range mode" in the proprietary mode in the nRF52840?

Simonr — Wed, 06 Feb 2019 14:36:11 GMT

To enable long range you have to set your advertising and scanning phy to BLE_GAP_PHY_CODED.

In your peripheral, set adv_params.primary_phy = BLE_GAP_PHY_CODED; (found in ble_advertising.c)

In your central, set .scan_phys = BLE_GAP_PHY_CODED; (found in main.c and/or nrf_ble_scan.c)

Best regards,

Simon