How to extend the communication distance of ESB in nRF52832

[chianglin]

Hi,

I am developing the proprietary protocol by using ESB function in nRF52832.

If the linear distance between the two devices is less than 10 cm, normal communication is possible.
When the distance between two devices is greater than 1 meter, the RF signal will not be communicated even if I set the output power to "4dBm".

How can I solve it's problem?

Thank you

Chianglin

[ovrebekk]

Hi Ives

What kind of hardware are you using for this test?

Is it a Nordic devkit, or a custom board?

Best regards
Torbjørn

[chianglin]

Hi Torbjørn,

Do you have any comment about this problem?

In previous mail, If I  use the same module but use BLE stack, it can communicate success when the distance between android phone and module is more than 5 meter.

I also test the communicate distance by "esb_low_power_pxx" and "esb_pxx" program.  The max distance is about 50cm.

How can I fix this problem.

Thank you,

Chianglin

[awneil]

chianglin said:

If I  use the same module but use BLE stack, it can communicate success when the distance between android phone and module is more than 5 meter

You're not comparing like with like there!

What happens if you use BLE communication between two of your modules?

Or if you compare BLE communication between your module & a devkit to ESB communication between your module & a devkit ...

[chianglin]

Hi awneil,

If I want use BLE communication between two of my modules, could you please tell me which softdevice and BLE application can use?

Thank you,

Chianglin

[awneil]

I'd suggest the Nordic UART (NUS) examples - both Central & Peripheral are provided in the SDK.

[chianglin]

Hi awneil,

So, I can use ".\nRF5_SDK_15.3.0_59ac345\examples\ble_central\ble_app_uart_c" for Central and use ".\nRF5_SDK_15.3.0_59ac345\examples\ble_peripheral\ble_app_uart" for peripheral?

Can I use '.\ble_app_uart_c\pca10040\s132“ and ".\ble_app_uart\pca10040\s132" to test?

Thank you,

Chianglin

[ovrebekk]

Hi Chianglin

I assume Andrew is currently unavailable, but I can confirm that you can use these two examples to test BLE communication between your two boards. 

Please be aware that these examples use the physical UART on the nRF52 device to enter and receive UART information passed over the BLE link. This means you need to connect the UART interface of your modules to something. 

On the nRF52832 DK this is handled automatically by the Segger chip on the DK, which sets up a virtual comport over the USB connection to the PC.

Best regards
Torbjørn

[chianglin]

Hi Torbjørn,

Thank you for your answer.

I had found the reason -- It's hardware problem.

Thank you,

Chianglin

[ovrebekk]

Hi Chianglin

It's good to hear you figured out the cause, I will close this case then

Best regards
Torbjørn