nRF52833 DK antenna array

[Siddharth Venkatesh]

Hi, I have a few questions about the nRF52833 DK.

1. Can I fix an antenna array onto the DK to make it a receiver in Bluetooth 5.1 AoA applications? I can see that there is one antenna in the nRF52833 DK, can I attach more onto it?

* I realize that I will have to make own antenna array.

2. If I can't attach the antenna array onto the nRF52833 DK, will I have to design my own circuit?

3. Also can I atleast use the Development Kit to act as a transmitter in AoA applications as it already has the one antenna?

[Simonr]

Hi

1 & 2. Yes, the nRF52833 does support direction finding, and it should be possible to create an antenna array (I believe you have to create an add-on board) supporting direction-finding as well. You can check out this case for more info on an add-on board like this.

3. Yes, the DK can be used as an AoA tag, but nothing more at the moment. Unfortunately, we do not have any software examples supporting direction finding as of yet.

Best regards,

Simon

[Siddharth Venkatesh]

Hi, thanks a lot for that. That helps a lot. 

I had one more specific question. How do I connect the add on board onto the DK? I saw the link you have added in your reply and it doesn't specify how I can connect the add on board onto the DK. 

The nRF52833 SoC has one antenna port and this is already being used by the on-board trace antenna. So if I develop an add on board with the antennas and RF switches, how can I connect it onto the board?

Do I have to remove the exisiting antenna or can I connect it to a different port. 

Also, how does the RF switch know when to switch channels or antennas? Once it receives a CTE packet, does it get a control signal to tell it to switch antennas? 

Sorry for asking such technical questions. Once again I appreciate the help. 

[Simonr]

Hi

I'm sorry, but seeing as we don't support this functionality officially as of yet, I don't have very limited details on how you should do this. You can use the connector (J1) on the DK to connect a test cable going to the RF switches, but other than that, I don't think I can help you very much.

As for antenna switching, please read up on that in the nRF52833 product specification, as that should cover it well.

Best regards,

Simon