nRF52833 DK antenna array

RE: nRF52833 DK antenna array

Simonr — Thu, 19 Dec 2019 08:42:50 GMT

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

RE: nRF52833 DK antenna array

Siddharth Venkatesh — Wed, 18 Dec 2019 21:22:28 GMT

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.

RE: nRF52833 DK antenna array

Simonr — Wed, 18 Dec 2019 10:22:33 GMT

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