AFH support in softdevice

[artd]

Hello!

In our design we need BLE 5 solution with maximum allowable by reulation +20 dBm TX power. It is not a problem to use a separate PA for achieving that power, however, according to ETSI and our duty cycle, Adaptive Frequency Hopping is a must when power exceeds 10dBm. At the moment we are in feasibility stage, where we evaluate possible solutions from many manufacturers. As far as I understand nRF52 soft device does not support AFH, however Silicon Labs solution does. The question is are you planning to implement AFH function and, if yes, when? If not, it can be that you will miss some potential clients because of that

[Andreas]

Hi,

 

From what I can find this AFH you are referring to is related to 'Classic Bluetooth', i.e. BR/EDR, not LE. nRF52 devices only support Bluetooth LE. Bluetooth LE devices shall follow the LE channel selection algorithms, you should look up these in the Bluetooth core spec.

Newer versions of the Softdevices contain a Quality of Service feature that allows the nRF to adjust the channel map depending on where it might find traffic. I am a bit unsure though if you can call this 'adaptive' per the requirements in EN 300 328. Either way this is all only relevant if your device is a central, if it is peripheral you will be blocked by the advertising state only using 3 channels at most. A peripheral will also get a channel map from the central.

 

Best regards,

Andreas