Wake-on-NFC for PCA10059 (Dongle)

RE: Wake-on-NFC for PCA10059 (Dongle)

Simonr — Tue, 17 Mar 2020 07:28:50 GMT

Hi Peter

Yes, there are quite a few differences between the blinky and the NFC example. The sdk_config.h header file is the configuration file of our SDK examples and includes multiple defines, like if logging should be enabled, what LF clock should be used, and what peripherals should be enabled. You'll need to change this file as well in order to make the NFC project identical to the blinky project.

Best regards,

Simon

RE: Wake-on-NFC for PCA10059 (Dongle)

Pema — Mon, 16 Mar 2020 14:29:53 GMT

Hi,

So I did some tests:
1.) Built (did not use the precompiled hex file) and programmed "Blinky" (blinky_pca10059_mbr) on the dongle, worked fine, leds are blinking.
2.) Copied the main.c from Blinky to the wake on nfc folder (made a backup of the existing main.c with a different name). Should basically be the same as the original Blinky project, since they share the same files (boards.h, boards.c etc).
3.) Built the "new" wake-on-nfc project (which now should be a blinky), worked ok.
4.) Programmed to the dongle. And now I suddenly I get prompted to select softdevice... I select 0xCA and it seems to move on.
5.) No leds are blinking...
6.) Programmed the blinky hex from 1.), everything works fine...

I don't see why this wouldn't work...

EDIT: I just realised that the sdk_config.h differs between the two examples, what does that file do?

/Peter

RE: Wake-on-NFC for PCA10059 (Dongle)

Simonr — Mon, 16 Mar 2020 13:33:12 GMT

Keep in mind that the Dongle has way fewer buttons and LEDs than the DK (1 of each instead of 4), so in order to have any button/LED functionality, you need to make sure that the ones in the example go to the pins you expect them to.

Have you confirmed that the Dongle is emitting 13.56MHz with your current setup? I'm not so sure that it will just by using the same capacitors and antenna as the DK is.

Best regards,

Simon

RE: Wake-on-NFC for PCA10059 (Dongle)

Pema — Mon, 16 Mar 2020 12:25:59 GMT

Hi,

But the buttons/leds are configured in the boards.h => pca10059.h files. Seems to be generic, i.e. since BOARD_PCA10059 is defined the proper pins are set up for buttons/leds for the dongle, or am I wrong? Selecting PCA10059 also enables the 3V GPIO levels if I am not mistaken.

For the antenna I use the Nordic supplied NFC antenna and the same type of connector. Since this is 13MHz I think some differences in line lengths on the PCB is negligible.

/Peter

RE: Wake-on-NFC for PCA10059 (Dongle)

Simonr — Mon, 16 Mar 2020 11:11:05 GMT

The reason LEDs aren't blinking on your Dongle is that the Dongle and DK have different configurations to the LED(s) and button(s). Try changing the configurations to make the button and LED on the Dongle be the ones used instead of the ones on the DK. You can see the difference in pin configurations on the HW files found here for the DK, and here for the Dongle.

There is also no guarantee that the same tuning components that work on the DK will work on the Dongle as well as the form factor is so very different. Please see the tuning whitepaper for details on how to tune your device.

Best regards,

Simon

RE: Wake-on-NFC for PCA10059 (Dongle)

Pema — Mon, 16 Mar 2020 08:52:09 GMT

Hi Simon,

Yes, the NFC antenna is tuned. I put a 150pF capacitor across its terminals, should be good enough, it is what you use on the 10056 board. I don't expect it to differ much on the 10059. From the SDK example documentation, there should be some LEDs blinking when running the wake-on-NFC example, but I don't get that so I guess there is something more to it. I'll try to run the example on the 10056 board as well. By the way, I tried by using NFC Tools app on my phone, I guess no special app is needed?

/Peter

RE: Wake-on-NFC for PCA10059 (Dongle)

Simonr — Mon, 16 Mar 2020 07:12:29 GMT

Hi Peter

Have you tuned the NFC antenna at all? Please check out our NFC antenna tuning whitepaper, as the NFC antenna can't be expected to just work by soldering the antenna itself onto the P0.09 and P0.10 pins.

Other than that, your procedure seems correct. To avoid confusion, the nRFConnect programmer can have both the SoftDevice file and the application file in the file layout at once and you can flash them onto the Dongle with one action instead of two separate "flashing actions"

Best regards,

Simon