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Why having "nRF Connect - Bluetooth Low Energy" open makes my connection faster

This topic follows devzone.nordicsemi.com/.../why-having-nrf-connect---bluetooth-low-energy-open-makes-my-connection-faster-and-more-stable which was partially fixed (with fix in SoftDevice, connection is more stable and does not freeze anymore, however, it remains slow).

I could reproduce the issue only with code delivered by Nordic:

* Board PCA10028 programmed with "Nordic_HRM" sample program

* pc-ble-driver's heart_rate_collector sample program with very few changes:

  • Added "#include <time.h>" and "clock_t start;" on top of the file
  • Added "start = clock();" after "printf("Discovering primary services\n");fflush(stdout);" in service_discovery_start()
  • Added "clock_t stop = clock();double diffticks=stop-start;double diffms=(diffticks)/(CLOCKS_PER_SEC/1000);printf("time taken %fms\n",diffms);" before "m_hrm_cccd_handle = p_ble_gattc_evt->params.desc_disc_rsp.descs[i].handle;" in on_descriptor_discovery_response

So now the program reports how long service discovery took

Now I ran the sample program:

  • Twice in a raw, without "nRF Connect - Bluetooth Low Energy" being opened, service discovery took around 200ms
  • Then, I open "nRF Connect - Bluetooth Low Energy"
  • Twice in a raw, service discovery took less than 50ms
  • Then, I close "nRF Connect - Bluetooth Low Energy"
  • Once again, service discovery took around 200ms
  • Then, I reopen "nRF Connect - Bluetooth Low Energy"
  • Once again, service discovery took less than 50ms

See the video:

So the fact that "nRF Connect - Bluetooth Low Energy" is opened apparently really makes device discovery faster. Later, for our devices, it also makes data acquisition faster, meaning that witout "nRF Connect - Bluetooth Low Energy" being installed and running on the computer, we cannot reach the throughpout we need for our applications.

Could you please help us understanding what is "nRF Connect - Bluetooth Low Energy" doing at Windows level (or elsewhere) that make the device communication be faster?

Parents Reply
  • Hi Jean, 

    The nRF Connect BLE engineer said that it not easy to identify what nRF Connect for Desktop does that would affect this. Especially if the scenario also happens when using a third-party library like Termite. As the Christmas and New Year vacation coming, more and more engineers will start the holiday next week. The resource is limited and they need more time to figure it out. I am afraid the next update will be after the new year. Sorry for the inconvenience.

    Merry Christmas and Happy new year. 

    -Amanda H.

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