Is it possible to ble_app_buttonless_dfu transmit beacons?

[Gabriel Jiro]

I tested "ble_app_buttonless_dfu" example and "ble_app_beacon" example. Everything was fine. Now, I am trying to make an application that advertise as a beacon and supports DFU OTA. 

This is my advertising_init function: 

/**@brief Function for initializing the Advertising functionality.
 */
static void advertising_init(void) {
  uint32_t err_code;
  ble_advertising_init_t init;

  ble_advdata_manuf_data_t manuf_specific_data;
  
  manuf_specific_data.company_identifier = APP_COMPANY_IDENTIFIER;

   manuf_specific_data.data.p_data = (uint8_t *) m_beacon_info;
   manuf_specific_data.data.size   = APP_BEACON_INFO_LENGTH;

  memset(&init, 0, sizeof(init));

  init.advdata.name_type               = BLE_ADVDATA_FULL_NAME;
  init.advdata.include_appearance      = true;
  init.advdata.flags                   = BLE_GAP_ADV_FLAGS_LE_ONLY_GENERAL_DISC_MODE;
  init.advdata.uuids_complete.uuid_cnt = sizeof(m_adv_uuids) / sizeof(m_adv_uuids[0]);
  init.advdata.uuids_complete.p_uuids  = m_adv_uuids;
 // init.advdata.p_manuf_specific_data = &manuf_specific_data;

  advertising_config_get(&init.config);

  init.evt_handler = on_adv_evt;

  err_code = ble_advertising_init(&m_advertising, &init);
  APP_ERROR_CHECK(err_code);

  ble_advertising_conn_cfg_tag_set(&m_advertising, APP_BLE_CONN_CFG_TAG);

  // Initialize advertising parameters (used when starting advertising).
  memset(&m_adv_params, 0, sizeof(m_adv_params));

  m_adv_params.properties.type = BLE_GAP_ADV_TYPE_NONCONNECTABLE_NONSCANNABLE_UNDIRECTED;
  m_adv_params.p_peer_addr     = NULL;    // Undirected advertisement.
  m_adv_params.filter_policy   = BLE_GAP_ADV_FP_ANY;
  m_adv_params.interval        = NON_CONNECTABLE_ADV_INTERVAL;
  m_adv_params.duration        = 0;    // Never time out.

  m_adv_params.channel_mask[4] = 0x60;

}

when I uncomment the line with "init.advdata.p_manuf_specific_data = &manuf_specific_data;", the application doesn't work. Any idea of what is the problem? Or how can I solve it?

PS.: I am newbie here and this is my first question. I am sorry if the question is not so clear. 

[Vidar Berg]

Hi,

The manufacturer field is probably too big to fint into the advertisment packet which is 31 bytes. Please try to comment these to lines:

  init.advdata.uuids_complete.uuid_cnt = sizeof(m_adv_uuids) / sizeof(m_adv_uuids[0]); /* Advertise Service UUIDs*/
  init.advdata.uuids_complete.p_uuids  = m_adv_uuids;

  init.advdata.name_type = BLE_ADVDATA_FULL_NAME

Then uncomment the "init.advdata.p_manuf_specific_data" to include the manufacturer field. You will also need to change the BLE_GAP_ADV_TYPE_NONCONNECTABLE_NONSCANNABLE_UNDIRECTED flag to make the device connectable.

Best regards,

Vidar

[Gabriel Jiro]

Thanks for your answer, Vidar

I made these changes in my code, but the nRF5232 still doesn't transmit beacons... 

I think that the manufacturer field isn't too big, as you can see:

#define APP_BEACON_INFO_LENGTH          0x17                               /**< Total length of information advertised by the Beacon. */
#define APP_ADV_DATA_LENGTH             0x15                               /**< Length of manufacturer specific data in the advertisement. */
#define APP_DEVICE_TYPE                 0x02                               /**< 0x02 refers to Beacon. */
#define APP_MEASURED_RSSI               0xC3                               /**< The Beacon's measured RSSI at 1 meter distance in dBm. */
#define APP_COMPANY_IDENTIFIER          0x0059                             /**< Company identifier for Nordic Semiconductor ASA. as per www.bluetooth.org. */
#define APP_MAJOR_VALUE                 0x01, 0x02                         /**< Major value used to identify Beacons. */
#define APP_MINOR_VALUE                 0x03, 0x04                         /**< Minor value used to identify Beacons. */
#define APP_BEACON_UUID                 0x01, 0x12, 0x23, 0x34, \
                                        0x45, 0x56, 0x67, 0x78, \
                                        0x89, 0x9a, 0xab, 0xbc, \
                                        0xcd, 0xde, 0xef, 0xf0            /**< Proprietary UUID for Beacon. */
                                        


static uint8_t m_beacon_info[APP_BEACON_INFO_LENGTH] =                    /**< Information advertised by the Beacon. */
{
    APP_DEVICE_TYPE,     // Manufacturer specific information. Specifies the device type in this
                         // implementation.
    APP_ADV_DATA_LENGTH, // Manufacturer specific information. Specifies the length of the
                         // manufacturer specific data in this implementation.
    APP_BEACON_UUID,     // 128 bit UUID value.
    APP_MAJOR_VALUE,     // Major arbitrary value that can be used to distinguish between Beacons.
    APP_MINOR_VALUE,     // Minor arbitrary value that can be used to distinguish between Beacons.
    APP_MEASURED_RSSI    // Manufacturer specific information. The Beacon's measured TX power in
                         // this implementation.
};

Best regards,

Gabriel 

[Vidar Berg]

Hi Gabriel,

It is too big if you also need to include device name and Service UUIDs. Please try this implementation:

#define APP_ADV_DURATION     BLE_GAP_ADV_TIMEOUT_GENERAL_UNLIMITED           

static void advertising_init(void)
{
    uint32_t               err_code;
    ble_advertising_init_t init;
    ble_advdata_manuf_data_t manuf_specific_data;

    manuf_specific_data.company_identifier = APP_COMPANY_IDENTIFIER;

#if defined(USE_UICR_FOR_MAJ_MIN_VALUES)
    // If USE_UICR_FOR_MAJ_MIN_VALUES is defined, the major and minor values will be read from the
    // UICR instead of using the default values. The major and minor values obtained from the UICR
    // are encoded into advertising data in big endian order (MSB First).
    // To set the UICR used by this example to a desired value, write to the address 0x10001080
    // using the nrfjprog tool. The command to be used is as follows.
    // nrfjprog --snr <Segger-chip-Serial-Number> --memwr 0x10001080 --val <your major/minor value>
    // For example, for a major value and minor value of 0xabcd and 0x0102 respectively, the
    // the following command should be used.
    // nrfjprog --snr <Segger-chip-Serial-Number> --memwr 0x10001080 --val 0xabcd0102
    uint16_t major_value = ((*(uint32_t *)UICR_ADDRESS) & 0xFFFF0000) >> 16;
    uint16_t minor_value = ((*(uint32_t *)UICR_ADDRESS) & 0x0000FFFF);

    uint8_t index = MAJ_VAL_OFFSET_IN_BEACON_INFO;

    m_beacon_info[index++] = MSB_16(major_value);
    m_beacon_info[index++] = LSB_16(major_value);

    m_beacon_info[index++] = MSB_16(minor_value);
    m_beacon_info[index++] = LSB_16(minor_value);
#endif

    manuf_specific_data.data.p_data = (uint8_t *) m_beacon_info;
    manuf_specific_data.data.size   = APP_BEACON_INFO_LENGTH;

    memset(&init, 0, sizeof(init));

    init.advdata.name_type               = BLE_ADVDATA_NO_NAME;
    //init.advdata.include_appearance      = true;
    init.advdata.flags                   = BLE_GAP_ADV_FLAGS_LE_ONLY_GENERAL_DISC_MODE;
    //init.advdata.uuids_complete.uuid_cnt = sizeof(m_adv_uuids) / sizeof(m_adv_uuids[0]);
    //init.advdata.uuids_complete.p_uuids  = m_adv_uuids;
    init.advdata.p_manuf_specific_data     = &manuf_specific_data;

    advertising_config_get(&init.config);

    init.evt_handler = on_adv_evt;

    err_code = ble_advertising_init(&m_advertising, &init);
    APP_ERROR_CHECK(err_code);

    ble_advertising_conn_cfg_tag_set(&m_advertising, APP_BLE_CONN_CFG_TAG);
}

Best regards,

Vidar

[Gabriel Jiro]

Thank you again, Vidar.

It's working now!