beacon example error with nRF52840

RE: beacon example error with nRF52840

Edvin — Tue, 24 Nov 2020 09:13:05 GMT

I found the link that I was looking for earlier:

This list shows the list of advertising packet fields.

Advertising packets are built up by several chunks, and each chunk consists of:

[length], [type], [payload]

All the data in m_beacon_info in the ble_app_beacon example is added to the type

0xFF "Manufacturer Specific Data".

Hence, any name you put inside this will not be added as it's own chunk with type:

0x09 "Complete Local Name".

BR,

Edvin

RE: beacon example error with nRF52840

Edvin — Tue, 24 Nov 2020 08:35:41 GMT

Hello,

I recommend that you get hold of a DK for development. The reason for this is that you can't debug using the nRF52840 dongle, and debugging is a really useful tool while developing. Development without being able to monitor the logs or stepping through the code is pretty much blind development.

However, if you intend to both send and receive, I will recommend you to use one of the other examples that use the advertising module. This may not make sense because you would think that this example already does this, but it isn't. Check out the examples ble_app_uart and how it sets up its advertisement, and then check out ble_app_uart_c for an example that is scanning.

BR,

Edvin

RE: beacon example error with nRF52840

Andrea_Furlani — Mon, 23 Nov 2020 17:16:55 GMT

Yes, I am using SDK 17.0.2.

I am using this example because I need to progam the dongle to send and receive data in broadcast mode and this is useful to understand how receive data.

RE: beacon example error with nRF52840

Edvin — Mon, 23 Nov 2020 16:14:39 GMT

Hello,

What SDK version do you use?

I'll assume it is the latest, SDK17.0.2 until you say otherwise.

The beacon example is a very simplified hard coded beacon advertising example, and modifying it's advertising data requires some knowledge about how the advertising packet is put together.

After looking into it, there is no super simple way to add the name to the advertisement using this example. The reason for this is that the m_beacon_info array is the "custom manufacturer data" field in the advertisement, which can not hold the name directly. Look at how the function:

ble_advdata_encode()

encodes the name (at the end of the function), and see if you can implement it so that it includes the name in the advertisement.

However, I suggest you look into how one of the examples that already include the name in the advertisement do so, such as the ble_app_uart example.

Best regards,

Edvin