Periodic Advertisement sample on nrf9160dk_52840 not working

[kaansenparlak]

Hi, I am trying to run the periodic_adv sample on nrf9160dk_52840 which was added to the samples directory of the zepyhr repo 15 days ago. I am using nRF Connect SDK v1.4.99-dev1.

In the changelog of this version it is stated that:

Added experimental support for Periodic Advertising and Periodic Advertising Synchronization Establishment.

Yet the periodic_adv sample is not included in the zephyr directory of the nRF Connect SDK. I tried to run it by copying the sample from the zephyr repo to the nRF Connect SDK zephyr directory but when I run the program on nrf9160dk_52840, I get this error message:

ASSERTION FAIL [err == 0] @ WEST_TOPDIR/zephyr/subsys/bluetooth/host/hci_core.c:374
k_sem_take failed with err -11

This error occurs just before set_le_adv_enable_ext function returns.

Thanks in advance.

[Simon]

I assume you've added a board conf file in zephyr/samples/bluetooth/periodic_adv/boards/ for the nrf9160dk_52840. In addition it seems like you have to apply commit aca176463bda220fcf to the NCS Zephyr downstream as well. I was still not able to make it work even though I did this.

It failed here: 

• https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/blob/4ca7942411f70f0caee6cd872ab14200f88b221b/subsys/bluetooth/host/hci_core.c#L7149
  • https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/blob/4ca7942411f70f0caee6cd872ab14200f88b221b/subsys/bluetooth/host/hci_core.c#L348

Where status was equal to 1 (=BT_HCI_ERR_UNKNOWN_CMD), so I guess the problem is in the Bluetooth Controller and that the command isn't supported. You may look into that and compare it with the Zephyr upstream.

Best regards,

Simon

[kaansenparlak]

Thank you for your answer, Simon. I encountered both of the problems you have given. I tríed to solve the first one by changing link layer selection from SofDevice to Software-based BLE in the Configure SDK Project wíndow. After thís change, it failed again at the second part but wíth status = 12 (BT_HCI_ERR_CMD_DISALLOWED). 

I hope this helps find the solution.

Thank you.

[Simon]

A huge part of the support team are currently on Christmas vacaction, and you may experience delayed answers. Most of the staff will be back by january 4th and you can expect an answer after then. My apologies for this.

Best regards,

Simon

[Gary M.]

Can I know if periodic advertisement is supported in the latest Softdevice yet for nRF52840?

[Simon]

We do not have support for this in our SoftDevices unfortunately, as stated in this ticket. Do you prefer to use NCS or the nRF5 SDK?

Best regards,

Simon

[Gary M.]

I prefer to use nRF5 SDK and am trying to implement periodic advertising using Coded PHY.

My payload is actually small but I need to use extended advertising since Coded PHY needed it (correct me if I'm wrong as I am still studying on BLE long range). No matter how small my payload is the data will be fragment over to the secondary channel. Using secondary channel no doubt increased my current consumption (Coded PHY already has a long advertising time plus AUX_ADV_IND packet in secondary channel).

So I wonder if periodic advertising mentioned in Bluetooth 5 can help reduce the power consumption especially over several advertisement packet when using Coded PHY.

Currently using nRF52840 with s140 and nRF5_SDK17

[Simon]

Could you open a new ticket about this, since this ticket is about the nRF Connect SDK and I do not have the best knowledge about the nRF5 SDK and your particular question.

Best regards,

Simon