Non-IP Data Delivery support in the nRF9160 module

[SharathMalve]

Hi

I am interested in the Non-IP Data Delivery support in the nRF9160 module.

1) Is there or is there no support at the moment? If not, is it planned and when will it appear?

             If yes, what version of radio modem firmware supports this and what version of SDK (which runs on nRF9160 Microcontroller ) supports this?

2) If there is, how can I check the operation of Non-IP in the operator's working network from the module side?

Pl share in details the sequence of APIs/AT commands which are to be sent to nRF9160, from an external EVC Microcontroller application which is interfaced to nRF9160 module via an UART 

 

We are eager to use this feature and work on the proof of concept using DK boards which we have

Regards

Sharath

[Øyvind]

Hello SharathMalve,
I've forwarded your question to our nRF9160 team. Will get back to you as soon as possible.

awneil from the GSMA NB-IoT Deployment guide:
Non-IP PDN type is an optional feature that allows an EPS UE to transfer data without adding an IP header or transport header and without the need to operate an IP stack and obtaining an IP address. “Non-IP” transport is specifically requested by the UE in a PDN Connectivity Request (as part of an Attach Request or separately), by selecting “PDN-type = Non-IP” (possible values are IPv4, IPv4v6, IPv6 or Non-IP). Two mechanisms (provisioned in HSS) are currently defined for the delivery of Non-IP data to the Service Capability Server / Application Server (SCS/AS):

• Delivery using SCEF;
• Delivery using a Point-to-Point (PtP) SGi tunnel

NIDD is used by e.g. Verizon Thingspace.

Kind regards,
Øyvind

[Øyvind]

SharathMalve, I've gotten some information from our modem team. Non-IP Data Delivery is supported in MFW v1.3.0, see +CGDCONT for more information. From SDK side non-IP is used with a RAW socket which should be supported in NCS tag v1.6.0. Currently, this is still under testing from what I understand. However, the functionality is available in latest NCS.

The following was given by the modem team, but note that this is not the official release and that this may be prone to erros.

• establish non-ip connection
  • by using brand new PDN lib: https://developer.nordicsemi.com/nRF_Connect_SDK/doc/latest/nrf/include/modem/pdn.html
  • in brief: pdn_ctx_create() > pdn_ctx_configure() with PDN_FAM_NONIP among others -> pdn_activate()
    • activation will fail if not succesful
  • raw data sockets:
    • creation:
      • socket(AF_PACKET, SOCK_RAW, 0)
    • can be bound to specific PDN:
      • retrieve the pdn id of context (cid from pdn_ctx_create()): pdn_id_get()
      • https://developer.nordicsemi.com/nRF_Connect_SDK/doc/latest/nrfxlib/nrf_modem/doc/pdn_extension.html?highlight=so_bindtodevice
        • -> "binding a data socket to a PDN ID"

Kind regards,
Øyvind