Override of ctx and crx-gpios when using MPSL

[Jon]

Hello,

I have a design where I am using an nRF52840 along with a SKY66112-11 and am using Zephyr/MPSL for both BLE and Thread. I also have a run-time radio test mode which I need to invoke.

The radio test mode works with the radio API directly to perform constant TX, etc.

However, because MPSL has already configured the ctx and crx-gpio's for control of the FEM, I am unable to control those GPIO's directly when attempting to transmit carrier. Is there any way to 'shut down' MPSL during this time so that I can regain control of the ctx and crx pins while doing radio tests?

Thanks

Jon

[Sigurd]

Hi,

You could try to disable the MPSL FEM, here are some APIs you could try to use:

mpsl_fem_pa_configuration_clear()
mpsl_fem_lna_configuration_clear()
mpsl_fem_deactivate_now()

mpsl_fem_cleanup()

https://developer.nordicsemi.com/nRF_Connect_SDK/doc/latest/nrfxlib/mpsl/doc/api.html#mpsl-fem

[Jon]

Unfortunately those do not work. We are using the simple_gpio FEM setup (which ultimately calls mpsl_fem_simple_gpio_interface_config_set). I tried all of the API's you suggested, but the PPI channels still appear to be overriding the CTX and CRX pins that are configured in the mpsl_fem_simple_gpio_interface_config_set() call.

[Sigurd]

You could try to use nrfx_ppi_channel_disable() on the ppi_channels that are used/allocated by MPSL FEM, alternatively nrfx_ppi_channel_free().

Alternatively, mpsl_uninit() (but that function assumes no protocol stacks are running, and no timeslots are requested. All initialized protocol stacks need to be stopped before calling that function. )