iperf tool for nRF52840

RE: iperf tool for nRF52840

ovrebekk — Fri, 10 Sep 2021 07:43:42 GMT

I don't think there is any easy way to do that without DTM, no.

In theory it is possible to estimate packet loss based on how much data you get through on every Bluetooth connection event, since any lost packet will immediately end the connection event, but since the link layer handles all of this for you you don't have a lot of visibility into what is going on.

If you want an accurate measurement of packet loss I believe DTM is the best option.

Best regards
Torbjørn

RE: iperf tool for nRF52840

saima — Wed, 08 Sep 2021 22:56:02 GMT

Yes, we are already using the throughput example for getting throughput values, which is working fine. But we would also like to get the packet loss rate between the devices along with that. Is there a way to do that without DTM?

RE: iperf tool for nRF52840

ovrebekk — Wed, 08 Sep 2021 15:24:07 GMT

If you're interested in throughput it might be better to use the throughput example instead, since this will give you a more realistic measurement of throughput when running the full Bluetooth stack (and not just the simple DTM example).

There should be a throughput example for both the nRF5 SDK and nRF Connect SDK, depending on which one you are planning to use going forward.

Best regards
Torbjørn

RE: iperf tool for nRF52840

vham — Wed, 08 Sep 2021 01:30:24 GMT

According to this (nRF Connect sdk 1.6.99) the diagram included in the document shows that you can connect via UART to monitor the values. As far as I remember DTM should be available for the nRF52 series, DK included.

Also, near the middle of the document you'll see instructions on Testing with nRF connect for Desktop.

There is also a pc-nrfconnect-dtm application in here (github).

Hope this helps.

RE: iperf tool for nRF52840

saima — Tue, 07 Sep 2021 12:48:02 GMT

Hi, sorry I have been busy. Thanks for the replies. Our purpose is to see how the throughput varies for the different phys 1M, 2M and CODED in varying distance for example: from 50 m to 1000 m, and at the same time see the packet loss between the devices. We are using two nRF52840 DKs.

We can't seem to find any information if DTM in nRF Connect app for desktop is compatible with nRF52840 DK. If not, is it possible to incorporate code from dtm's main.c into the mtu throughput example that we are using to test throughput?

Best regards

RE: iperf tool for nRF52840

ovrebekk — Mon, 19 Jul 2021 11:33:22 GMT

I agree with the reply from vham earlier. For testing packet loss I think you are better off using the DTM or radio_test examples in the nRF5 SDK, rather than trying to use the iperf3 tool.

Maybe you can give us a bit more information about what the purpose of these tests are, and what you are trying to find out?

Best regards
Torbjørn

RE: iperf tool for nRF52840

vham — Mon, 19 Jul 2021 08:17:49 GMT

iPerf3 requires a few linux headers and support for linux sockets for it to build successfully. You would need to adapt the way iPerf works to the nRF52 series and it would probably be a lot of work to be done.

Maybe you can take a look and use DTM or the "direct test mode" and "direct test mode HW".

The files to study or to look for are In the SDK folder → examples → dtm. In here you can find the hex files as well as the source code for the different series of the nRF5 DKs. You can rebuild it for a custom board if needed.

Hope this helps.