Software adjustments to improve bluetooth range

RE: Software adjustments to improve bluetooth range

Maos — Wed, 09 Nov 2022 06:18:21 GMT

Hi!

Ok, thanks for the information.

BR;

Mårten

RE: Software adjustments to improve bluetooth range

Kazi Afroza Sultana — Wed, 02 Nov 2022 10:21:15 GMT

Hello Mårten,

You want to have maximum range? In that case, you can use coded phy S=8 and set output power to +8dbm. You can use the online power profiler ((+) Online Power Profiler for Bluetooth LE - opp - Online Power Profiler - Nordic DevZone (nordicsemi.com)) to estimate what effect the TX power will have on your power budget.

Thanks.

Kazi

RE: Software adjustments to improve bluetooth range

Maos — Mon, 31 Oct 2022 12:20:35 GMT

Hi!

Was just saying that if we got additional things to try if we also could get a hint if it impacts batter life, for example
"You can try X but it will consume alot more power if you do"
or
"You can try Y and should not have a noticeable effect on power/batterlife".

But as a I see it the only thing we got suggestion was setting the TX power to a higher value, and that seems straight forward to conclude that it affect the battery life.

BR,

Mårten

RE: Software adjustments to improve bluetooth range

Kazi Afroza Sultana — Fri, 28 Oct 2022 10:59:21 GMT

Hello Mårten,

''Sorry for not being clear, mentioning battery life was more if we got suggestion on more things to try to get a hint on the possible impact on battery life as well (for those things).'' Would you please elaborate this?

kazi

RE: Software adjustments to improve bluetooth range

Maos — Wed, 26 Oct 2022 11:35:20 GMT

Hi!

Thanks for the answer.

Ok, then we know that the remaining thing seem to be the tx power.

Sorry for not being clear, mentioning battery life was more if we got suggestion on more things to try to get a hint on the possible impact on battery life as well (for those things).

BR,

Mårten

RE: Software adjustments to improve bluetooth range

Kazi Afroza Sultana — Tue, 25 Oct 2022 13:43:11 GMT

Hello Mårten,

The battery life is not better in coded phy as compared to 1m Phy technology as it needs 8 times more to transfer packet. Because modulation (since S8 works on 125Kbps modulation) takes longer time to transmit each bit.

The settings you have are correct. You can also try to increase range by increasing transmit power. You have nRF52840 so it can be up to +8 db. If you use NCS version 2.1.0 or later, you can simply use the CONFIG_BT_CTLR_TX_PWR_ config to set the TX power.

Thanks.

Kazi

RE: Software adjustments to improve bluetooth range

Maos — Fri, 21 Oct 2022 05:48:25 GMT

Hi!

Thanks for the reply.

yes, we have seen that example and part of the things we have done/tried come from that example.
(Noticing that in that example I can't find that they set the BT_CONN_LE_PHY_OPT_CODED_S8 option explicitly.)
Comparing the things I enumerated above to that example I don't find anything we have missed relevant for this issue, do you see that we have missed anything?

And apart from what we already tried is there anything more we can do? Some other option or api-call that would be beneficial to try?
And if there is would that have a noticeable impact on battery life time?

What would the setting be if not setting BT_CONN_LE_PHY_OPT_CODED_S8 explicitly? Would it be BT_CONN_LE_PHY_OPT_CODED_S2 or BT_CONN_LE_PHY_OPT_CODED_S8?
Is there any API to request what the current setting is?

BR,
Mårten

RE: Software adjustments to improve bluetooth range

Kazi Afroza Sultana — Fri, 21 Oct 2022 05:21:52 GMT

Hello Mårten,

Coded Phy is supported in recent SDKs. You can look at these examples from our latest NCS documentation of Bluetooth: Peripheral Heart Rate Monitor with Coded PHY https://developer.nordicsemi.com/nRF_Connect_SDK/doc/latest/nrf/samples/bluetooth/peripheral_hr_coded/README.html#peripheral-hr-coded and Bluetooth: Central Heart Rate Monitor with Coded PHY (https://developer.nordicsemi.com/nRF_Connect_SDK/doc/latest/nrf/samples/bluetooth/central_hr_coded/README.html)

Thanks.

Best Regards,

Kazi