Add radio test functionality to a BLE Application

[BHeise]

We need to add the functionality of radio test to a BLE Application.  Normally, BLE is active, but we need the ability to stop BLE and execute radio tests upon command.  When radio testing is complete it is acceptable to reset the device to return to normal BLE operation.  devzone.nordicsemi.com/.../modified-radio-test-firmware is a similar ticket, but I do not see a solution in that ticket.  It seems that the solution is to shut down the BLE stack, and also shut down MPSL, but the details on how to do this are not provided.  Please provide guidance on how to do this.  I have tired bt_le_adv_stop(), bt_disable(), sdc_disable(), and mpsl_uninit().  mpsl_uninit() causes the device to hang.

Using nRF Connect SDK 1.8.0 and 2.1.2, I have experimented with adding the functionality from nrf/samples/peripheral/radio_test to the sample project nrf/samples/Bluetooth/shell_bt_nus on an nrf52840dk_nrf52840.  I created a command “radio_test_mode” to shut down Bluetooth so that the radio tests can be run.

static int cmd_radio_test_mode(const struct shell *shell, size_t argc, char **argv)

{

               shell_print(shell, "Enable radio test mode");

               bt_le_adv_stop();

               k_sleep(K_MSEC(100));

               bt_disable();

               k_sleep(K_MSEC(100));

               //sdc_disable();

               //k_sleep(K_MSEC(1000));

               //mpsl_uninit(); //This results in a reset when running modulated carrier test.

               k_sleep(K_MSEC(800));

               radio_test_init(&test_config);

               radio_test_clock_init();

               return 0;

}

SHELL_CMD_REGISTER(radio_test_mode, NULL, "Enable radio test mode", cmd_radio_test_mode);

 

The tx carrier test works and was verified with a spectrum analyzer.

uart:~$ help

Please press the <Tab> button to see all available commands.

You can also use the <Tab> button to prompt or auto-complete all commands or its subcommands.

You can try to call commands with <-h> or <--help> parameter for more information.

 

Shell supports following meta-keys:

  Ctrl + (a key from: abcdefklnpuw)

  Alt  + (a key from: bf)

Please refer to shell documentation for more details.

 

Available commands:

  cancel                         :Cancel the sweep or the carrier

  clear                          :Clear screen.

  data_rate                      :Set data rate <sub_cmd>

  device                         :Device commands

  devmem                         :Read/write physical memory"devmem address

                                  [width [value]]

  end_channel                    :End channel for the sweep (in MHz as

                                  difference from 2400 MHz) <channel>

  help                           :Prints the help message.

  history                        :Command history.

  kernel                         :Kernel commands

  nrf_clock_control              :Clock control commands

  output_power                   :Output power set <sub_cmd>

  parameters_print               :Print current delay, channel and so on

  print_rx                       :Print RX payload

  radio_test_mode                :Enable radio test mode

  resize                         :Console gets terminal screen size or assumes

                                  default in case the readout fails. It must be

                                  executed after each terminal width change to

                                  ensure correct text display.

  shell                          :Useful, not Unix-like shell commands.

  start_channel                  :Start channel for the sweep or the channel for

                                  the constant carrier (in MHz as difference

                                  from 2400 MHz) <channel>

  start_duty_cycle_modulated_tx  :Duty cycle in percent (two decimal digits,

                                  between 01 and 90) <duty_cycle>

  start_rx                       :Start RX

  start_rx_sweep                 :Start RX sweep

  start_tx_carrier               :Start the TX carrier

  start_tx_modulated_carrier     :Start the modulated TX carrier

  start_tx_sweep                 :Start TX sweep

  time_on_channel                :Time on each channel in ms (between 1 and 99)

                                  <time>

  toggle_dcdc_state              :Toggle DCDC state <state>, if state = 1 then

                                  toggle DC/DC state, or if state = 0 then

                                  toggle DC/DC VDDH state

  transmit_pattern               :Set the transmission pattern

uart:~$

uart:~$ radio_test_mode

Enable radio test mode

Clock has started

uart:~$

uart:~$ start_tx_carrier

Start the TX carrier

uart:~$

 

However, the tx modulated carrier test does not work.  I have tried combinations of sdc_disable() and mpsl_uninit(), but cannot get this test to work.  The shell hangs with

uart:~$ radio_test_mode

Enable radio test mode

Clock has started

uart:~$

uart:~$ start_tx_modulated_carrier

 

The following MPSL ASSERT, HARD FAULT, and reset also occurs

uart:~$ radio_test_mode

Enable radio test mode

Clock has started

uart:~$ transmit_pattern  pattern_11001100

Transmission pattern: TRANSMIT_PATTERN_11001100

uart:~$ start_tx_modulated_carrier

E: MPSL ASSERT: 112, 2183

E: ***** HARD FAULT *****

E:   Fault escalation (see below)

E: ARCH_EXCEPT with reason 3

 

E: r0/a1:  0x00000003  r1/a2:  0x00000000  r2/a3:  0x00000001

E: r3/a4:  0x0001dcb1 r12/ip:  0x00000000 r14/lr:  0x0001fa13

E:  xpsr:  0x41000011

E: Faulting instruction address (r15/pc): 0x0001fa1e

E: >>> ZEPHYR FATAL ERROR 3: Kernel oops on CPU 0

E: Fault during interrupt handling

 

E: Current thread: 0x20001a88 (shell_uart)

*** Booting Zephyr OS build v3.1.99-ncs1-1  ***

 

 

 

Starting Bluetooth NUS shell transport example

I: SoftDevice Controller build revision:

I: 29 5c 92 f1 36 81 92 d1 |)\..6...

I: b7 a9 f0 f1 99 e9 4c 19 |......L.

I: 1f 23 83 4a             |.#.J

 

 

uart:~$

[Simonr]

Hi

The case you link to is pretty old at this point, and a few things have changed since then. I think this case is clearer on what you should do in order to implement BLE and radio test features together, but please be aware that I think it's a lot of work to integrate these two builds as there are likely conflicts in resources beyond just the radio in each build. To use the radio peripheral "bare bones" like the radio test does, as well as the BLE controller you will need to use MPSL (not disable it) to synchronize timeslots that the radio_test uses to get mutually exclusive access to all peripherals during that timeslot.

Unfortunately we don't have a step-by-step guide on how to do this, so you're mostly left to your own devices on this one. We can help with specific questions on error messages and what you need, etc. but don't have a full guide for you unfortunately.

Best regards,

Simon