Range issue in NRF5340 with NCS 2.2.0

[AKV]

Hi,

I am working on nRF5340DK and using NCS version 2.2.0. 

We have tested the range in both PHY 1M and PHY 2M by using the throughput example with different Power levels.

The observation is that the range is less when set to 1M PHY compared to 2M PHY. Why is that happening? it should be opposite right?

I have observed this issue in nRF5 SDK as well.

Can you please check from your side why is that 2M phy is giving more range compared to 1M phy?

[Amanda Hsieh]

Hi, 

May I know how you measure the range? Are you measuring with two nRF5340DKs or one nRF5340DK with a phone, indoor or open space outdoors? Please be aware that Bluetooth range is affected by many factors such as the outdoor/indoor environment, and an issue when trying to predict what kind of range you get when the phone is involved is that the radio performance of the phone itself is an unknown factor. 

Regards,
Amanda H

[AKV]

Hi Amanda

Thanks for the reply.

We are doing indoor testing and measuring with two nRF5340DKs. 

To test in indoor we have reduced the tx power levels by using the CONFIG_BT_CTLR_TX_PWR_MINUS_40 and CONFIG_BT_CTLR_TX_PWR_MINUS_20.

We have observed that in both setting the range is much better in 2M PHY compared to 1M PHY.

Can you please check from your side and share the data?

[Amanda Hsieh]

Hi, 

AKV said:

We have observed that in both setting the range is much better in 2M PHY compared to 1M PHY.

This is unexpected. If you're in a noisy environment I guess this is possible. If you have a high noise floor then the additional RX sensitivity in 1M is useless, and the shorter 2M packets are less likely to be hit by interference. I would suggest you test in a line-of-sight scenario with low interference. It should be the other way around, where 1M gives a better range. 

-Amanda H.