CC2541: Connection from whitelist

Varun Sasindran

Part Number: CC2541

Hello,

In my system(peripheral), I want to allow connection only for those devices which is bonded during the first 5 minutes and disallow new devices from then on.

Inside 5 minutes timer I all this:

uint8 adv_filter= GAP_FILTER_POLICY_WHITE_CON;
GAPRole_SetParameter( GAPROLE_ADV_FILTER_POLICY, sizeof( uint8 ), &adv_filter);
uint8 WhiteList= TRUE;
GAPBondMgr_SetParameter( GAPBOND_AUTO_SYNC_WL, sizeof( uint8 ), &WhiteList );

But now what is happening is it wont allow even bonded devices to connect after 5 minutes. I thought GAPBondMgr_SetParameter( GAPBOND_AUTO_SYNC_WL, sizeof( uint8 ), &WhiteList ); will add the bonded entries (its public address) to the whitelist. But this has no effect in my code. Is this the right way to add bonded device addresses to the whitelist?

Best,

Varun

over 4 years ago

0 Ammar N over 4 years ago

TI__Mastermind 25810 points

Hey Varun,

I apologize for the delayed reply. I will follow up soon with some comments.

0 Ammar N over 4 years ago in reply to Ammar N

TI__Mastermind 25810 points

Hey Varun,

Can you provide some context showing where you call the above code? I see some related posts (linked below), please let me know if any of these resolve the issue:

0 Varun Sasindran over 4 years ago in reply to Ammar N

Prodigy 106 points

Hi Ammar,

Thanks for your reply.

I just tried as in the link you provided Selective bonding with device using Whitelist [CC2541] - Bluetooth forum - Bluetooth®︎ - TI E2E support forums

case GAPROLE_CONNECTED:

uint8 adv_filter = GAP_FILTER_POLICY_WHITE;
uint8 remoteBdAddr[B_ADDR_LEN] = {0};

GAPRole_GetParameter(GAPROLE_CONN_BD_ADDR, remoteBdAddr);

// set the white list for advertise and scan
GAPRole_SetParameter( GAPROLE_ADV_FILTER_POLICY, sizeof( uint8 ), &adv_filter );

HCI_LE_ClearWhiteListCmd();
HCI_LE_AddWhiteListCmd( HCI_PUBLIC_DEVICE_ADDRESS, remoteBdAddr );

Even after first connection to a phone, CC2541 is advertising(GAP_FILTER_POLICY_WHITE)/connecting(when I configure with GAP_FILTER_POLICY_WHITE_CON) to the second phone as well. Is there a way to confirm whitelist updation is successful or not?

Just to make sure, I erased all bonds from CC2541, and tried again connecting with two phones. The results are same. Is there something I am missing?

Thank you !

Best,

Vaurn

0 Ammar N over 4 years ago in reply to Varun Sasindran

TI__Mastermind 25810 points

Hey Varun,

You can verify a device was added to the accept list with the HCI_LE_ReadWhiteListSizeCmd() command. Can you confirm the size increments when you add the device to the accept list?

0 Varun Sasindran over 4 years ago in reply to Ammar N

Prodigy 106 points

Hi Ammar,

The size remains zero. Its not increasing even after a connection. Would you be able to check if this is working in your bench?

Best,

Varun

0 Ammar N over 4 years ago in reply to Varun Sasindran

TI__Mastermind 25810 points

Hey Varun,

Can you clarify which SDK version you are using?

0 Varun Sasindran over 4 years ago in reply to Ammar N

Prodigy 106 points

Hi Ammar,

BLE-CC254x-1.5.2.0

Best,

Varun

0 Ammar N over 4 years ago in reply to Varun Sasindran

TI__Mastermind 25810 points

Thanks for your reply, I will try this out and follow up.

0 Ammar N over 4 years ago in reply to Ammar N

TI__Mastermind 25810 points

Hey Varun,

A quick update from my side: I was waiting on some hardware to try to reproduce this on my end, which I have received now. I should be able to reply with my observations early next week. In the meantime, I found the following post regarding whitelist usage and newer mobile phones: https://e2e.ti.com/support/wireless-connectivity/bluetooth-group/bluetooth/f/bluetooth-forum/321648/cc2540-is-discoverable-but-not-connectable-after-setting-adv-filter-policy-to-white/1428335#1428335 . For this reason, do you think you can test out your example using just TI devices as a central with RPAs not enabled?

0 Varun Sasindran over 4 years ago in reply to Ammar N

Prodigy 106 points

Hey Ammar,

Just checking out if you got a chance to test it out. In the above link, its a bit old post. and discusses about incompatibility b/w Android 5.0 and BT 4.0. But now BT version has been upgraded , right? So I'd rather prefer to use whitelist method rather than handling this in application.

Please share your thoughts.

Best,

Varun

+1 Ammar N over 4 years ago in reply to Varun Sasindran

TI__Mastermind 25810 points

Hey Varun,

I'm not sure this is the case. A look at our application note on Bluetooth certification shows we are qualified for Bluetooth 5.0, however we only support Bluetooth 4.0 features. Take a look at Table 2.2.1 in the How to Certify Your Bluetooth Product app note for some more information.

You may have to handle this in the application for the devices that use RPAs. I tested this out and found similar behavior (which is explained by the linked post). When I used our device (another CC2541 as a central), I saw intended behavior of the above commands regarding white lists.

Note: I have confirmed the code in your original post should be all you need (for devices using public addresses). If you follow this code, you'll see the calls to the HCI_LE_AddWhiteListCmd() inside the gapbondmgr.c file. Once bonding is complete, the whitelist is automatically updated. So the direct calls I advised you to perform earlier are already handled by the gapbondmgr.

0 Varun Sasindran over 4 years ago in reply to Ammar N

Prodigy 106 points

Hi Ammar,

Happy new year to you. I hope this year will bring all the happiness and prosperity to you, your family and friends.

Thanks a lot for testing it out.

SO, to summarize, when using central devices which has Bluetooth 5,0 whitelist feature cannot be used in CC2541. We need to handle this in application, right?

Now it makes sense why it was not working with my code. Thanks a lot for this clarification,

Best,

Varun