CC2652R7: Peripheral not getting detected in broadcaster mode.

Hi Jan,

Thanks for the quick response. I am new to BLE so please fell free to correct me if I am wrong.

If I want to work with the non scannable non connectable mode than in what configuration should the observer work in to receive the information from the broadcaster? and if there is no way to receive information from broadcasters working in this mode than what is the use of this mode?

Additionally, doesn't BLE beacons not function in this mode?

Hello Jan,

As you mentioned - "in the Non-Scannable Non-Connectable configuration, the device will advertise data that any scanner can read" so this is the exact issue I am facing. When I am keeping my device in Non Scannable Non connectable configuration I am not able to see any device address assigned to the peripheral which I can use to track the peripheral device at observer. 

Also, I am not able to track it using its device name as well.   

Hi,

Understood, my apologies! Can you share how you are scanning?

Best Regards,

Jan

I am using the simple_central project on another BLE device. Also I tried finding the device on my mobile using BLE scanner app and on PC using -  chrome://bluetooth-internals/#adapter

Hi Garvit,

When using non-scannable advertisements, the device will not send scan responses. If the central device uses the scan response to identify nearby devices then it will not be able to detect it.The scanner should instead look for advertisements themselves and not the scan responses.

Best Regards,

Jan

Hi Jan,

Can you please guide me about how to modify the simple central project to do so?

Thanks

Hi Garvit,

No problem! Looking through the code, it seems that by default we are filtering out any packets that are not connectable as shown below:

To capture non-connectable packets, you will need to remove the SCAN_FLT_PDU_CONNECTABLE_ONLY define from the temp16 variable. I am not sure exactly which packets you would like to filter, so I would suggest referencing the gap_scanner.h file. Specifically, the section that lists the filter types shown below:

You can add which ever filter you would like to apply to your scanner (provided they do not conflict with each other) and the scanner should only process those packets. Let me know if you are able to see the desired packets after making the modification to the filter paramters.

Best Regards,

Jan

Hi Jan,

Thanks a lot Jan for the insights you shared in pervious reply.

I modified the temp16 to temp16 = SCAN_FLT_PDU_NONCONNECTABLE_ONLY | SCAN_FLT_PDU_COMPLETE_ONLY;

The issue I am facing now are - 

1) How to modify simple_peripheral code to assign the device a address in non-connectable and non-scannable mode? Even if  the simple_central project is scanning for non-connectable advertisement it would need some way to identify the device but currently simple_peripheral is not assigning any address to device in this mode.

2) On modifying the simple_central code it is entering in the error.c file at following location and stops execution.

Thanks,

Garvit

Hi Garvit,

I believe the simple_peripheral project still has an address (even if its not being printed), so we can identify which is the correct device if we modify the simple_peripheral code to print out the address or if we add some unique advertising data that we can look for on the simple_central side. Do you have access to a bluetooth sniffer? If so, then this will help us figure out if we are sending out the packets properly.

For 2), can you provide the return code of the GapScan_SetParam() as well as the call stack you have when you pause the execution at the error function? I would like to see exactly how the program got to that area.

Best Regards,

Jan

Hi Jan,

Sorry for delayed response. I was learning about packet sniffers and it seems to me we need to have some specific hardware to work with it which I don't have currently available.

When I am trying to debug the code now, it is neither entering into the error.c file nor detecting the peripheral device. All I can hear is an error sound coming from my PC at regular interval. The sound is similar to the one we get when we are trying to find a string using ctrl+F  in ccs and it doesn't exist in the code. Also the sound stops when I exit the tera term terminal.

I am still trying to figure out the reason. If you have any suggestions do let me know.

Thanks

Hi Garvit,

I am a bit confused by your last comment. To clarify, you are no longer seeing the error code you were before, but now you are getting an error sound from your PC (originating from your UART terminal) when the program is running? Can you specify the Serial settings you have configured your UART terminal with do you have any output on the screen you can share?

Best Regards,

Jan

Hi Jan,

I have set the serial settings to same as shown in fig 1 and the UART terminal display is freezing after few seconds as shown in fig 2 .

Thanks,

Garvit

Hi Garvit,

It seems you are printing advertising packets received. Is this the case? If so, then could you try removing the print statements for now to see if the behavior persists?

Best Regards,

Jan

Hi Jan,

The error issue is resolved after the removal of print statement but I am still not able to detect the peripheral. I have added a counter for the peripheral device in the following way - 

static uint32_t counter = 0;

uint8_t  temp[6] = {0xCA,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0xCA}; // Random static address I have given to the peripheral device

// counter setup under the case SC_EVT_ADV_REPORT of SimpleCentral_processAppMsg function 

if (memcmp(temp , pAdvRpt->addr , 6 ) == 0){
counter = counter+1;
Display_print1(dispHandle, 4, 0, "counter %d",
counter);
}

I have setup a breakpoint on counter but the code never stops at it.

Hi,

I am glad to hear we were able to resolve the serial terminal issue. Can you clarify how you have set the random static address? I would recommend setting your peripheral to Public Address mode and using that address instead. Are you able to acquire the sniffer hardware that was previously discussed? This would greatly help us in understanding what is going on over the air.

Best Regards,

Jan

Hello Jan,

I have set the random static address under simple_peripheral.syscfg > General Config > Address Mode. 

The issue with public address mode was it keeps on changing and every time I disconnect the board I have to again change the code at central side to track it. 

About Sniffer circuit, as of now I won't be able to access it so for I am going ahead with setting up the device in non connectable and scannable mode.

Thanks,

Garvit

HI Garvit,

Understood. I truly apologize for the inconvenience this unexpected behavior may be causing. Once you have access to a sniffer, then please let us know and we would be more than happy to help debug the packet logs. Are you still able to implement your desired functionality with the workaround you suggested (non-connectable and scannable mode)?

Best Regards,

Jan

Hello Jan,

Yes, I am working on getting the functionality as of now. Thanks for your responses till now.

Regards,

Garvit

Hi Garvit,

Sounds good. I will close this thread for now, but if  you have any update to share then please respond to this message and it should reopen the thread. After 30 days, the thread will permanent close, but if you have an update, then you can open a related thread and we will assist you on the new thread.

Best Regards,

Jan