Long Range Advertisements

Hello,

The nRF5282 RADIO lacks support for coded PHY, unfortunately. You can see from the comparison table below which 52 variants have it (nRF52 Series)

1. Yes, you should expect a significant range increase when using long range. My colleague Susheel did some outdoor testing comparing the range difference 1M and CODED phy which you can read more about here: https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/nordic/nordic-blog/b/blog/posts/testing-long-range-coded-phy-with-nordic-solution-it-simply-works-922075585. You can also get the same effect by increasing the RADIO TX power: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WC0WYfxLQuQ

2. You can use the nRF52833.

3. You can use the existing Bluetooth: Peripheral Heart Rate Monitor with Coded PHY and Bluetooth: Central Heart Rate Monitor with Coded PHY sample to try out coded phy. Note that the TX power is 0 dBm by default. To change this you have to send a HCI command to the Bluetooth controller as demonstrated by the Bluetooth: HCI Power Control sample.

4. The connection will be established with the same PHY that the advertiser use. I can recommend the nRF52840 Dongle if you want to confirm the PHY with the nRF sniffer.

Best regards,

Vidar

Hi Vidar,

Thanks for the detailed explanation. I'll try with what you have suggested. Just a quick follow-up questions:

1. We have 2 nrf52833 dk and we are planning to use 1 to send long range advertisements and other to scan the same. I assume, I'll need to modify both tx/rx firmware to send/receive on the Coded PHY. Is my understanding correct?

2. In point-4 where you mentioned to use nrf52840 Dongle, I think we can use nrf52833 as well. Can we use nrf sniffer (www.nordicsemi.com/.../nRF-Sniffer-for-Bluetooth-LE) to sniff using nrf52833-dk and check the wireshark to verify Coded PHY for our beacons?

TIA!

Hi Vidar,

Thanks for the detailed explanation. I'll try with what you have suggested. Just a quick follow-up questions:

1. We have 2 nrf52833 dk and we are planning to use 1 to send long range advertisements and other to scan the same. I assume, I'll need to modify both tx/rx firmware to send/receive on the Coded PHY. Is my understanding correct?

2. In point-4 where you mentioned to use nrf52840 Dongle, I think we can use nrf52833 as well. Can we use nrf sniffer (www.nordicsemi.com/.../nRF-Sniffer-for-Bluetooth-LE) to sniff using nrf52833-dk and check the wireshark to verify Coded PHY for our beacons?

TIA!

Hi,

No problem. 1. Yes, correct. Both sides need to be configured for CODED PHY and the heart rate samples I referred in my previous reply are set up for this by default.

2. You're right, I should have been more clear.  It's no problem to use a  nRF52833DK or a nRF52840DK board if you have one to spare.  It's just that the dongle would be a cheaper alternative if you had to buy an extra board for this.

(Minimum requirements)

Appreciate your prompt response!

I will configure 1 nrf52833 to send Coded PHY advertisements and use pre-built sniffer binaries for other to pick up the adv packets and verify it using wireshark (assuming there is a field in wireshark packet dissector for the Coded PHY).