short range advertizing with CYBLE_GAPP_CONNECTABLE_UNDIRECTED_ADV

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Amar_Hiremath
Level 3
Level 3
25 sign-ins 10 questions asked 25 replies posted

I wanted to achieve only with a meter range advertising as peripheral device and mobile as central how can we achieve this..?

I am using cyble22201-01.

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PSa_795526
Level 4
Level 4
First question asked 10 sign-ins First like given

Hi AmHi,

In your application, would it be possible to put the BLE module in a metal enclosure to attenuate the RF radiation and hence reduce the range ?

I tried testing with a BLE module: CYBLE-022001-00 (on CY8CKIT-041-40xx 4S Pioneer kit which as this BLE module).

I observed the RSSI to decrease when the Tx power was reduced from the default 0 dBm to the minimum possible -18 dBm  (though the RSSI readings were not very steady or consistent varying by about 5-10 dBm).

For further reduction in range, I tried clipping a thick aluminum foil over the module.

I had to use over 50 folds over Al foil making it about 1 cm thick, and put it inside a plastic over to prevent shorting of contacts on the module or board, and then clipped the foil above and below the BLE module.

Below are the test results:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Conditions*      Tx Power      RSSI(at 50cm)      RSSI(at 1m)      Range observed

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

No cover            0 dBm           -60 dBm                -66 dBm           Range > 15m with fast notifications at 15m

over module

                

No cover            -18 dBm           -75 dBm              -85 dBm           Range > 15m but slow notifications at 15m

over module

Thick Al foil         -18 dBm           -95 dBm               -97 dBm           Range 2m (notifications stop beyond 2m)

cover over

module

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*The test results are for outdoor line of sight area(Indoor ranges were lesser due to obstacles and walls)

Project used for test(attached):

It is a modified version of the "BLE_Battery_Level" Code example in PSoC Creator 4.3.

It just continuously sweeps the battery level from 2% to 90% in the second battery service.

Results were observed on CySmart Android mobile app-

In the app, pair to the "Battery Level" device in the scanner, and swipe to the second battery service and click on "Start Notify" to observe the notifications (battery level continuously sweeps between 2% to 90%)

It was seen that with the Al foil cover, the notifications stopped beyond 2m.

By the way, could you please let us know why the range has to be reduced in your application (eg, is to use in an environment with many BLE devices and you want to reduce the BLE traffic seen by each device etc ?)

Best Regards,

Prem Sai

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11 Replies
Yugandhar
Moderator
Moderator
Moderator
500 solutions authored 1000 replies posted 5 likes given

Hello,

Setting “Adv/Scan TX Power Level (dBm)” and “Connection TX Power Level (dBm)” in the BLE component will reduce the range, please check the module specifications in the datasheet.

Thanks,
P Yugandhar.

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Hello,

by setting this we didnt got the actual result. its same as with 0dBm and -12 dBm. please suggest how can we validate or set the proper range.

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Hello,

How are you measuring the BLE range for our module cyble22201-01 with different TX power level settings?

Are you observing same BLE range (maximum) for all TX power level settings?

Thanks and Regards,

Sudheesh

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Yes Setting the TX power level using the api and getting the same range for all the TX power level.

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Hello,

I discussed your query internally and with our product experts. It is not possible to achieve 1m range for our BLE module with any tx power level settings. Sorry for the inconvenience caused.

Thanks and Regards,

Sudheesh

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is it possible to reduce the range of at least some extent by any settings..?

both devices peripheral and central devices are kept at fixed location and we are doing the scan, each time device is scanned(scanning frequency is 5second once) by central device the RSSI value is changing [gives different value] can we control at least this by any settings ...? or by hardware change ..?

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Hello,

Sorry for the delay in our response.

Other than changing the TX power level, there are no other ways to reduce the range of our BLE module.

Thanks and Regards,

Sudheesh

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By changing the TX power level we didn't noticed the change in the range of BLE.

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Hello,

Could you please answer 3 below queries?

1. What is the distance between your BLE central and peripheral devices?

2. What is the maximum range (distance meters) that you observe with different TX power level settings?

3. How are you measuring the maximum range for different TX power level settings?

Thanks and Regards,

Sudheesh

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Please see my

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PSa_795526
Level 4
Level 4
First question asked 10 sign-ins First like given

Hi AmHi,

In your application, would it be possible to put the BLE module in a metal enclosure to attenuate the RF radiation and hence reduce the range ?

I tried testing with a BLE module: CYBLE-022001-00 (on CY8CKIT-041-40xx 4S Pioneer kit which as this BLE module).

I observed the RSSI to decrease when the Tx power was reduced from the default 0 dBm to the minimum possible -18 dBm  (though the RSSI readings were not very steady or consistent varying by about 5-10 dBm).

For further reduction in range, I tried clipping a thick aluminum foil over the module.

I had to use over 50 folds over Al foil making it about 1 cm thick, and put it inside a plastic over to prevent shorting of contacts on the module or board, and then clipped the foil above and below the BLE module.

Below are the test results:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Conditions*      Tx Power      RSSI(at 50cm)      RSSI(at 1m)      Range observed

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

No cover            0 dBm           -60 dBm                -66 dBm           Range > 15m with fast notifications at 15m

over module

                

No cover            -18 dBm           -75 dBm              -85 dBm           Range > 15m but slow notifications at 15m

over module

Thick Al foil         -18 dBm           -95 dBm               -97 dBm           Range 2m (notifications stop beyond 2m)

cover over

module

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*The test results are for outdoor line of sight area(Indoor ranges were lesser due to obstacles and walls)

Project used for test(attached):

It is a modified version of the "BLE_Battery_Level" Code example in PSoC Creator 4.3.

It just continuously sweeps the battery level from 2% to 90% in the second battery service.

Results were observed on CySmart Android mobile app-

In the app, pair to the "Battery Level" device in the scanner, and swipe to the second battery service and click on "Start Notify" to observe the notifications (battery level continuously sweeps between 2% to 90%)

It was seen that with the Al foil cover, the notifications stopped beyond 2m.

By the way, could you please let us know why the range has to be reduced in your application (eg, is to use in an environment with many BLE devices and you want to reduce the BLE traffic seen by each device etc ?)

Best Regards,

Prem Sai

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