BLE 18dBm transmit power?

[dwaynef@optimaldesignco.com]

Has any one been able to verify the BLE power?

Setup up a Beacon and I’m only getting about 60 feet.
With 18dBM transmit power I was expecting a lot more distance.

I also can’t read or set the transmit power via hciconfig.

admin@mtcdt_concorde-1:~# hciconfig hci0 inqtpl
Can't read inquiry transmit power level on hci0: Connection timed out (110)

admin@mtcdt_concorde-1:/var/log# hciconfig hci0 --all
hci0:	Type: BR/EDR  Bus: USB
	BD Address: 88:DA:1A:9A:12:FE  ACL MTU: 27:7  SCO MTU: 0:0
	UP RUNNING 
	RX bytes:426 acl:0 sco:0 events:32 errors:0
	TX bytes:0 acl:0 sco:0 commands:32 errors:0
	Features: 0x3f 0x02 0x04 0x0e 0xe8 0x0d 0x41 0x85
	Packet type: DM1 DM3 DM5 DH1 DH3 DH5 HV1 
	Link policy: 
	Link mode: SLAVE ACCEPT 
	Name: 'OptimalDesign'
	Class: 0x100100
	Service Classes: Object Transfer
	Device Class: Computer, Uncategorized
	HCI Version: 4.0 (0x6)  Revision: 0x0
	LMP Version: 4.0 (0x6)  Subversion: 0x0
	Manufacturer: internal use (65535)

Anyone work with the BLE?

running AEP 1.4.16

[John Klug]

The default is the maximum power.

Did you connect an antenna to the wifi/bt port?

BLE power is set in the rs9113 driver in /etc/default/rs9113:

# Power selection
# 0x00 – For Both TX and RX High Power
# 0x11 – For Both TX and RX Medium Power
# 0x22 – For Both TX and RX LOW Power
# 0x10 – For High Power TX and Medium RX Power
# 0x20 – For High Power TX and LOW RX Power
# 0x01 – For Medium TX and RX High Power
# 0x21 – For Medium Power TX and LOW RX Power
# 0x02 – For Low Power TX and RX High Power
# 0x12 – For LOW Power TX and Medium RX Power
WLAN_RF_PWR_MODE=0x00
BT_RF_PWR_MODE=0x00

#Power_mode type
# 0 – HIGH POWER MODE
# 1 – MEDIUM POWER MODE
# 2 – LOW POWER MODE
BT_RF_TX_POWER_MODE=0
BT_RF_RX_POWER_MODE=0

It is set to the highest power by default.

These same variables apply simultaneously to BLE and standard Bluetooth.

If these values are changed, it is necessary to reload the driver:

/etc/init.d/rs9113 stop
/etc/init.d/rs9113 start

If you are using bluetoothd, it will need to be restarted as well.

/etc/init.d/bluetooth stop
/etc/init.d/bluetooth start

Likewise if you are using wpa_supplicant, or hostapd, in one of the modes that also supports wifi, these will need to be restarted.

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