5.1.3 BLE Multirole Multilink Transparent UART
This section explains how to create a multirole multilink device and send/receive characters between connected BLE devices over Microchip proprietary Transparent UART Profile. The multilink central enables users to connect multiple peripheral devices to a central device. The multilink central device acts as peripheral device and is connected to an another central device(MBD application). The central is MBD application and peripheral devices in this tutorial are WBZ351 devices.
Users can choose to either run the precompiled Application Example hex file provided on the WBZ351 Curiosity Board or follow the steps to develop the application from scratch.
It is recommended to follow the examples in sequence to understand the basic concepts before progressing to the advanced topics.
Recommended Readings
-
Getting Started with Application Building Blocks – See Building Block Examples from Related Links.
- Getting Started with Central Building Blocks – See Central Devices from Related Links.
-
Getting Started with Peripheral Building Blocks – See Peripheral Devices from Related Links.
- See BLE Deep Sleep Advertising from Related Links.
- See BLE Transparent UART from Related Links.
- See BLE Connection from Related Links.
-
BLE Software Specification – See MPLAB® Harmony Wireless BLE in Reference Documentation from Related Links.
Hardware Requirement
| S. No. | Tool | Quantity |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | WBZ351 Curiosity Board | 3 (min) |
| 2 | Micro USB cable | 3 |
SDK Setup
Refer to Getting Started with Software Development from Related Links.
Software Requirement
To install Tera Term tool, refer to the Tera Term web page in Reference Documentation from Related Links.
Smartphone App
Light Blue
Programming the Precompiled Hex file or Application Example
Using MPLAB® X IPE:
- Import and program the precompiled hex
file:
<Discover Path>\wireless_apps_pic32cxbz3_wbz35\apps\ble\building_blocks\multirole\multilink\hex. - For detailed steps, refer to
Programming a Device in MPLAB® IPE in Reference
Documentation from Related Links.Note: Ensure to choose the correct Device and Tool information.
Using MPLAB® X IDE:
- Perform the following the steps mentioned in Running a Precompiled Example. For more information, refer to Running a Precompiled Application Example from Related Links.
- Open and program the application
mr_ml_trp_uart.xlocated in<Discover Path>\wireless_apps_pic32cxbz3_wbz35\apps\ble\building_blocks\multirole\multilink\firmware. - For more details on how to find the Discover path, refer to Download Application Example from Discover in Running a Precompiled Application Example from Related Links.
Demo Description
Upon programming the demo application, multirole multilink device (WBZ351) will start scanning for near by peripheral devices to connect. After a connection has been made data can be sent back and forth over UART between the two devices that are connected. The multirole multilink device continues scanning until 100 secs and allows new peripheral devices that are advertising to join. For this example we are going to demonstrate 2 BLE links
Central Device → MultiRole MultiLink Device → Peripheral Device1 & Peripheral Device2 & Peripheral Device3
Demo will print start of the scanning “Scanning”,connected “Connected!” and disconnected “Disconnected” state on a terminal emulator like TeraTerm@ (Speed: 115200, Data: 8-bit, Parity: none, stop bits: 1 bit, Flow control: none) Application Data to be sent to the connected peripheral device should be entered in the terminal emulator.
Testing
- Device 1 will have PUBLIC address of {0xA1, 0xA2, 0xA3, 0xA4, 0xA5, 0xA6}
- Device 2 will have PUBLIC address of {0xB1, 0xB2, 0xB3, 0xB4, 0xB5, 0xB6}
- Device 3 will have PUBLIC address of {0xC1, 0xC2, 0xC3, 0xC4, 0xC5, 0xC6}
Precompiled Hex files for peripheral devices with different addresses as mentioned above are available here.
Demo Experience when using four WBZ351 Curiosity boards, three
configured as Peripheral and one configured as MultiRole device This section assumes that a
user has already programmed the peripheral_trp_uart application on three
WBZ351 Curiosity Boards.
- Board1 = WBZ351 Curiosity Board with
mr_ml_trp_uartapplicaton Programmed - Board2(Device1) = WBZ351 Curiosity Board with
peripheral_trp_uartapplication Programmed - Board3(Device2) = WBZ351 Curiosity Board with
peripheral_trp_uartapplication Programmed - Board4(Device3) = WBZ351 Curiosity Board with
peripheral_trp_uartapplication Programmed - Phone1 = Smartphone with MBD app installed
- Board1:
- Open TeraTerm @ (Speed: 115200,
Data: 8-bit, Parity: none, stop bits: 1 bit, Flow control: none).
- Reset the board. Upon reset, “Scanning” message is displayed on the TeraTerm.
- Upon finding peripheral device with public address {0xA1, 0xA2, 0xA3, 0xA4, 0xA5, 0xA6} message “Found Peer Node” will be displayed and a connection request will be initiated “Initiating connection”.
- During the scan time if more devices are available which will be true in this case, multirole multilink device will keep initiating connections with the new peer nodes.
- After the scan period, a “Scan Completed” message will be displayed and the device will begin advertising as a peripheral. Once advertisement starts, an “Advertising” message will display.
- Open TeraTerm @ (Speed: 115200,
Data: 8-bit, Parity: none, stop bits: 1 bit, Flow control: none).
- Board2/Board3/Board4:
- Open TeraTerm @ (Speed: 115200,
Data: 8-bit, Parity: none, stop bits: 1 bit, Flow control: none).
- Reset the board. Upon reset,
“Advertising” message is displayed on the TeraTerm.Note: Scanner is configured to scan only for 100 seconds. Ensure the peer device is advertising.
- Open TeraTerm @ (Speed: 115200,
Data: 8-bit, Parity: none, stop bits: 1 bit, Flow control: none).
-
Phone1 MBD setup:
- Select BLE UART
- Select PIC32CXBZ
-
Select Start
-
Wait for the
mr_ml_trp_uartdevice to complete its scanning and to start advertising, then select “pic32cx-bz” to connect - Select “Text mode”
- Within the settings, ensure that
“Display data” is turned ON
- Select BLE UART
- Characters entered on multirole
multilink device (Board1) terminal emulator will appear on peripheral devices
(Board2,3,4) emulator in a round-robin fashion without priority. For example, typing
“abc” in the multirole multilink device terminal emulator will print “a” on one
peripheral terminal emulator, “b” on another peripheral terminal emulator, and “c” on
the last peripheral terminal emulator as shown below
- Characters entered on any peripheral
devices (Board2,3,4) terminal emulator will appear on central device's (Board1) terminal
emulator with the prefix “Client Data :” as shown below.
- Characters entered on any central
device (Phone1 with MBD app) using Rx char (49535343-8841-43f4-a8d4-ecbe34729bb3) will
appear on multirole device's (Board1) terminal emulator and will be forwarded to the
peripheral devices (Board2,3,4). Consequently, the message will be printed on the
peripheral device’s terminal emulators. This data will have the prefix of “Server Data
:” on the multirole multilink (Board1) terminal emulator To send data on MBD, select the
“Input String” field, type a message, and press send If successful, the MBD screen will look like the image below and the TeraTerm windows will look like the image below.
Developing this Application from scratch using MPLAB Code Configurator
- Create a new harmony project. For more details, see Creating a New MCC Harmony Project from Related Links.
- Import component configuration: This
step helps users setup the basic components and configuration required to develop this
application. For more details on importing the component configuration, refer to
Importing Existing App Example Configuration from Related Links.Note: Import and Export functionality of component configuration will help users to start from a known working setup of configuration.
- Accept dependencies or satisfiers when prompted.
- Verify if the Project Graph window has
all the expected configuration.
Figure 5-201. Project Graph
Verify Scan, Advertisement and Transparent Profile Configuration
- Select BLE_Stack component in project
graph.Note: Advertising Interval Min and Max can be modified. Advertisement payload can be configured by user here.
- Select Transparent Profile
configuration.
Generating a Code
For more details on code generation, refer to MPLAB Code Configurator (MCC) Code Generation from Related Links.
Files and Routines Automatically Generated by the MCC
| Source Files | Usage |
|---|---|
app.c | Application State machine, includes calls for Initialization of all BLE stack (GAP,GATT, SMP, L2CAP) related component configurations |
app_ble.c | Source Code for the BLE stack related component configurations, code related to function calls from app.c |
app_ble_handler.c | All GAP, GATT, SMP and L2CAP Event handlers |
app_trspc_handler.c | All Transparent UART Client related Event handlers |
app_trsps_handler.c | All Transparent UART Server related Event handlers |
ble_trspc.c | All Transparent Client Functions for user application |
ble_trsps.c | All Transparent Server Functions for user application |
app.c is autogenerated and has a state machine based Application code
sample and users can use this template to develop their application. Header Files
-
ble_gap.h: This header file contains BLE GAP functions and is automatically included in the app.c file -
ble_trspc.h: This is the header file associated with API’s and structures related to BLE Transparent Client functions for Application User -
ble_trsps.hThis is the header file associated with API’s and structures related to BLE Transparent Server functions for Application User
Function Calls
- MCC generates and adds the code to initialize the BLE Stack GAP, GATT, SMP and L2CAP in
APP_BleStackInit()
APP_BleStackInit()is the API that will be called inside the Applications Initial StateAPP_STATE_INITinapp.c
User Application Development
- Include the user action. For more information, refer to User Action from Related Links.
-
ble_trspc.hinapp.c, BLE Transparent UART client related API's are available here -
ble_trsps.hinapp.c, BLE Transparent UART Server related API's are available here -
osal/osal_freertos_extend.hinapp_trsps_handler.c, OSAL related API's are available here -
definitions.hin all the files where UART will be used to print debug informationNote:definitions.his not specific to just UART peripheral, instead it should be included in all application source files where peripheral functionality will be exercised.
BLE_GAP_SetScanningEnable(true, BLE_GAP_SCAN_FD_ENABLE, BLE_GAP_SCAN_MODE_OBSERVER, 1000);This API is called in the Applications initialstate - APP_STATE_INIT in
app.c. Scan duration is 100 seconds.
BLE_GAP_EVT_ADV_REPORTevent is generated upon finding Advertisements on legacy channels- BLE connection can be initiated by using the API
BLE_GAP_CreateConnection(&createConnParam_t);// code snippet to filter scan results and initiate connection // Filter Devices based of Address, for this example address checking only 2 bytes if ((p_event->eventField.evtAdvReport.addr.addr[0] == 0xA1 && p_event->eventField.evtAdvReport.addr.addr[1] == 0xA2) || (p_event->eventField.evtAdvReport.addr.addr[0] == 0xB1 && p_event->eventField.evtAdvReport.addr.addr[1] == 0xB2) || (p_event->eventField.evtAdvReport.addr.addr[0] == 0xC1 && p_event->eventField.evtAdvReport.addr.addr[1] == 0xC2)) { SERCOM0_USART_Write((uint8_t *)"Found Peer Node\r\n", 17); BLE_GAP_CreateConnParams_T createConnParam_t; createConnParam_t.scanInterval = 0x3C; // 37.5 ms createConnParam_t.scanWindow = 0x1E; // 18.75 ms createConnParam_t.filterPolicy = BLE_GAP_SCAN_FP_ACCEPT_ALL; createConnParam_t.peerAddr.addrType = p_event->eventField.evtAdvReport.addr.addrType; memcpy(createConnParam_t.peerAddr.addr, p_event->eventField.evtAdvReport.addr.addr, GAP_MAX_BD_ADDRESS_LEN); createConnParam_t.connParams.intervalMin = 0x10; createConnParam_t.connParams.intervalMax = 0x10; createConnParam_t.connParams.latency = 0; createConnParam_t.connParams.supervisionTimeout = 0x48; SERCOM0_USART_Write((uint8_t *)"Initiating Connection\r\n", 23); BLE_GAP_CreateConnection(&createConnParam_t); }
- In
app_ble_handler.c,BLE_GAP_EVT_CONNECTEDevent will be generated when a BLE connection is completed
Connection handle associated with the peer peripheral device needs to be saved for data exchange after a BLE connection
p_event->eventField.evtConnect.connHandlehas this information- In Multilink Application, unique connection handler's will be generated for all the peripheral links
- The initiated scan operation will provide scan
timeout event, we can start the advertisement to connect with another central device
- Add
APP_MSG_UART_CBto the generatedAPP_MsgId_T BLE_TRSPC_SendData(conn_hdl[i], 1, &uart_data);is the API to be used for sending data towards the Client deviceBLE_TRSPS_SendData(conn_hdl[i], 1, &uart_data);is the API to be used for sending data towards the Server deviceNote: * The precompiled application example uses a UART callback to initiate the data transmission upon receiving a character on UART.Example Implementation for transmitting the received data over UART using theBLE_TRSPC_SendDataAPIuint16_t conn_hdl[3];// connection handle info captured @BLE_GAP_EVT_CONNECTED event uint8_t uart_data; uint8_t no_of_links;// No of connected peripheral devices uint8_t i = 0;// link index void uart_cb(SERCOM_USART_EVENT event, uintptr_t context) { APP_Msg_T appMsg; // If RX data from UART reached threshold (previously set to 1) if( event == SERCOM_USART_EVENT_READ_THRESHOLD_REACHED ) { // Read 1 byte data from UART SERCOM0_USART_Read(&uart_data, 1); appMsg.msgId = APP_MSG_UART_CB; OSAL_QUEUE_Send(&appData.appQueue, &appMsg, 0); } } void APP_UartCBHandler() { // Send the data from UART to connected device through Transparent service BLE_TRSPC_SendData(conn_hdl[i], 1, &uart_data); i++; if(i==no_of_links) i = 0; //reset link index } // Register call back when data is available on UART for Peripheral Device to send // Enable UART Read SERCOM0_USART_ReadNotificationEnable(true, true); // Set UART RX notification threshold to be 1 SERCOM0_USART_ReadThresholdSet(1); // Register the UART RX callback function SERCOM0_USART_ReadCallbackRegister(uart_cb, (uintptr_t)NULL);
BLE_TRSPC_EVT_RECEIVE_DATAis the event generated when data is sent from peripheral deviceUsers need to use the
BLE_TRSPC_GetDataLength(&data_len)&BLE_TRSPS_GetDataLength(&data_len)API to extract the length of application data received-
BLE_TRSPC_GetData(&conn_hdl, data);&BLE_TRSPS_GetData(&conn_hdl, data);API is used to retrieve the data, conn_hdl is the value obtained from Connection Handler sectionNote:BLE_TRSPC_Event_Tp_event structure stores the information about BLE transparent UART callback functionsBLE_TRSPS_Event_Tp_event structure stores the information about BLE transparent UART callback functions
Example Implementation for printing the received data from peripheral device over UART/* TODO: implement your application code.*/ uint16_t data_len; uint8_t *data; // Retrieve received data length BLE_TRSPC_GetDataLength(p_event->eventField.onReceiveData.connHandle, &data_len); // Allocate memory according to data length data = OSAL_Malloc(data_len); if(data == NULL) break; // Retrieve received data BLE_TRSPC_GetData(p_event->eventField.onReceiveData.connHandle, data); // Output received data to UART SERCOM0_USART_Write((uint8_t *)"\r\nClient Data :", 15); SERCOM0_USART_Write(data, data_len); // Free memory OSAL_Free(data);
