The NimBLE stack uses OS cputime for scheduling various events inside controller. Since the code of controller is optimized to work with 32768 Hz clock, the OS cputime has to be configured accordingly.
To make things easier, controller package (net/nimble/controller) defines new system configuration setting BLE_LP_CLOCK as sets it to 1 so other packages can be configured if necessary. The next section describes configuration required for controller to work properly.
Note: All BSPs based on nRF5x have below settings automatically applied when BLE_LP_CLOCK is set, there is no need to configure this in application.
The following things need to be configured for NimBLE controller to work properly:
32768For example, on nRF52 platform timer 5 can be used as source for 32768 Hz clock. Also, timer 0 can be disabled since this is the default source for OS cputime clock and is no longer used. The configuration will look as below:
syscfg.vals:
OS_CPUTIME_FREQ: 32768
OS_CPUTIME_TIMER_NUM: 5
TIMER_0: 0
TIMER_5: 1
BLE_XTAL_SETTLE_TIME: 1500
On nRF51 platform the only difference is to use timer 3 instead of timer 5.
On platforms without 32768 Hz crystal available it usually can be synthesized by setting XTAL_32768_SYNTH to 1 - this is also already configured in existing BSPs.
Controller needs to know clock source accuracy since this affects sleep time and has to be taken into account when scheduling Bluetooth events. The configuration variable BLE_LL_OUR_SCA defines clock drift (in ppm) while BLE_LL_MASTER_SCA is an enumerated value derived from clock drift value and shall be set as follows:
The default value of 60 ppm is large enough to work with most platforms with LFXO. For platforms without LFXO (e.g. using internal RC oscillator or synthesized clock instead) it shall be changed if necessary.
Note that using clock drift value larger than necessary will impact battery life since controller will use wider margin for scheduling Bluetooth events thus reducing sleep time. For this reason it is recommended to adjust clock drift value to match clock source used on platform.
The configuration variable BLE_XTAL_SETTLE_TIME is used by the controller to turn on the necessary clock source(s) for the radio and associated peripherals prior to Bluetooth events (advertising, scanning, connections, etc). For the nRF5x platforms, the HFXO needs to be turned on prior to using the radio and the BLE_XTAL_SETTLE_TIME must be set to accommodate this time. The amount of time required is board dependent, so users must characterize their hardware and set BLE_XTAL_SETTLE_TIME accordingly. The current value of 1500 microseconds is a fairly long time and was intended to work for most, if not all, platforms.
Note that changing this time will impact battery life with the amount depending on the application. The HFXO draws a fairly large amount of current when running so keeping this time as small as possible will reduce overall current drain.