K32W041 Tx power setting

[swhyun]

The k32w datasheet states 'Configurable transmit power up to +11 dBm, with 46 dB range'.

However, you can only set up to +10 dBm in the 'tx power test' menu of the Customer evaluation tool.

I use k32w041 chipset.

Does the chipset not support +11 dBm? Or is the customer evaluation tool wrong?

[Christine_Li]

HI, @swhyun 

May I ask which evaluation tool is our customer using to set/get the TX power?

Best regards,

Christine.

[swhyun]

K32W RF System Evaluation Report for BLE and IEEE 802.15.4 (nxp.com)

This report is a test result using the 'Customer Evaluation Tool' exclusively for NXP K32W.

Customer Module Evaluation Tool (nxp.com)

And here is the download link for 'Customer Module Evaluation Tool'

[Christine_Li]

Hi, @swhyun 

Thanks for providing me this information.

I will have a try with this tool on my local side, once have any updates, will let you know.

Best regards,

Christine.

[swhyun]

Hi. @Christine_Li 

Does it take a long time to check?

[Christine_Li]

hi, @swhyun 

Sorry, I am not so familiar with this tool, I need sometime to setup the test environment.

I think today I will have the test results. Then I will update to you.

Best regards,

Christine.

[Christine_Li]

Hi, @swhyun 

Sorry for the late reply.

I tested on my local side on K32W061(Because we don't have K32W041 right now on our hand.) and get the same conclusion with you.

It can only decrease the TX power from 10dBm but could not increase the TX power from 10dBm to 11dBm. I even tested every channel from channel 11 to channel 26, get same results.

I will create an internal ticket to track the root cause and try to find the solution.

Thanks for creating a so important and valid ticket to us.

Best regards,

Christine.

[swhyun]

I changed the i8MaxTxPower value from 40 to 44 in the Customer Module Evaluation Tool source code, and I checked that it is set up to 11 dBm in the program.

However, I don't know if you actually send it at +11 dBm just because you change the maximum value.

I'm determining the transmission strength from radio_test_jn_518x.h to vRadio_Test_Jn518x_RadioSetPower(int8_ti8PowerLevel), but I can't see the original form of the function..

Please check if it is possible to solve it with the part I modified or if NXP needs to modify the library additionally.

[Christine_Li]

Hi, @swhyun 

Thanks for your try and effort on this case.

I have forwarded the new result to our expert. Once have any updates, I will keep you post here.

Best regards,

Christine.

[swhyun]

Hi, @Christine_Li. Thanks for NXP technical support.

As I explained before, I confirmed that the maximum value of Tx Power in the source code of 'Customer Module Evaluation Tool' is changed to '44, and then +11dBm is set in the program.

We then referred the RF testing agency to determine if there was any change in the actual Tx Power and confirmed that it was working properly.

Since the problem can be seen as an error in one program, there may be other points that need to be corrected other than what I corrected.

Unless maintenance-level NXP management is needed, no more support is needed.

Thank you again for your active response to this question.

The table below shows the results measured by the RF tester after setting +11dBm.

[Christine_Li]

Hi, @swhyun 

Thank you so much for your trying and efforts.

That really helps us a lot.

I will forward your test results and modification to our experts and ask them whether we should correct it in the source code. If we have other concerns or limitations on board to set the max TX power to 10dBm, I will let you know.

Best regards,

Christine.

[Christine_Li]

Hi, @swhyun 

Our expert team's feedback as below:

For K32W041, on our board, even it actually can support up to +11dBm, but to ensure we can pass FCC/CE certification without any issue, usually we set +10dBm as a limitation in our code. In this way, it is perfectly safe to pass the certification.

In other hand, from our experience, there is no other customers to set it up to +11dBm when they use K32W041.

So, we don't suggest increase the TX power of K32W041 to +11dBm, if you want to increase TX power to +11dBm, can choose our K32W041A or K32W041AM.

Would you mind to close this ticket if you don't have other queries on this case?

Have a nice day~

Best regards,

Christine.

[swhyun]

Since we use products in Korea, we just need to meet the KC RF certification standards.

As a result of testing after setting it to +11 dBm, it was measured at a maximum of 9.6 mW/MHz, so it was confirmed that it did not exceed the domestic certification standard of 10 mW/MHz.

Therefore, I understand what you told me, but we have no problem using +11 dBm. Thank you for your advice!

[Christine_Li]

Hi, @swhyun 

Thanks for your quick reply.

Sounds great that it has no influence on the Korea's certification.

Then I will close this ticket, if you have any other queries on K32W041, please feel free to create new ticket to us.

Have a nice day~

Best regards,

Christine.

[swhyun]

Thank you for your answer.

Since we need to provide the RF Report to the customer, we need to figure out the revised completion schedule so that the program +11 dBm can be set.

Please reply to the target date.

[Christine_Li]

Hi, @swhyun 

What can I do now is pushing our internal AE team to help check, but they also need some time to find root cause and give solution. Of course I will provide the ETA to let you know once I get feedback from our AE team.

By the way, if it is very important and urgent to resolve, please help to increase the case priority in the case so that we will deal with it with high priority. For your information, right now the priority is Medium. If you don't know how to increase, please let me know. I will help to increase it to high/critical priority.

Best regards,

Christine.

[swhyun]

Thank you. Please reply when it is confirmed.