Question

Bluetooth signal strength

Asked by: datacore99

Hi

I want to get an estimate of the distance a bluetooth device (e.g. cellhone) is from my PC, in Windows. I think the best way is to use the RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) HCI command of your Bluetooth device to get an idea of the distance the device is from the PC.

How would I go about retreiving the RSSI data, can you provide me with a code example maybe? Also, in another post it is noted that to do bluetooth HCI interfacing (In windows) you need the microsoft SDK and bluetooth SDK or the free bluetooth stack. However the free bluetooth stack link and the microsoft bluetooth link do not appear to be valid.

Any help will be appreciated,

Regards
Malan Joubert

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Asked On
2005-01-09 at 08:32:55ID21267430
Tags

bluetooth

,

signal

,

strength

Topic

Bluetooth

Participating Experts
9
Points
500
Comments
12

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Answers

 

by: Mikal613Posted on 2005-01-12 at 13:04:15ID: 13028634

 

by: Code_AngelPosted on 2005-01-17 at 11:06:05ID: 13065883

The Link Manager Protocol (LMP) running in a Bluetooth device looks after the link setup and configuration. This is all done by two devices exchanging Protocol Data Units (PDUs).The hardware and software functionality of the RSSI is provided at the LMP level that permits you to manage the RSSI Data. It allows you to read the RSSI level and control the TX RF output power (the LMP power commands) LMP for control and to get at status information.

So what you are actually looking for is defined in the LMP when using the MS Bluetooth stack.
The MS Bluetooth Stack HCI interface already supports functions below i.e

HCI_READHCIPARAMETERS      
HCI_STARTHARDWARE            
HCI_STOPHARDWARE                  
HCI_SETCALLBACK                  
HCI_OPENCONNECTION            
HCI_READPACKET                  
HCI_WRITEPACKET                  
HCI_CLOSECONNECTION

I suppose microsoft could have implemented a function called HCI_Read_RSSI but they didn't.
      
To obtain the the RSSI data you will have to use the LMP to get the info you need.

Example psuedocode to read RSSI Data
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Read HCI Parameters
      
#include <windows.h>
#include <windev.h>
#include <bt_buffer.h>
#include <bt_hcip.h>
#include <bt_os.h>
#include <bt_debug.h>
#include <svsutil.hxx>
#include <bt_tdbg.h>

unsigned short hci_subversion, lmp_subversion, manufacturer;
unsigned char hci_version, lmp_version, lmp_features[8];

if (BthReadLocalVersion (&hci_version, &hci_subversion, &lmp_version, &lmp_subversion, &manufacturer, lmp_features) != ERROR_SUCCESS) {
            SetUnloadedState ();
            return 0;
      }
WCHAR szLine[MAX_PATH]
unsigned char *pf = lmp_features;

if ((*pf) & 0x02) {
wsprintf (szLine, L"   RSSI");
}

I hope this will be useful      

 

by: Mikal613Posted on 2005-01-17 at 11:10:15ID: 13065920

Did you get this to work? or  its just psuedocode?

 

by: Code_AngelPosted on 2005-01-18 at 04:54:06ID: 13071515

The above code actually works it's only a small piece taken from a full working program. I couldn't copy and paste the whole code it's quite a lot of code. You probably understand what I mean. I was just trying to demonstrate that they isn't a function  already done for you. I could probably e-mail you the code if you need it ? The code of course will only work if the MS Bluetooth stack is installed. It will not work with other Bluetooth stacks.

 

by: datacore99Posted on 2005-01-21 at 04:37:24ID: 13102164

Thanx Code_Angel,

Will DL the microsoft bluetooth SDK and try your code.

I'd appreciate it if you could email me the code.

Please email the code to pada@mailbox.co.za

Thanx again,
Malan

 

by: InsertCleverNamePosted on 2005-04-17 at 18:04:29ID: 13803093

Where do you get the microsoft bluetooth sdk?? I have an internal Bluetooth antenna on my laptop and think I have the Microsoft Bluetooth stack.  What do I need to compile the code above (I currently cannot compile it)???

 

by: dinhauPosted on 2005-05-09 at 04:42:13ID: 13958586

Hi ! everyone

I also have the same problem, I want to get the RSSI for the Bluetooth based on windows ce ,

Now I can query and pair the other BT eq. , but when I use the code for RSSI

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
if (BthReadLocalVersion (&hci_version, &hci_subversion, &lmp_version, &lmp_subversion, &manufacturer, lmp_features) != ERROR_SUCCESS) {
          SetUnloadedState ();
          return 0;
     }
WCHAR szLine[MAX_PATH]
unsigned char *pf = lmp_features;

if ((*pf) & 0x02) {
      wsprintf (szLine, L"   RSSI");
      MessageBox (szLine, L"BT Remote ", MB_OK | MB_TOPMOST);

    }
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It just respond "      RSSI" Message !! No RSSI value

Can anyone tell me what's wrong !

and Code_Angel, would you mind sending me the code,too

my e-mail : p9690107@ccmail.ncku.edu.tw

thanx a lot


                             freshman

 

by: yhekeiPosted on 2005-08-10 at 12:45:58ID: 14645754

Hi code_Angel,
would you send me the code that works? my email is: yhe@keithley.com. I am new here and my case is:
a laptop with a bluetooth hub and a logitech bluetooth mouse
I would like to write a program to show RSSI in the hub. Can I have a way to retrieve RSSI in the mouse?
Thanks a lot

 

by: sara200tPosted on 2008-04-04 at 13:35:24ID: 21285455

hi there,
   it seems that this post has been a while ago. But if anyone get my message could you also share teh code for me please. I am working on the  RSSI too.

Thank you kindly,
my e-mail: ta_peng_mootoo@hotmail.com

 

by: RannyhuangPosted on 2008-04-16 at 13:01:01ID: 21371422

Hi, Guys:

I have the same question, too. This issue has already botherred me for a long time. If Code_angle or any one of you can share the code with me, that will be great appreciated.
My email: haoran_huang@yahoo.com

 

by: bhermerPosted on 2008-07-27 at 21:38:43ID: 22100716

ping, just incase anyone gets back here with some working code :(

 

by: shujat_aliPosted on 2011-08-11 at 05:36:44ID: 36349591

hi, i have a similar problem, can someone send me the code. my email is. syed_shujat_ali_naqvi@yahoo.com

Thanks in advance.
Shujat.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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