xref: /btstack/doc/manual/docs-template/how_to.md (revision f05358500e612946f8c340b1f11e5703dafd65f8)
1#
2
3BTstack implements a set of Bluetooth protocols and profiles. To connect to other Bluetooth devices or to provide a Bluetooth services, BTstack has to be properly configured.
4
5The configuration of BTstack is done both at compile time as well as at run time:
6
7- compile time configuration:
8    - adjust *btstack_config.h* - this file describes the system configuration, used functionality, and also the memory configuration
9    - add necessary source code files to your project
10
11- run time configuration of:
12    - Bluetooth chipset
13    - run loop
14    - HCI transport layer
15    - provided services
16    - packet handlers
17
18In the following, we provide an overview of the configuration
19that is necessary to setup BTstack. From the point when the run loop
20is executed, the application runs as a finite
21state machine, which processes events received from BTstack. BTstack
22groups events logically and provides them via packet handlers.
23We provide their overview here. For the case that there is a need to inspect the data exchanged
24between BTstack and the Bluetooth chipset, we describe how to configure
25packet logging mechanism. Finally, we provide an overview on power management in Bluetooth in general and how to save energy in BTstack.
26
27## Configuration in btstack_config.h {#sec:btstackConfigHowTo}
28The file *btstack_config.h* contains three parts:
29
30- \#define HAVE_* directives [listed here](#sec:haveDirectives). These directives describe available system properties, similar to config.h in a autoconf setup.
31- \#define ENABLE_* directives [listed here](#sec:enableDirectives). These directives list enabled properties, most importantly ENABLE_CLASSIC and ENABLE_BLE.
32- other #define directives for BTstack configuration, most notably static memory, [see next section](#sec:memoryConfigurationHowTo) and [NVM configuration](#sec:nvmConfiguration).
33
34<!-- a name "lst:platformConfiguration"></a-->
35<!-- -->
36
37### HAVE_* directives {#sec:haveDirectives}
38System properties:
39
40| \#define              | Description                                                           |
41|-----------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
42| HAVE_AES128           | Use platform AES128 engine                                            |
43| HAVE_BTSTACK_STDIN    | STDIN is available for CLI interface                                  |
44| HAVE_LWIP             | lwIP is available                    |
45| HAVE_MALLOC           | Use dynamic memory                                                    |
46| HAVE_MBEDTLS_ECC_P256 | mbedTLS provides NIST P-256 operations e.g. for LE Secure Connections |
47
48Embedded platform properties:
49
50| \#define                        | Description                          |
51|---------------------------------|--------------------------------------|
52| HAVE_EMBEDDED_TIME_MS           | System provides time in milliseconds |
53| HAVE_EMBEDDED_TICK              | System provides tick interrupt       |
54| HAVE_HAL_AUDIO                  | Audio HAL is available               |
55| HAVE_HAL_AUDIO_SINK_STEREO_ONLY | Duplicate samples for mono playback  |
56
57FreeRTOS platform properties:
58
59| \#define                     | Description                                                      |
60|------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------|
61| HAVE_FREERTOS_INCLUDE_PREFIX | FreeRTOS headers are in 'freertos' folder (e.g. ESP32's esp-idf) |
62
63POSIX platform properties:
64
65| \#define           | Description                          |
66|--------------------|--------------------------------------|
67| HAVE_POSIX_FILE_IO | POSIX File i/o used for hci dump     |
68| HAVE_POSIX_TIME    | System provides time function        |
69| LINK_KEY_PATH      | Path to stored link keys             |
70| LE_DEVICE_DB_PATH  | Path to stored LE device information |
71
72<!-- a name "lst:btstackFeatureConfiguration"></a-->
73<!-- -->
74
75Chipset properties:
76
77| \#define               | Description                                           |
78|------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------|
79| HAVE_BCM_PCM2          | PCM2 is used and requires additional configuration    |
80| HAVE_BCM_PCM_NBS_16KHZ | NBS is up/downsampled, use 16 kHz sample rate for NBS |
81
82### ENABLE_* directives {#sec:enableDirectives}
83BTstack properties:
84
85| \#define                                                              | Description                                                                                                                 |
86|-----------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
87| ENABLE_CLASSIC                                                        | Enable Classic related code in HCI and L2CAP                                                                                |
88| ENABLE_BLE                                                            | Enable BLE related code in HCI and L2CAP                                                                                    |
89| ENABLE_EHCILL                                                         | Enable eHCILL low power mode on TI CC256x/WL18xx chipsets                                                                   |
90| ENABLE_H5                                                             | Enable support for SLIP mode in `btstack_uart.h` drivers for HCI H5 ('Three-Wire Mode')                                     |
91| ENABLE_LOG_DEBUG                                                      | Enable log_debug messages                                                                                                   |
92| ENABLE_LOG_ERROR                                                      | Enable log_error messages                                                                                                   |
93| ENABLE_LOG_INFO                                                       | Enable log_info messages                                                                                                    |
94| ENABLE_SCO_OVER_HCI                                                   | Enable SCO over HCI for chipsets (if supported)                                                                             |
95| ENABLE_SCO_OVER_PCM                                                   | Enable SCO ofer PCM/I2S for chipsets (if supported)                                                                         |
96| ENABLE_HFP_WIDE_BAND_SPEECH                                           | Enable support for mSBC codec used in HFP profile for Wide-Band Speech                                                      |
97| ENABLE_HFP_AT_MESSAGES                                                | Enable `HFP_SUBEVENT_AT_MESSAGE_SENT` and `HFP_SUBEVENT_AT_MESSAGE_RECEIVED` events                                         |
98| ENABLE_LE_PERIPHERAL                                                  | Enable support for LE Peripheral Role in HCI and Security Manager                                                           |
99| ENABLE_LE_CENTRAL                                                     | Enable support for LE Central Role in HCI and Security Manager                                                              |
100| ENABLE_LE_SECURE_CONNECTIONS                                          | Enable LE Secure Connections                                                                                                |
101| ENABLE_LE_SECURE_CONNECTIONS_DEBUG_KEY                                | Enable support for LE Secure Connection debug keys for testing                                                              |
102| ENABLE_LE_PROACTIVE_AUTHENTICATION                                    | Enable automatic encryption for bonded devices on re-connect                                                                |
103| ENABLE_GATT_CLIENT_PAIRING                                            | Enable GATT Client to start pairing and retry operation on security error                                                   |
104| ENABLE_MICRO_ECC_FOR_LE_SECURE_CONNECTIONS                            | Use [micro-ecc library](https://github.com/kmackay/micro-ecc) for ECC operations                                            |
105| ENABLE_LE_DATA_LENGTH_EXTENSION                                       | Enable LE Data Length Extension support                                                                                     |
106| ENABLE_LE_ENHANCED_CONNECTION_COMPLETE_EVENT                          | Enable LE Enhanced Connection Complete Event v1 & v2                                                                        |
107| ENABLE_LE_EXTENDED_ADVERTISING                                        | Enable extended advertising and scanning                                                                                    |
108| ENABLE_LE_PERIODIC_ADVERTISING                                        | Enable periodic advertising and scanning                                                                                    |
109| ENABLE_LE_SIGNED_WRITE                                                | Enable LE Signed Writes in ATT/GATT                                                                                         |
110| ENABLE_LE_PRIVACY_ADDRESS_RESOLUTION                                  | Enable address resolution for resolvable private addresses in Controller                                                    |
111| ENABLE_CROSS_TRANSPORT_KEY_DERIVATION                                 | Enable Cross-Transport Key Derivation (CTKD) for Secure Connections                                                         |
112| ENABLE_L2CAP_ENHANCED_RETRANSMISSION_MODE                             | Enable Enhanced Retransmission Mode for L2CAP Channels. Mandatory for AVRCP Browsing                                        |
113| ENABLE_L2CAP_LE_CREDIT_BASED_FLOW_CONTROL_MODE                        | Enable LE credit-based flow-control mode for L2CAP channels                                                                 |
114| ENABLE_L2CAP_ENHANCED_CREDIT_BASED_FLOW_CONTROL_MODE                  | Enable Enhanced credit-based flow-control mode for L2CAP Channels                                                           |
115| ENABLE_HCI_CONTROLLER_TO_HOST_FLOW_CONTROL                            | Enable HCI Controller to Host Flow Control, see below                                                                       |
116| ENABLE_HCI_SERIALIZED_CONTROLLER_OPERATIONS                           | Serialize Inquiry, Remote Name Request, and Create Connection operations                                                    |
117| ENABLE_ATT_DELAYED_RESPONSE                                           | Enable support for delayed ATT operations, see [GATT Server](profiles/#sec:GATTServerProfile)                               |
118| ENABLE_BCM_PCM_WBS                                                    | Enable support for Wide-Band Speech codec in BCM controller, requires ENABLE_SCO_OVER_PCM                                   |
119| ENABLE_CC256X_ASSISTED_HFP                                            | Enable support for Assisted HFP mode in CC256x Controller, requires ENABLE_SCO_OVER_PCM                                     |
120| Enable_RTK_PCM_WBS                                                    | Enable support for Wide-Band Speech codec in Realtek controller, requires ENABLE_SCO_OVER_PCM                               |
121| ENABLE_CC256X_BAUDRATE_CHANGE_FLOWCONTROL_BUG_WORKAROUND              | Enable workaround for bug in CC256x Flow Control during baud rate change, see chipset docs.                                 |
122| ENABLE_CYPRESS_BAUDRATE_CHANGE_FLOWCONTROL_BUG_WORKAROUND             | Enable workaround for bug in CYW2070x Flow Control during baud rate change, similar to CC256x.                              |
123| ENABLE_LE_LIMIT_ACL_FRAGMENT_BY_MAX_OCTETS                            | Force HCI to fragment ACL-LE packets to fit into over-the-air packet                                                        |
124| ENABLE_TLV_FLASH_EXPLICIT_DELETE_FIELD                                | Enable use of explicit delete field in TLV Flash implementation - required when flash value cannot be overwritten with zero |
125| ENABLE_TLV_FLASH_WRITE_ONCE                                           | Enable storing of emtpy tag instead of overwriting existing tag - required when flash value cannot be overwritten at all    |
126| ENABLE_CONTROLLER_WARM_BOOT                                           | Enable stack startup without power cycle (if supported/possible)                                                            |
127| ENABLE_SEGGER_RTT                                                     | Use SEGGER RTT for console output and packet log, see [additional options](#sec:rttConfiguration)                           |
128| ENABLE_EXPLICIT_CONNECTABLE_MODE_CONTROL                              | Disable calls to control Connectable Mode by L2CAP                                                                          |
129| ENABLE_EXPLICIT_IO_CAPABILITIES_REPLY                                 | Let application trigger sending IO Capabilities (Negative) Reply                                                            |
130| ENABLE_EXPLICIT_LINK_KEY_REPLY                                        | Let application trigger sending Link Key (Negative) Response, allows for asynchronous link key lookup                       |
131| ENABLE_EXPLICIT_BR_EDR_SECURITY_MANAGER                               | Report BR/EDR Security Manager support in L2CAP Information Response                                                        |
132| ENABLE_EXPLICIT_DEDICATED_BONDING_DISCONNECT                          | Keep connection after dedicated bonding is complete                                                                         |
133| ENABLE_CLASSIC_OOB_PAIRING                                            | Enable support for classic Out-of-Band (OOB) pairing                                                                        |
134| ENABLE_A2DP_EXPLICIT_CONFIG                                           | Let application configure stream endpoint (skip auto-config of SBC endpoint)                                                |
135| ENABLE_AVDTP_ACCEPTOR_EXPLICIT_START_STREAM_CONFIRMATION              | allow accept or reject of stream start on A2DP_SUBEVENT_START_STREAM_REQUESTED                                              |
136| ENABLE_LE_WHITELIST_TOUCH_AFTER_RESOLVING_LIST_UPDATE                 | Enable Workaround for Controller bug                                                                                        |
137| ENABLE_LE_SET_ADV_PARAMS_ON_RANDOM_ADDRESS_CHANGE                     | Send HCI LE Set Advertising Params after HCI LE Set Random Address - workaround for Controller Bug                          |
138| ENABLE_CONTROLLER_DUMP_PACKETS                                        | Dump number of packets in Controller per type for debugging                                                                 |
139| ENABLE_HCI_COMMAND_STATUS_DISCARDED_FOR_FAILED_CONNECTIONS WORKAROUND | Track connection handle for HCI Commands and assume command has failed if disonnect event for connection is received        |
140| ENABLE_MUTUAL_AUTHENTICATION_FOR_LEGACY_SECURE_CONNECTIONS            | Re-authentication after connection was encrypted to avoid BIAS Attack. Not needed for min encryption key size of 16         |
141
142Notes:
143
144- ENABLE_MICRO_ECC_FOR_LE_SECURE_CONNECTIONS: Only some Bluetooth 4.2+ controllers (e.g., EM9304, ESP32) support the necessary HCI commands for ECC. Other reason to enable the ECC software implementations are if the Host is much faster or if the micro-ecc library is already provided (e.g., ESP32, WICED, or if the ECC HCI Commands are unreliable.
145
146### HCI Controller to Host Flow Control
147In general, BTstack relies on flow control of the HCI transport, either via Hardware CTS/RTS flow control for UART or regular USB flow control. If this is not possible, e.g on an SoC, BTstack can use HCI Controller to Host Flow Control by defining ENABLE_HCI_CONTROLLER_TO_HOST_FLOW_CONTROL. If enabled, the HCI Transport implementation must be able to buffer the specified packets. In addition, it also need to be able to buffer a few HCI Events. Using a low number of host buffers might result in less throughput.
148
149Host buffer configuration for HCI Controller to Host Flow Control:
150
151| \#define                | Description                      |
152|-------------------------|----------------------------------|
153| HCI_HOST_ACL_PACKET_NUM | Max number of ACL packets        |
154| HCI_HOST_ACL_PACKET_LEN | Max size of HCI Host ACL packets |
155| HCI_HOST_SCO_PACKET_NUM | Max number of ACL packets        |
156| HCI_HOST_SCO_PACKET_LEN | Max size of HCI Host SCO packets |
157
158### Memory configuration directives {#sec:memoryConfigurationHowTo}
159
160The structs for services, active connections and remote devices can be
161allocated in two different manners:
162
163-   statically from an individual memory pool, whose maximal number of
164    elements is defined in the btstack_config.h file. To initialize the static
165    pools, you need to call at runtime *btstack_memory_init* function. An example
166    of memory configuration for a single SPP service with a minimal
167    L2CAP MTU is shown in Listing {@lst:memoryConfigurationSPP}.
168
169-   dynamically using the *malloc/free* functions, if HAVE_MALLOC is
170    defined in btstack_config.h file.
171
172For each HCI connection, a buffer of size HCI_ACL_PAYLOAD_SIZE is reserved. For fast data transfer, however, a large ACL buffer of 1021 bytes is recommended. The large ACL buffer is required for 3-DH5 packets to be used.
173
174<!-- a name "lst:memoryConfiguration"></a-->
175<!-- -->
176
177| \#define                                  | Description                                                                |
178|-------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
179| HCI_ACL_PAYLOAD_SIZE                      | Max size of HCI ACL payloads                                               |
180| HCI_ACL_CHUNK_SIZE_ALIGNMENT              | Alignment of ACL chunk size, can be used to align HCI transport writes     |
181| HCI_INCOMING_PRE_BUFFER_SIZE              | Number of bytes reserved before actual data for incoming HCI packets       |
182| MAX_NR_BNEP_CHANNELS                      | Max number of BNEP channels                                                |
183| MAX_NR_BNEP_SERVICES                      | Max number of BNEP services                                                |
184| MAX_NR_GATT_CLIENTS                       | Max number of GATT clients                                                 |
185| MAX_NR_HCI_CONNECTIONS                    | Max number of HCI connections                                              |
186| MAX_NR_HFP_CONNECTIONS                    | Max number of HFP connections                                              |
187| MAX_NR_L2CAP_CHANNELS                     | Max number of L2CAP connections                                            |
188| MAX_NR_L2CAP_SERVICES                     | Max number of L2CAP services                                               |
189| MAX_NR_RFCOMM_CHANNELS                    | Max number of RFOMMM connections                                           |
190| MAX_NR_RFCOMM_MULTIPLEXERS                | Max number of RFCOMM multiplexers, with one multiplexer per HCI connection |
191| MAX_NR_RFCOMM_SERVICES                    | Max number of RFCOMM services                                              |
192| MAX_NR_SERVICE_RECORD_ITEMS               | Max number of SDP service records                                          |
193| MAX_NR_SM_LOOKUP_ENTRIES                  | Max number of items in Security Manager lookup queue                       |
194| MAX_NR_WHITELIST_ENTRIES                  | Max number of items in GAP LE Whitelist to connect to                      |
195
196The memory is set up by calling *btstack_memory_init* function:
197
198    btstack_memory_init();
199
200<!-- a name "lst:memoryConfigurationSPP"></a-->
201<!-- -->
202
203Here's the memory configuration for a basic SPP server.
204
205    #define HCI_ACL_PAYLOAD_SIZE 52
206    #define MAX_NR_HCI_CONNECTIONS 1
207    #define MAX_NR_L2CAP_SERVICES  2
208    #define MAX_NR_L2CAP_CHANNELS  2
209    #define MAX_NR_RFCOMM_MULTIPLEXERS 1
210    #define MAX_NR_RFCOMM_SERVICES 1
211    #define MAX_NR_RFCOMM_CHANNELS 1
212    #define NVM_NUM_LINK_KEYS  3
213
214Listing: Memory configuration for a basic SPP server. {#lst:memoryConfigurationSPP}
215
216In this example, the size of ACL packets is limited to the minimum of 52 bytes, resulting in an L2CAP MTU of 48 bytes. Only a singleHCI connection can be established at any time. On it, two L2CAP services are provided, which can be active at the same time. Here, these two can be RFCOMM and SDP. Then, memory for one RFCOMM multiplexer is reserved over which one connection can be active. Finally, up to three link keys can be stored in persistent memory.
217
218<!-- -->
219
220### Non-volatile memory (NVM) directives {#sec:nvmConfiguration}
221
222If implemented, bonding information is stored in Non-volatile memory. For Classic, a single link keys and its type is stored. For LE, the bonding information contains various values (long term key, random number, EDIV, signing counter, identity, ...) Often, this is implemented using Flash memory. Then, the number of stored entries are limited by:
223
224<!-- a name "lst:nvmDefines"></a-->
225<!-- -->
226
227| \#define                  | Description                                                                                  |
228|---------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
229| NVM_NUM_LINK_KEYS         | Max number of Classic Link Keys that can be stored                                           |
230| NVM_NUM_DEVICE_DB_ENTRIES | Max number of LE Device DB entries that can be stored                                        |
231| NVN_NUM_GATT_SERVER_CCC   | Max number of 'Client Characteristic Configuration' values that can be stored by GATT Server |
232
233### HCI Dump Stdout directives {#sec:hciDumpStdout}
234
235Allow to truncate HCI ACL and SCO packets to reduce console output for debugging audio applications.
236
237| \#define                     | Description                               |
238|------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|
239| HCI_DUMP_STDOUT_MAX_SIZE_ACL | Max size of ACL packets to log via stdout |
240| HCI_DUMP_STDOUT_MAX_SIZE_SCO | Max size of SCO packets to log via stdout |
241| HCI_DUMP_STDOUT_MAX_SIZE_ISO | Max size of ISO packets to log via stdout |
242
243### SEGGER Real Time Transfer (RTT) directives {#sec:rttConfiguration}
244
245[SEGGER RTT](https://www.segger.com/products/debug-probes/j-link/technology/about-real-time-transfer/) improves on the use of an UART for debugging with higher throughput and less overhead. In addition, it allows for direct logging in PacketLogger/BlueZ format via the provided JLinkRTTLogger tool.
246
247When enabled with `ENABLE_SEGGER_RTT` and `hci_dump_init()` can be called with an `hci_dunp_segger_stdout_get_instance()` for textual output and `hci_dump_segger_binary_get_instance()` for binary output. With the latter, you can select `HCI_DUMP_BLUEZ` or `HCI_DUMP_PACKETLOGGER`, format. For RTT, the following directives are used to configure the up channel:
248
249| \#define                         | Default                       | Description                                                                                                       |
250|----------------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
251| SEGGER_RTT_PACKETLOG_MODE        | SEGGER_RTT_MODE_NO_BLOCK_SKIP | SEGGER_RTT_MODE_NO_BLOCK_SKIP to skip messages if buffer is full, or, SEGGER_RTT_MODE_BLOCK_IF_FIFO_FULL to block |
252| SEGGER_RTT_PACKETLOG_CHANNEL     | 1                             | Channel to use for packet log. Channel 0 is used for terminal                                                     |
253| SEGGER_RTT_PACKETLOG_BUFFER_SIZE | 1024                          | Size of outgoing ring buffer. Increase if you cannot block but get 'message skipped' warnings.                    |
254
255## Run-time configuration
256
257To allow code-reuse with different platforms
258as well as with new ports, the low-level initialization of BTstack and
259the hardware configuration has been extracted to the various
260*platforms/PLATFORM/main.c* files. The examples only contain the
261platform-independent Bluetooth logic. But let’s have a look at the
262common init code.
263
264Listing [below](#lst:btstackInit) shows a minimal platform setup for an
265embedded system with a Bluetooth chipset connected via UART.
266
267~~~~ {#lst:btstackInit .c caption="{Minimal platform setup for an embedded system}"}
268
269    int main(){
270      // ... hardware init: watchdoch, IOs, timers, etc...
271
272      // setup BTstack memory pools
273      btstack_memory_init();
274
275      // select embedded run loop
276      btstack_run_loop_init(btstack_run_loop_embedded_get_instance());
277
278      // enable logging
279      hci_dump_init(hci_dump_embedded_stdout_get_instance());
280
281
282      // init HCI
283      hci_transport_t     * transport = hci_transport_h4_instance();
284      hci_init(transport, NULL);
285
286      // setup example
287      btstack_main(argc, argv);
288
289      // go
290      btstack_run_loop_execute();
291    }
292
293~~~~
294
295First, BTstack’s memory pools are set up. Then, the standard run loop
296implementation for embedded systems is selected.
297
298The call to *hci_dump_init* configures BTstack to output all Bluetooth
299packets and its own debug and error message using printf with BTstack's
300millisecond tiomestamps.s as tim.
301The Python
302script *tools/create_packet_log.py* can be used to convert the console
303output into a Bluetooth PacketLogger format that can be opened by the OS
304X PacketLogger tool as well as by Wireshark for further inspection. When
305asking for help, please always include a log created with HCI dump.
306
307The *hci_init* function sets up HCI to use the HCI H4 Transport
308implementation. It doesn’t provide a special transport configuration nor
309a special implementation for a particular Bluetooth chipset. It makes
310use of the *remote_device_db_memory* implementation that allows for
311re-connects without a new pairing but doesn’t persist the bonding
312information.
313
314Finally, it calls *btstack_main()* of the actual example before
315executing the run loop.
316
317
318## Source tree structure {#sec:sourceTreeHowTo}
319
320The source tree has been organized to easily setup new projects.
321
322| Path     | Description                                          |
323|----------|------------------------------------------------------|
324| chipset  | Support for individual Bluetooth Controller chipsets |
325| doc      | Sources for BTstack documentation                    |
326| example  | Example applications available for all ports         |
327| platform | Support for special OSs and/or MCU architectures     |
328| port     | Complete port for a MCU + Chipset combinations       |
329| src      | Bluetooth stack implementation                       |
330| test     | Unit and PTS tests                                   |
331| tool     | Helper tools for BTstack                             |
332
333The core of BTstack, including all protocol and profiles, is in *src/*.
334
335Support for a particular platform is provided by the *platform/* subfolder. For most embedded ports, *platform/embedded/* provides *btstack_run_loop_embedded* and the *hci_transport_h4_embedded* implementation that require *hal_cpu.h*, *hal_led.h*, and *hal_uart_dma.h* plus *hal_tick.h* or *hal_time_ms* to be implemented by the user.
336
337To accommodate a particular Bluetooth chipset, the *chipset/* subfolders provide various btstack_chipset_* implementations.
338Please have a look at the existing ports in *port/*.
339
340## Run loop configuration {#sec:runLoopHowTo}
341
342To initialize BTstack you need to [initialize the memory](#sec:memoryConfigurationHowTo)
343and [the run loop](#sec:runLoopHowTo) respectively, then setup HCI and all needed higher
344level protocols.
345
346BTstack uses the concept of a run loop to handle incoming data and to schedule work.
347The run loop handles events from two different types of sources: data
348sources and timers. Data sources represent communication interfaces like
349an UART or an USB driver. Timers are used by BTstack to implement
350various Bluetooth-related timeouts. They can also be used to handle
351periodic events. In addition, most implementations also allow to trigger a poll
352of the data sources from interrupt context, or, execute a function from a different
353thread.
354
355Data sources and timers are represented by the *btstack_data_source_t* and
356*btstack_timer_source_t* structs respectively. Each of these structs contain
357at least a linked list node and a pointer to a callback function. All active timers
358and data sources are kept in link lists. While the list of data sources
359is unsorted, the timers are sorted by expiration timeout for efficient
360processing. Data sources need to be configured upon what event they are called back.
361They can be configured to be polled (*DATA_SOURCE_CALLBACK_POLL*), on read ready (*DATA_SOURCE_CALLBACK_READ*),
362or on write ready (*DATA_SOURCE_CALLBACK_WRITE*).
363
364Timers are single shot: a timer will be removed from the timer list
365before its event handler callback is executed. If you need a periodic
366timer, you can re-register the same timer source in the callback
367function, as shown in Listing [PeriodicTimerHandler]. Note that BTstack
368expects to get called periodically to keep its time, see Section
369[on time abstraction](#sec:timeAbstractionPorting) for more on the
370tick hardware abstraction.
371
372BTstack provides different run loop implementations that implement the *btstack_run_loop_t* interface:
373
374- CoreFoundation: implementation for iOS and OS X applications
375- Embedded: the main implementation for embedded systems, especially without an RTOS.
376- FreeRTOS: implementation to run BTstack on a dedicated FreeRTOS thread
377- POSIX: implementation for POSIX systems based on the select() call.
378- Qt: implementation for the Qt applications
379- WICED: implementation for the Broadcom WICED SDK RTOS abstraction that wraps FreeRTOS or ThreadX.
380- Windows: implementation for Windows based on Event objects and WaitForMultipleObjects() call.
381
382Depending on the platform, data sources are either polled (embedded, FreeRTOS), or the platform provides a way
383to wait for a data source to become ready for read or write (CoreFoundation, POSIX, Qt, Windows), or,
384are not used as the HCI transport driver and the run loop is implemented in a different way (WICED).
385In any case, the callbacks must be explicitly enabled with the *btstack_run_loop_enable_data_source_callbacks(..)* function.
386
387In your code, you'll have to configure the run loop before you start it
388as shown in Listing [listing:btstackInit]. The application can register
389data sources as well as timers, e.g., for periodical sampling of sensors, or
390for communication over the UART.
391
392The run loop is set up by calling *btstack_run_loop_init* function and providing
393an instance of the actual run loop. E.g. for the embedded platform, it is:
394
395<!-- -->
396
397    btstack_run_loop_init(btstack_run_loop_embedded_get_instance());
398
399If the run loop allows to trigger polling of data sources from interrupt context,
400*btstack_run_loop_poll_data_sources_from_irq*.
401
402On multi-threaded environments, e.g., FreeRTOS, POSIX, WINDOWS,
403*btstack_run_loop_execute_code_on_main_thread* can be used to schedule a callback on the main loop.
404
405The complete Run loop API is provided [here](appendix/apis/#sec:runLoopAPIAppendix).
406
407
408### Run Loop Embedded
409
410In the embedded run loop implementation, data sources are constantly polled and
411the system is put to sleep if no IRQ happens during the poll of all data sources.
412
413The complete run loop cycle looks like this: first, the callback
414function of all registered data sources are called in a round robin way.
415Then, the callback functions of timers that are ready are executed.
416Finally, it will be checked if another run loop iteration has been
417requested by an interrupt handler. If not, the run loop will put the MCU
418into sleep mode.
419
420Incoming data over the UART, USB, or timer ticks will generate an
421interrupt and wake up the microcontroller. In order to avoid the
422situation where a data source becomes ready just before the run loop
423enters sleep mode, an interrupt-driven data source has to call the
424*btstack_run_loop_poll_data_sources_from_irq* function. The call to
425*btstack_run_loop_poll_data_sources_from_irq* sets an
426internal flag that is checked in the critical section just before
427entering sleep mode causing another run loop cycle.
428
429To enable the use of timers, make sure that you defined HAVE_EMBEDDED_TICK or HAVE_EMBEDDED_TIME_MS in the
430config file.
431
432While there is no threading, *btstack_run_loop_poll_data_sources_from_irq* allows to reduce stack size by
433scheduling a continuation.
434
435### Run Loop FreeRTOS
436
437The FreeRTOS run loop is used on a dedicated FreeRTOS thread and it uses a FreeRTOS queue to schedule callbacks on the run loop.
438In each iteration:
439
440- all data sources are polled
441- all scheduled callbacks are executed
442- all expired timers are called
443- finally, it gets the next timeout. It then waits for a 'trigger' or the next timeout, if set.
444
445It supports both *btstack_run_loop_poll_data_sources_from_irq* as well as *btstack_run_loop_execute_code_on_main_thread*.
446
447
448### Run Loop POSIX
449
450The data sources are standard File Descriptors. In the run loop execute implementation,
451select() call is used to wait for file descriptors to become ready to read or write,
452while waiting for the next timeout.
453
454To enable the use of timers, make sure that you defined HAVE_POSIX_TIME in the config file.
455
456It supports both *btstack_run_loop_poll_data_sources_from_irq* as well as *btstack_run_loop_execute_code_on_main_thread*.
457
458
459### Run loop CoreFoundation (OS X/iOS)
460
461This run loop directly maps BTstack's data source and timer source with CoreFoundation objects.
462It supports ready to read and write similar to the POSIX implementation. The call to
463*btstack_run_loop_execute()* then just calls *CFRunLoopRun()*.
464
465To enable the use of timers, make sure that you defined HAVE_POSIX_TIME in the config file.
466
467It currently only supports *btstack_run_loop_execute_code_on_main_thread*.
468
469
470### Run Lop Qt
471
472This run loop directly maps BTstack's data source and timer source with Qt Core objects.
473It supports ready to read and write similar to the POSIX implementation.
474
475To enable the use of timers, make sure that you defined HAVE_POSIX_TIME in the config file.
476
477It supports both *btstack_run_loop_poll_data_sources_from_irq* as well as *btstack_run_loop_execute_code_on_main_thread*.
478
479
480### Run loop Windows
481
482The data sources are Event objects. In the run loop implementation WaitForMultipleObjects() call
483is all is used to wait for the Event object to become ready while waiting for the next timeout.
484
485It supports both *btstack_run_loop_poll_data_sources_from_irq* as well as *btstack_run_loop_execute_code_on_main_thread*.
486
487
488### Run loop WICED
489
490WICED SDK API does not provide asynchronous read and write to the UART and no direct way to wait for
491one or more peripherals to become ready. Therefore, BTstack does not provide direct support for data sources.
492Instead, the run loop provides a message queue that allows to schedule functions calls on its thread via
493*btstack_run_loop_wiced_execute_code_on_main_thread()*.
494
495The HCI transport H4 implementation then uses two lightweight threads to do the
496blocking read and write operations. When a read or write is complete on
497the helper threads, a callback to BTstack is scheduled.
498
499It currently only supports *btstack_run_loop_execute_code_on_main_thread*.
500
501
502## HCI Transport configuration
503
504The HCI initialization has to adapt BTstack to the used platform. The first
505call is to *hci_init()* and requires information about the HCI Transport to use.
506The arguments are:
507
508-   *HCI Transport implementation*: On embedded systems, a Bluetooth
509    module can be connected via USB or an UART port. On embedded, BTstack implements HCI UART Transport Layer (H4) and H4 with eHCILL support, a lightweight low-power variant by Texas Instruments. For POSIX, there is an implementation for HCI H4, HCI H5 and H2 libUSB, and for WICED HCI H4 WICED.
510    These are accessed by linking the appropriate file, e.g.,
511    [platform/embedded/hci_transport_h4_embedded.c]()
512    and then getting a pointer to HCI Transport implementation.
513    For more information on adapting HCI Transport to different
514    environments, see [here](porting/#sec:hciTransportPorting).
515
516<!-- -->
517
518    hci_transport_t * transport = hci_transport_h4_instance();
519
520-   *HCI Transport configuration*: As the configuration of the UART used
521    in the H4 transport interface are not standardized, it has to be
522    provided by the main application to BTstack. In addition to the
523    initial UART baud rate, the main baud rate can be specified. The HCI
524    layer of BTstack will change the init baud rate to the main one
525    after the basic setup of the Bluetooth module. A baud rate change
526    has to be done in a coordinated way at both HCI and hardware level.
527    For example, on the CC256x, the HCI command to change the baud rate
528    is sent first, then it is necessary to wait for the confirmation event
529    from the Bluetooth module. Only now, can the UART baud rate changed.
530
531<!-- -->
532
533    hci_uart_config_t* config = &hci_uart_config;
534
535After these are ready, HCI is initialized like this:
536
537    hci_init(transport, config);
538
539
540In addition to these, most UART-based Bluetooth chipset require some
541special logic for correct initialization that is not covered by the
542Bluetooth specification. In particular, this covers:
543
544- setting the baudrate
545- setting the BD ADDR for devices without an internal persistent storage
546- upload of some firmware patches.
547
548This is provided by the various *btstack_chipset_t* implementation in the *chipset/* subfolders.
549As an example, the *bstack_chipset_cc256x_instance* function returns a pointer to a chipset struct
550suitable for the CC256x chipset.
551
552<!-- -->
553
554    btstack_chipset_t * chipset = btstack_chipset_cc256x_instance();
555    hci_set_chipset(chipset);
556
557
558In some setups, the hardware setup provides explicit control of Bluetooth power and sleep modes.
559In this case, a *btstack_control_t* struct can be set with *hci_set_control*.
560
561Finally, the HCI implementation requires some form of persistent storage for link keys generated
562during either legacy pairing or the Secure Simple Pairing (SSP). This commonly requires platform
563specific code to access the MCU’s EEPROM of Flash storage. For the
564first steps, BTstack provides a (non) persistent store in memory.
565For more see [here](porting/#sec:persistentStoragePorting).
566
567<!-- -->
568
569    btstack_link_key_db_t * link_key_db = &btstack_link_key_db_memory_instance();
570    btstack_set_link_key_db(link_key_db);
571
572
573The higher layers only rely on BTstack and are initialized by calling
574the respective *\*_init* function. These init functions register
575themselves with the underlying layer. In addition, the application can
576register packet handlers to get events and data as explained in the
577following section.
578
579
580## Services {#sec:servicesHowTo}
581
582One important construct of BTstack is *service*. A service represents a
583server side component that handles incoming connections. So far, BTstack
584provides L2CAP, BNEP, and RFCOMM services. An L2CAP service handles incoming
585connections for an L2CAP channel and is registered with its protocol
586service multiplexer ID (PSM). Similarly, an RFCOMM service handles
587incoming RFCOMM connections and is registered with the RFCOMM channel
588ID. Outgoing connections require no special registration, they are
589created by the application when needed.
590
591
592## Packet handlers configuration {#sec:packetHandlersHowTo}
593
594
595After the hardware and BTstack are set up, the run loop is entered. From
596now on everything is event driven. The application calls BTstack
597functions, which in turn may send commands to the Bluetooth module. The
598resulting events are delivered back to the application. Instead of
599writing a single callback handler for each possible event (as it is done
600in some other Bluetooth stacks), BTstack groups events logically and
601provides them over a single generic interface. Appendix
602[Events and Errors](generated/appendix/#sec:eventsAndErrorsAppendix)
603summarizes the parameters and event
604codes of L2CAP and RFCOMM events, as well as possible errors and the
605corresponding error codes.
606
607Here is summarized list of packet handlers that an application might
608use:
609
610-   HCI event handler - allows to observer HCI, GAP, and general BTstack events.
611
612-   L2CAP packet handler - handles LE Connection parameter requeset updates
613
614-   L2CAP service packet handler - handles incoming L2CAP connections,
615    i.e., channels initiated by the remote.
616
617-   L2CAP channel packet handler - handles outgoing L2CAP connections,
618    i.e., channels initiated internally.
619
620-   RFCOMM service packet handler - handles incoming RFCOMM connections,
621    i.e., channels initiated by the remote.
622
623-   RFCOMM channel packet handler - handles outgoing RFCOMM connections,
624    i.e., channels initiated internally.
625
626These handlers are registered with the functions listed in Table
627{@tbl:registeringFunction}.
628
629
630| Packet Handler                | Registering Function                                                     |
631|-------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
632| HCI packet handler            | hci_add_event_handler                                                    |
633| L2CAP packet handler          | l2cap_register_packet_handler                                            |
634| L2CAP service packet handler  | l2cap_register_service                                                   |
635| L2CAP channel packet handler  | l2cap_create_channel                                                     |
636| RFCOMM service packet handler | rfcomm_register_service and rfcomm_register_service_with_initial_credits |
637| RFCOMM channel packet handler | rfcomm_create_channel and rfcomm_create_channel_with_initial_credits     |
638
639Table: Functions for registering packet handlers. {#tbl:registeringFunction}
640
641HCI, GAP, and general BTstack events are delivered to the packet handler
642specified by *hci_add_event_handler* function. In L2CAP,
643BTstack discriminates incoming and outgoing connections, i.e., event and
644data packets are delivered to different packet handlers. Outgoing
645connections are used access remote services, incoming connections are
646used to provide services. For incoming connections, the packet handler
647specified by *l2cap_register_service* is used. For outgoing
648connections, the handler provided by *l2cap_create_channel*
649is used. RFCOMM and BNEP are similar.
650
651The application can register a single shared packet handler for all
652protocols and services, or use separate packet handlers for each
653protocol layer and service. A shared packet handler is often used for
654stack initialization and connection management.
655
656Separate packet handlers can be used for each L2CAP service and outgoing
657connection. For example, to connect with a Bluetooth HID keyboard, your
658application could use three packet handlers: one to handle HCI events
659during discovery of a keyboard registered by
660*l2cap_register_packet_handler*; one that will be registered to an
661outgoing L2CAP channel to connect to keyboard and to receive keyboard
662data registered by *l2cap_create_channel*; after that
663keyboard can reconnect by itself. For this, you need to register L2CAP
664services for the HID Control and HID Interrupt PSMs using
665*l2cap_register_service*. In this call, you’ll also specify
666a packet handler to accept and receive keyboard data.
667
668All events names have the form MODULE_EVENT_NAME now, e.g., *gap_event_-advertising_report*.
669To facilitate working with
670events and get rid of manually calculating offsets into packets, BTstack provides
671auto-generated getters for all fields of all events in *src/hci_event.h*. All
672functions are defined as static inline, so they are not wasting any program memory
673if not used. If used, the memory footprint should be identical to accessing the
674field directly via offsets into the packet. For example, to access fields address_type
675and address from the *gap_event_advertising_report* event use following getters:
676
677<!-- -->
678    uint8_t address type = gap_event_advertising_report_get_address_type(event);
679    bd_addr_t address;
680    gap_event_advertising_report_get_address(event, address);
681
682
683## Bluetooth HCI Packet Logs {#sec:packetlogsHowTo}
684
685If things don't work as expected, having a look at the data exchanged
686between BTstack and the Bluetooth chipset often helps.
687
688For this, BTstack provides a configurable packet logging mechanism via hci_dump.h and the following implementations:
689
690    void hci_dump_init(const hci_dump_t * hci_dump_implementation);
691
692| Platform | File                         | Description                                        |
693|----------|------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------|
694| POSIX    | `hci_dump_posix_fs.c`        | HCI log file for Apple PacketLogger and Wireshark  |
695| POSIX    | `hci_dump_posix_stdout.c`    | Console output via printf                          |
696| Embedded | `hci_dump_embedded_stdout.c` | Console output via printf                          |
697| Embedded | `hci_dump_segger_stdout.c`   | Console output via SEGGER RTT                      |
698| Embedded | `hci_dump_segger_binary.c`   | HCI log file for Apple PacketLogger via SEGGER RTT |
699
700On POSIX systems, you can call *hci_dump_init* with a *hci_dump_posix_fs_get_instance()* and
701configure the path and output format with *hci_dump_posix_fs_open(const char * path, hci_dump_format_t format)*
702where format can be *HCI_DUMP_BLUEZ* or *HCI_DUMP_PACKETLOGGER*.
703The resulting file can be analyzed with Wireshark or the Apple's PacketLogger tool.
704
705On embedded systems without a file system, you either log to an UART console via printf or use SEGGER RTT.
706For printf output you pass *hci_dump_embedded_stdout_get_instance()* to *hci_dump_init()*.
707With RTT, you can choose between textual output similar to printf, and binary output.
708For textual output, you can provide the *hci_dump_segger_stdout_get_instance()*.
709
710It will log all HCI packets to the UART console via printf or RTT Terminal.
711If you capture the console output, incl. your own debug messages, you can use
712the create_packet_log.py tool in the tools folder to convert a text output into a
713PacketLogger file.
714
715For less overhead and higher logging speed, you can directly log in binary format by
716passing *hci_dump_segger_rtt_binary_get_instance()* and selecting the output format by
717calling *hci_dump_segger_rtt_binary_open(hci_dump_format_t format)* with the same format as above.
718
719
720In addition to the HCI packets, you can also enable BTstack's debug information by adding
721
722    #define ENABLE_LOG_INFO
723    #define ENABLE_LOG_ERROR
724
725to the btstack_config.h and recompiling your application.
726
727## Bluetooth Power Control {#sec:powerControl}
728
729In most BTstack examples, the device is set to be discoverable and connectable. In this mode, even when there's no active connection, the Bluetooth Controller will periodically activate its receiver in order to listen for inquiries or connecting requests from another device.
730The ability to be discoverable requires more energy than the ability to be connected. Being discoverable also announces the device to anybody in the area. Therefore, it is a good idea to pause listening for inquiries when not needed. Other devices that have your Bluetooth address can still connect to your device.
731
732To enable/disable discoverability, you can call:
733
734    /**
735     * @brief Allows to control if device is discoverable. OFF by default.
736     */
737    void gap_discoverable_control(uint8_t enable);
738
739If you don't need to become connected from other devices for a longer period of time, you can also disable the listening to connection requests.
740
741To enable/disable connectability, you can call:
742
743    /**
744     * @brief Override page scan mode. Page scan mode enabled by l2cap when services are registered
745     * @note Might be used to reduce power consumption while Bluetooth module stays powered but no (new)
746     *       connections are expected
747     */
748    void gap_connectable_control(uint8_t enable);
749
750For Bluetooth Low Energy, the radio is periodically used to broadcast advertisements that are used for both discovery and connection establishment.
751
752To enable/disable advertisements, you can call:
753
754    /**
755     * @brief Enable/Disable Advertisements. OFF by default.
756     * @param enabled
757     */
758    void gap_advertisements_enable(int enabled);
759
760If a Bluetooth Controller is neither discoverable nor connectable, it does not need to periodically turn on its radio and it only needs to respond to commands from the Host. In this case, the Bluetooth Controller is free to enter some kind of deep sleep where the power consumption is minimal.
761
762Finally, if that's not sufficient for your application, you could request BTstack to shutdown the Bluetooth Controller. For this, the "on" and "off" functions in the btstack_control_t struct must be implemented. To shutdown the Bluetooth Controller, you can call:
763
764    /**
765     * @brief Requests the change of BTstack power mode.
766     */
767    int  hci_power_control(HCI_POWER_MODE mode);
768
769with mode set to *HCI_POWER_OFF*. When needed later, Bluetooth can be started again via by calling it with mode *HCI_POWER_ON*, as seen in all examples.
770