The SBrick BLE protocol

The SBrick BLE ...
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Create by Tamás Fábián | January 9, 2015 | Last updated by Tamás Fábián April 7, 2015 (view change)

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Tamás Fábián

January 20, 2015

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Tamás Fábián

April 7, 2015

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The SBrick Protocol 4.2b12
=========================


The advertisement data
----------------------

The advertisement data contains the full device name, and some
manufacturer specific data. The latter contains security and battery
voltage information, and is available in the "scan response" packets
in response to active scanning.

Vengit Limited manufacture specific data fields
-----------------------------------------------

We use manufacturer specific data in AD to advertise product type,
battery reading and other data currently not in the Bluetooth
specification.

The manufacturer specific data starts with a length octet, that
describes the whole length of this field. After the length octet, the
company identifier for Vengit limited follows in little endian order.
After these four bytes, the actual data payload follows.

< LENGTH > <01> <98> < DATA PAYLOAD >

The manufacturer specific data records can be read as:

<1: data length (1-255)> < Data >

Every record begins with a length octet, and a record identifier octet
that determines the type of the record.

The manufacturer specific data field may be present in both
advertisement data, and scan response data packets, even at the same
time.

Vengit Limited manufacturer specific data records:

00 Product type
    00 <1: Product ID> <2: HW major/minor version> <2: FW major/minor version>
        00 - SBrick
    Example 1: 02 00 00 - Product SBrick
    Example 2: 06 00 00 04 00 04 01 - Product SBrick, HW 4.0, FW 4.1

01 BlueGiga ADC sensor raw reading
    01 <1: channel> <2: raw sensor reading>
    Example, battery reading '12f0' on SBrick: 04 01 00 12 F0
    Example, temperature reading '12f0': 04 01 0e 12 F0

02 Device Identifier
    02 < Device identifier string >
    Example, SBrick device ID: 07 02 0D 23 FC 19 87 63

03 Simple Security status
    05 < status code >
    00: Freely accessible
    01: Authentication needed for some functions

Example manufacturer specific data for SBrick, containing device ID with
hw/sw revision, with battery readings and device ID:

1A FF 01 98 06 00 00 04 00 04 02 04 01 0E 12 f0 07 02 0D 23 FC 19 87 63
02 03 00

The GATT database
-----------------

The following service and characteristics are accessible:

 1. Generic GAP service
 2. Device information service
 5. OTA service
 6. Remote control service


Generic GAP service - 1800
--------------------------

Only contains the device name and appeareance characteristics.
The device name (2a00) is always "SBrick", and the appeareance (2a01) is
always 0384 a.k.a. "generic remote control", according to the Bluetooth
Specification.

Device information - 180a
-------------------------

Contains mandatory device information fields.

Model number string - 00: "SBrick". Same as the "Product type" above.

Firmware revision string 
Hardware revision string
Software revision string
    These are version information strings. The "firmware" and "software"
    revision string are always the same.

    The revision string consist of a major and a minor revision,
    separated by a dot. (Example: 4.1 - Major is 4, minor is 1.)

    A firmware is ONLY compatible with a hardware, if their MAJOR
    REVISION NUMBER IS EXACTLY THE SAME.

Manufacturer string - "Vengit Ltd."

OTA service - 1d14d6ee-fd63-4fa1-bfa4-8f47b42119f0
--------------------------------------------------

The OTA service is compatible with BlueGiga's OTA solution, one can
use BLEGui to upload a new firmware.


OTA control - f7bf3564-fb6d-4e53-88a4-5e37e0326063
--------------------------------------------------

This characteristic can be used to send OTA-specific commands:

02 Reset DFU pointer
    Resets the DFU flash pointer to zero. Can be used when reading back
    firmware image. This is only useful for debugging / testing
    purposes.

03 Reboot into DFU mode
    After successfully transmitting the firmware image, the device can
    be booted into DFU mode with this command. In this mode, the device
    checks the flash memory for a firmware image, and calculates the
    checksum. If the checksum is correct, the firmware image is
    transferred into the program memory. This procedure takes
    approximately five seconds. After this, the firmware clears up the
    user flash. During flash clearing, the ID LED blinks quickly for
    about one and a half seconds.

The characteristic can also be read. The value read back is the DFU
pointer, or the number of bytes written into flash. The application
might want to check the DFU pointer, and compare it with the firmware
size. If the thow sizes are different, the deivce MUST be restarted
with the "0x12 Reboot" command, and the user must be informed about
the failure. The user flash is cleared upon reboot, and the firmware
upload can be attempted again.


OTA data - 984227f3-34fc-4045-a5d0-2c581f81a153
-----------------------------------------------

This characteristic can be used to transfer the firmware image in 20
byte packages.

After successfully uploading the firmware, the application MUST issue
a command "0x03 Reboot into DFU mode" on the control characteristic
to restart the device into DFU mode.

This characteristic can also be read to check the written firmare, or
blank-check the flash. One must reset the DFU pointer with comman 0x02
on the control characteristic before attempting  a readback. This
feature is probably not that useful fin normal circumstances, as it was
developed to aid development / debugging.


Remote control service - 4dc591b0-857c-41de-b5f1-15abda665b0c
-------------------------------------------------------------

This service contains two characteristics:

* Quick Drive: allows remote control with small data packets. Very
  limited functionality.
* Remote control commands: allows full control, more verbose and slower
  than quick drive.

The Quick Drive characteristic should be used in situations where
multiple channels must be updated quickly. It uses less bandwidth
than issueing commands at the Remote control commands characteristic.

The Remove control commands characteristic allows full control over
SBrick.

Remote control commands - 2b8cbcc-0e25-4bda-8790-a15f53e6010f
-------------------------------------------------------------

Commands can be issued by writing data to this characteristic. A command
always starts with the command identifier byte, after wich parameters
may follow. A single BLE write operation can only send a single command.

Certain commands can return a value. The returned value can be read
from the characteristic. The central can also subscribe to notifications
on this characteristic, so renturn values will be sent promptly when
available.

Commands with no return values will issue no notification, and the
characteristic value will not change.

The "OWNER" note means that the operation require owner privileges.

All commands might throw exceptions. These exceptions manifest themselves
as BLE level errors, with error codes in the user-defined error range.

The possible exceptions are the following:

0x80 ERROR_LENGTH  Invalid command length
0x81 ERROR_PARAM   Invalid parameter
0x82 ERROR_COMMAND No such command
0x83 ERROR_NOAUTH  No authentication needed
0x84 ERROR_AUTH    Authentication error
0x85 ERROR_DOAUTH  Authentication needed
0x86 ERROR_AUTHOR  Authorization error
0x87 ERROR_THERMAL Thermal protection is active
0x88 ERROR_STATE   The system is in a state where the command does not make sense

The possible commands are following.

00 Break
    00 < channel1 > < channel2 > ...
    At least one, at most four channels can be given
    (The default is all channels are freewheeling)

    Return: -


01 Drive
    01 < channel1 > < direction1 > < power1 > ...
    (The default is all channels are freewheeling)

    Return: -


02 Need authentication?
    02
    If owner password is set, this will return true.

    This exact information is reflected in the "simple security"
    field in manufacturer specific data.

    Return:
        00 - Authentication not needed
        01 - Authentication needed


03 Is authenticated?
    03
    Returns wether the current session is authenticated. This will always
    return true, if there's no owner password set.

    Return:
        00 - Not authenticated
        01 - Authenticated


04 Get user ID
    04
    Returns the authenticated user ID. If the user is not authenticated,
    then a BLE error is returned.

    Return: User ID if authenticated. 


05 Authenticate
    05 <1 byte user ID> <8 byte password>
    New sessions are unauthenticated if password set.
    New sessions are authenticated if password is not set.

    Return: -


06 Clear password (OWNER)
    06 00: clears owner password. This will "open" SBrick, anyone
        connecting will get owner rights. Guest password will also
        be cleared.

    06 01: clear only guest password, rendering guests unable to
           authenticate.

    Return: -


07 Set password (OWNER)
    07 < User ID > <8 byte password>: set the password

    00: owner
    01: guest

    Guest password can only be set if there is a password set for the
    owner too (e.g. "need authentication?" returns 1)

    Return: -


08 Set authentication timeout (OWNER)
    08 <0.1 seconds x N, minimum 1, maximum 25.5 seconds, 1 byte>

    Sets the authentication timeout. This value is saved to the
    persistent store, and loaded at boot time.

    Return: -


09 Get authentication timeout (OWNER)
    09

    Return: <1 byte auth timeout in 0.1 sec. ticks>


0A Get brick ID
    0A

    Return: < BRICK ID, 6 byte BlueGiga ID >


0B  Quick Drive Setup
    0B < channel-number1 > < channel-number2 >
    At least one, at most five channels can be given.
    Default: First five channels adcending order

    Return: -

0C  Read Quick Drive Setup
    0C
    Return: <5 byte quick drive setup>


0D Set watchdog timeout
    0D < timeout in 0.1 secs, 1 byte >

    The purpose of the watchdog is to stop driving in case of an
    application failure.

    Watchdog starts when the first DRIVE command is issued during a
    connection.

    Watchdog is stopped when all channels are either set to zero drive,
    or are braking.

    The value is saved to the persistent store.

    The recommended watchdog frequency is 0.2-0.5 seconds, but a smaller
    and many larger settings are also available.

    Writing a zero disables the watchdog.

    By default watchdog is set to 5, which means a 0.5 second timeout.

    Return: -

0E Get watchdog timeout
    0E
    Return: < 1 byte watchdog timeout >


0F Query ADC
    0F < ADC channel ID, 00 or 0e >

    The ADC channels are read at every 2 seconds. These values are stored
    in variables, and this query simply reads those variables. Because of
    this, ADC data can be up to 2 seconds old.

    Temperature can be read on channel 0x0E, voltage on 0x00.

    Return:
        2 byte, little endian, 12 bit resolution ADC reading on given channel.
        Value is stored MSB. (Must be divided by 16)

        All ADC channels are using the internal 1.24V reference.

        The PSU voltage is dropped through a 10:1 voltage divider.
        VPSU = ADC / 16 * 1.24 / 2047 

        Temperature can be calculated as: celsius = (ADC / 16 * 1240 / 2047) * 10/45 - 160
        Where 160 is an offset

10 Send event
    10 < event ID >
    Events can be used to trigger patterns.
    Event range: 0-31. Events 0-15 are reserved for system use.

    Special events:
    0: Boot. Program starts 5 seconds after boot.
    1: Connection established
    2: Disconnected

    16-31: User events


11 Erase user flash on next reboot (compromises OTA!)
    11
    Return: -


12 Reboot
    12

    After issueing this command, the remote device will gracefully
    terminate the connection, and reboot in normal (non-DFU) mode.

    To reboot in DFU mode and possibly update firmware, use the OTA
    service.

    Return: -


13 Break with PWM support
    13 < channel1 > < power1 > < channel2 > < power2 > ...
    (The default is all channels are freewheeling)
    Return: -

14 Set thermal limit
    14 <2 byte ADC value>

    Sets the thermal protection limit.

    Return: -

15 Read thermal limit
    15
    Return: 2byte, the raw ADC value set for thermal limit

16 Write program
    16 <2 byte offset> < data >

    BIN       MASK HEX  COMMAND
    =============================
    00000rrr  $F8  $00  DBRAKE reg(0-7, pwm, reg+1: ch)
    000010cc  $FC  $08  BRAKE ch
    000011cc  $FC  $0C  BRAKEPWM ch pwm
    00010rrr  $F8  $10  DDRIVE reg(0-7, pwm, reg+1: d:1, ch:3)
    00011dcc  $F8  $18  DRIVE ch d pwm
    00100rrr  $F8  $20  DWAIT reg(0-7, reg+1)
    00101ttt  $F8  $28  WAIT t(0-2047, 3+8 bits)
    00110rrr  $F8  $30  DSETPWM reg(0-7, pwmh, reg+1: pwml)
    00111000  $FF  $38  SETPWM pwm(0-65535, big endian)
    00111001  $FF  $39  PUSHC value(0-255)
    0011101a  $FE  $3A  CALL addr(0-511)
    00111100  $FF  $3C  RET
    00111101  $FF  $3D  NOP
    0011111a  $FE  $3E  JMP addr(0-511)
    01000rrr  $F8  $40  PUSH reg(0-7)
    01001rrr  $F8  $48  POP reg(0-7)
    01010rrr  $F8  $50  MOVSL reg(0-7) reg(0-15) -> Move direction ->
    01011rrr  $F8  $58  MOVLS reg(0-15) reg(0-7) -> Move direction ->
    01100bba  $F8  $60  JUMPIF b(0-3 bit of the STATUS register) addr(0-511)
    01101bba  $F8  $68  JUMPIFN b(0-3 bit of the STATUS register) addr(0-511)
    01110rrr  $F8  $70  INC reg(0-7)
    01111rrr  $F8  $78  DEC reg(0-7)
    10000rrr  $F8  $80  ADD reg(0-7)
    10001rrr  $F8  $88  SUB reg(0-7) - The accumulator is decremented
    10010rrr  $F8  $90  MUL reg(0-7)
    10011rrr  $F8  $98  DIV reg(0-7) - The accumulator is divided. Can overflow, mod can still be used
    10100rrr  $F8  $A0  AND reg(0-7)
    10101rrr  $F8  $A8  OR  reg(0-7)
    10110rrr  $F8  $B0  XOR reg(0-7)
    10111rrr  $F8  $B8  SHL reg(0-7)
    11000rrr  $F8  $C0  SHR reg(0-7)
    11001rrr  $F8  $C8  LOAD reg(0-7) value(0-255)
    11010000  $FF  $D0  DEBUG - Send regs:pc and stack:sp in a notification on the command characteristic
    11010001  $FF  $D1  RESET - Clears all registers and the stack. PC advances as usual.
    11111111  $FF  $FF  STOP

    - There are 16 registers
    - Registers have 8-bit values
    - The lower 8 registers are addressable with 1-byte commands

    Special registers:
    ACC,    0x00: accumulator, arithmetic commands put their values there
    ACCH,   0x01: in case of mul and div, the MSB and the remainder are put here
    STATUS, 0x0F: has CARRY (or borrow), OVERFLOW, ZERO, SIGN bits (0-3)

    Example:
    16 0000 1860 2809 1C60 2809 3E00
    - Write program to address 0
        DRIVE 0 0 0x60
        WAIT 1.0s
        DRIVE 0 1 0x60
        WAIT 1.0s
        JMP 0

    Dynamic braking (using regs 1 and 2):
    16 0000 1860 2809 C9FF CA00 01 2809 3E00

    ...on channel 1:
    16 0000 1960 2809 C9FF CA01 01 2809 3E00

    Load once, use in loop ddrive&brake (regs 0-2):
    16 0000 C8FF C900 CA00 CB09 10 22 00 22 3E08

    Use dynamic PWM
    16 0000 C877 C972 CA3B CBB9 1810 30 2804 32 2804
    16 1000 3E0A

    More complex program to demonstrate PWM frequency change capabilities
    by playing a nice tune ;)

    160000182338EEE4280638BD9B280638EEE42806
    16110038BD9B2806389F71280B18002801182338
    1622009F71280A18002801182338EEE4280638BD
    1633009B280638EEE4280638BD9B2806389F7128
    1644000B180028011823389F71280A1800280118
    165500103877722806387E8C2806388E0C280638
    1666009F71280638B2F7280B180028011823388E
    1677000C280A180028011823389F71280638B2F7
    168800280638BD9B280638D4D3280638EEE4280B
    16990018002801182338EEE4280B1800FF

    Imperial march

    160001389F711827280618002800182728061800
    1611012800182728061800280038D4D418272805
    1622013886132802389F7128061800280038D4D4
    163301182728053886132802389F712807180028
    16440106386A6A18272806180028001827280618
    1655010028001827280618002800386471182728
    16660105388613280238A8EC28061800280038D4
    167701D4182728053886132802389F7128071800
    168801FF

    enjoy ;)

17 Read program
    17 <2 byte offset> <1 byte data length>
    The offset + data length must be at most 512.
    Data length must be at most 22 bytes.
    Return: < data >

18 Save program
    18

    Saves the current program to the upper half of the first flash page,
    after erasing the whole page.

    Interferes with OTA.

    Return: -

19 Erase program
    19

    Erases the first user flash page. The command buffer will remain
    unaffected.

    Return: -

1A Set event
    1A <1 byte event ID> <1 byte program memory offset>

    Sets a program memory address for an event in the event table.

    Return: -

1B Read event
    1B <1 byte event ID>

    Reads an address from the event table

    Return: <1 byte program memory address>

1C Save events
    1C
    Saves the event table onto the flash

1D Start program
    1CD <2 byte address, 0x0000 - 0x01FF>
    Start program at given address

1E Stop program
    1E
    Stops the currently running program

1F Set PWM counter value
    1F <2 byte value to be written to T1CC0H/L registers>
    Sets the PWM  counter value by writing into the TIMER1 control registers.
    Certain TIMER1 register values are also recalculated to keep the PWM
    duty cycle as constant across changes as possible.

    The default PWM value is 

20 Get PWM counter value
    20
    Returns the 2 byte TIMER1 T1CC0H/L value.
    Return <2 byte T1CC0H/L value>

21 Save PWM counter value
    21
    Saves PWM counter value to flash

22 Get channel status
    22
    Returns the current drive level of a channel
    Return < brake status bits, 1 byte, 1:brake on, 0: brake off > <1 byte direction flags> <5 byte channel drive values from 0 to 4>

23 Is guest password set (OWNER)
    23
    Return: 1 or 0

24 Set connection parameters
    24 < interval min *1.25ms, 2 bytes > < interval max *1.25ms, 2 bytes > < slave latency, 2 bytes > < timeout *10ms, 2 bytes >
    Return: <1 byte return value of Bluegiga BLE stack function "connection_update">

25 Get connection parameters
    25
    Return: < connection interval * 1.25ms, 2 bytes >< slave latency, 2 bytes >< timeout * 10ms, 2 bytes >

26 Set release on reset
    26 <1 byte, 0, or 1>

    1: Default: the channel drive values are set to zero, non-braking,
    and default "0" direction (clockwise with LEGO motors)

    0: The channels are left in whatever state the controlling application
    set them. This option itself is preserved throughout connections.

27 Get release on reset
    27
    Return: <1 byte, 0 or 1>

Quick Drive - 489a6ae0-c1ab-4c9c-bdb2-11d373c1b7fb
--------------------------------------------------

The purpose of this characteristic is to make remote contgrolling possible
using as little bandwidth as possible. A two-channel race car can be
controlled by sending only two bytes: one for the accelerator and one
for steering.

One can write (no response) 0-5 byte data packets to this characteristic
to drive channels.

The characteristic can be thought of as a five byte register. Each byte
in the register conrtols one channel. With the 0x0A "Quick Drive Setup"
command, one can configure which byte controls which channel. The default
is that byte 0 controls channel 0, byte 1 conrtols channel 1, and so on.

Quick Drive is the recommended way to control models where low latency
is expected, and there might be dozens of models in the same area.

Since each channel is driven with one byte, the direction and the PWM
information must be fitted into that single byte. This is done in the
following way:

Example: "Drive forward (clockwise) 255"

  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  0 <- Direction bit
  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _
MSb                   LSb

Example:

writing the byte string 00FFFE00 will turn channel #1 CCW full speed,
channel #2 CW full speed, and set channels #0 and #3 freewheeling.

- Braking happens when the value is set to zero (less the direction bit).

- When the value is 2 (less the direction bit), it is modified to 0.

- When the value is 0xFE (less the direction bit), it is modified to 0xFF

The last two modification make full and zero throttle possible.