Texas Instruments CC2540DK-MINI User manual

Bluetooth® Low Energy
CC2540/41 Mini Development Kit
User’s Guide
Document Number: SWRU270C
Document Version: 1.2
Development Kit Part Number: CC2540DK-MINI, CC2541DK-MINI

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................................................... 3
1.1 PRINTED COPY INCLUDED IN THE BOX WITH CC2540DK-MINI....................................................................................... 3
1.2 PRINTED COPY INCLUDED IN THE BOX WITH CC2541DK-MINI....................................................................................... 3
1.3 INCLUDED WITH TEXAS INSTRUMENTS BLUETOOTH LOW ENERGY SOFTWARE INSTALLER......................................................... 3
1.4 AVAILABLE FROM BLUETOOTH SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP (SIG)........................................................................................ 3
2. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................ 4
2.1 KIT CONTENTS OVERVIEW ....................................................................................................................................... 4
2.2 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ......................................................................................................................................... 5
3. GETTING STARTED ............................................................................................................................................ 6
3.1 ASSOCIATE DRIVER WITH USB DONGLE...................................................................................................................... 6
3.2 DETERMINING THE COM PORT ................................................................................................................................ 7
4. USING BTOOL ................................................................................................................................................... 9
4.1 STARTING THE APPLICATION..................................................................................................................................... 9
4.2 CREATING A BLE CONNECTION BETWEEN USB DONGLE AND KEYFOB.............................................................................. 10
4.2.1 Making the Keyfob Discoverable........................................................................................................... 10
4.2.2 Scanning for Devices ............................................................................................................................. 11
4.2.3 Selecting Connection Parameters ......................................................................................................... 12
4.2.4 Establishing a Connection ..................................................................................................................... 12
4.3 KEYFOBDEMO PROFILES ....................................................................................................................................... 14
4.3.1 Reading a Characteristic Value by UUID............................................................................................... 14
4.3.2 Reading a Characteristic Value by Handle ............................................................................................ 14
4.3.3 Writing a Characteristic Value .............................................................................................................. 15
4.3.4 Discovering a Characteristic by UUID.................................................................................................... 15
4.3.5 Reading Multiple Characteristic Values ................................................................................................ 15
4.3.6 Enable Notifications .............................................................................................................................. 15
4.4 USING THE PROXIMITY PROFILE .............................................................................................................................. 16
4.4.1 Activate Link Loss Service...................................................................................................................... 16
4.4.2 Activate Immediate Alert ...................................................................................................................... 17
4.4.3 Read TX Power ...................................................................................................................................... 17
4.5 USING THE BATTERY SERVICE ................................................................................................................................. 19
4.5.1 Read the Battery Level .......................................................................................................................... 19
4.5.2 Activate Battery Level Notification........................................................................................................ 19
4.6 USING THE ACCELEROMETER SERVICE....................................................................................................................... 21
4.6.1 Enable Accelerometer ........................................................................................................................... 21
4.6.2 Enable Accelerometer Notifications ...................................................................................................... 22
4.7 USING THE SIMPLE KEYS GATT PROFILE................................................................................................................... 23
4.7.1 Enable Simple Keys notifications........................................................................................................... 23
4.8 USING BLE SECURITY........................................................................................................................................... 24
4.8.1 Encrypting the Connection .................................................................................................................... 24
4.8.2 Using Bonding and Long-Term Keys ..................................................................................................... 25
4.9 ADDITIONAL SAMPLE APPLICATIONS ........................................................................................................................ 28
5. PROGRAMMING / DEBUGGING THE CC2540 OR CC2541................................................................................. 29
5.1 HARDWARE SETUP FOR KEYFOB .............................................................................................................................. 29
5.2 HARDWARE SETUP FOR USB DONGLE...................................................................................................................... 31
5.3 USING SMARTRF FLASH PROGRAMMER SOFTWARE .................................................................................................... 33
5.3.1 Reading or Writing a Hex File to the CC2540/41................................................................................... 33
5.3.2 Reading or Writing the CC2540/41 Device Address .............................................................................. 34
6. SMARTRF™ PACKET SNIFFER........................................................................................................................... 35
7. GENERAL INFORMATION ................................................................................................................................ 36
7.1 DOCUMENT HISTORY ........................................................................................................................................... 36
APPENDIX ............................................................................................................................................................... 37

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1. References
The following references provide additional information on the CC2540, CC2541, the Texas Instruments
Bluetooth® low energy (BLE) stack, and the BLE specification in general. (All path and file references in this
document assume that the BLE development kit software has been installed to the default path C:\Texas
Instruments\BLE-CC254x-1.3\)
1.1 Printed Copy Included in the Box with CC2540DK-MINI
[1] CC2540 Mini Development Kit Quick Start Guide (SWRU272)
1.2 Printed Copy Included in the Box with CC2541DK-MINI
[2] CC2541 Mini Development Kit Quick Start Guide (SWRU332)
1.3 Included with Texas Instruments Bluetooth Low Energy Software Installer
(The software installer is available for download at www.ti.com/ble-stack)
[3] Texas Instruments Bluetooth® Low Energy Software Developer’s Guide (SWRU271)
C:\Texas Instruments\BLE-CC254x-1.3\Documents\TI_BLE_Software_Developer's_Guide.pdf
[4] TI BLE Vendor Specific HCI Reference Guide
C:\Texas Instruments\BLE-CC254x-1.3\Documents\TI_BLE_Vendor_Specific_HCI_Guide.pdf
[5] Texas Instruments BLE Sample Applications Guide (SWRU297)
C:\Texas Instruments\BLE-CC254x-1.3\Documents\TI_BLE_Sample_Applications_Guide.pdf
1.4 Available from Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG)
[6] Specification of the Bluetooth System, Covered Core Package version: 4.0 (30-June-2010)
https://www.bluetooth.org/technical/specifications/adopted.htm

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2. Introduction
Thank you for purchasing a Texas Instruments (TI) Bluetooth® low energy (BLE) Mini Development Kit. The
purpose of this document is to give an overview of the hardware and software included in the CC2540
Mini Development Kit (CC2540DK-MINI) and the CC2541 Mini Development Kit (CC2541DK-MINI).
The information in this guide will get you up and running with the kit; however for more detailed
information on BLE technology and the TI BLE protocol stack, please consult the Texas Instruments
Bluetooth® Low Energy Software Developer’s Guide [3].
2.1 Kit Contents Overview
The kits contain the following hardware components including cables:
CC2540 Keyfob
CC2541 Keyfob
CC2540 USB Dongle
CC Debugger
CC2540DK-MINI
•
•
•
CC2541DK-MINI
•
•
•
The CC2540/41 Keyfob is designed to act as a Peripheral Device (BLE Slave). Plastic casing for the keyfob is
included which can be assembled by a Phillips screwdriver. The keyfob operates on a single CR2032 coin
cell battery and includes a two-colored LED, a buzzer, an accelerometer and two buttons.
The main difference between the CC2540 and CC2541 is a peripheral hardware change; Where CC2540
has a USB interface, the CC2541 has an I2C interface. The CC2541 is also optimized for lower power
consumption.
The keyfob uses SPI to interface to a 3 axis accelerometer. Note that the accelerometer sensors are
different on the two keyfobs:
CC2540 Keyfob v1.1 uses CMA3000d
CC2541 Keyfob v1.4 uses BMA250
The CC2541 Keyfob has an LDO (TPS62730) to lower the voltage to 2.1 Volt for lower current
consumption. It is possible to power the CC2541 Keyfob via the CC debugger by mounting a jumper on the
header pin P1. The same can be done on the CC2540 Keyfob by mounting a 0 Ohm resistor on the R1
placeholder.
The CC2540 USB Dongle can be used to emulate any Bluetooth low energy behavior but is usually acting
as a Central Device (BLE Master). It connects to a Windows PC’s USB Port, and is pre-loaded with
necessary software to run the PC application BTool.
The CC Debugger is used to flash the software onto both the USB Dongle as well as the keyfob. It can also
be used for debugging software using IAR Embedded Workbench.
Figure 1 –Hardware Included with CC2540DK-MINI
The RF Boards in this kit are FCC and IC certified and tested to comply with ETSI/R&TTE over temperature from 0 to +35°C.
Caution! The kits include a non-rechargeable lithium battery. Always make sure the battery is removed from the CC2540/41 Keyfob
when it is connected to an external power source (Do not apply voltage > 3.6V). Dispose the battery properly and keep out of the
reach of children. If swallowed, contact a physician immediately.
Caution! The kits contain ESD sensitive components. Handle with care to prevent permanent
damage.

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2.2 System Requirements
To use the TI BLE software, a PC running Microsoft Windows (XP or later) is required, as well as Microsoft
.NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 (SP1) or greater.
In order to check whether your system has the appropriate .NET Framework, open up the Windows
Control Panel, and select “Add or Remove Programs”. Amongst the list of currently installed programs,
you should see “Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1”, as shown in Figure 2:
Figure 2 System Requirements, .NET Framework 3.5 SP1
If you do not see it in the list, you can download the framework from Microsoft.
From a hardware standpoint, the Windows PC must contain one free USB port. An additional free USB
port is required in order to use the CC Debugger and the USB Dongle simultaneously.
IAR Embedded Workbench for 8051 development environment is required in order to make changes to
the keyfob software. More information on IAR can be found in the Texas Instruments Bluetooth® Low
Energy Software Developer’s Guide [1].
For the keyfob, a small Philips screwdriver (not included in the kit) is required if you want to enclose the
keyfob in the plastic case, and a CR2032 coin cell battery (included in the kit) is required for power.

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3. Getting Started
This section describes how to set up the software and get started with the Mini Development Kit. It is
assumed that the CC2540/41 Keyfob comes pre-programmed out of the box. If not (as for older versions
of the kit), please see Chapter 5 for details on how to program the keyfob with the latest firmware. It is
indicated in the printed copy of the quick start guide that follows with the kit, if the keyfob and CC2540
USB Dongle has been pre-programmed. In addition, this section assumes that the latest version of the TI
BLE software (v1.3 as of the release of this document) has been installed. The latest BLE software can be
downloaded at www.ti.com/ble-stack.
3.1 Associate Driver with USB Dongle
After the software installation is complete, the USB Dongle driver must be associated with the device in
order to use the demo application. To associate the USB Dongle driver, first you must connect the USB
Dongle to the PC’s USB port, or to a USB hub that connects to the PC.
The first time that the dongle is connected to the PC, a message will most probably pop-up, indicating
that Windows does not recognize the device.
Figure 3 PC, Found New Hardware
When prompted whether to use Windows Update search for software, select “No, not this time” and
press the “Next” button. On the next screen, select the option “Install from a list or specific location
(Advanced)”, and press the “Next” button:
Figure 4 PC, Install Driver
On the next screen, click the checkbox labeled “Include this location in the search:”, and click the
“Browse” button. Select the following directory (assuming the default installation path was used):
C:\Texas Instruments\BLE-CC254x-1.3\Accessories\Drivers

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Figure 5 PC, Select Driver
Click the “Next” button. This should install the driver. It will take a few seconds for the file to load. If the
installation was successful, you should see the screen to the below. Click the “Finish” button to complete
the installation.
Figure 6 PC, CDC Driver Installation Complete
3.2 Determining the COM Port
Once the driver is installed, you need to determine which COM port Windows has assigned to the USB
Dongle. After you have completed the USB Dongle driver association in section 3.1, right-click on the
“Computer” icon on your Start and select “Properties”, as shown in Figure 6.
Figure 7 Win7 PC, Finding Computer Properties
The “System Properties” window should open up. Click “Device Manager as shown in Figure 8.

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Figure 8 Win7 PC, Finding Device Manager
A list of all hardware devices should appear. Under the section “Ports (COM & LPT)”, the device “TI
CC2540 Low-Power RF to USB CDC Serial Port” should appear. Next to the name should be the port
number (for example, the CC2540USB Dongle uses COM8 in Figure 9).
Figure 9 Win7 PC, Connected Ports List
Take note of this port number, as it will be needed in order to use BTool. You may close the device
manager at this point.

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4. Using BTool
BTool is a PC Application that allows a user to form a connection between two BLE devices. BTool works
by communicating with the CC2540, acting as a network processor, by means of HCI vendor specific
commands. The USB Dongle software (when running the HostTestRelease project) and driver create a
virtual serial port over the USB interface. BTool, running on the PC, communicates with the USB Dongle
through this virtual serial port.
More information on the network processor configuration and the HostTestRelease project can be found
in the Texas Instruments Bluetooth® Low Energy Software Developer’s Guide [3]. More information on the
HCI interface, as well as details on the HCI vendor specific commands that are used by the CC2540/41, can
be found in the TI BLE Vendor Specific HCI Reference Guide [4].
For this section, a PC running windows 7 has been used, but the procedures are essentially the same for
other windows version, such as XP.
4.1 Starting the Application
To start the application go into your programs by choosing Start > Programs > Texas Instruments > BLE-
CC254x-1.3 > BTool. On Start-up you should be able to set the Serial Port Settings. Set the “Port” value to
the COM port earlier noted in Section 3.2. For the other settings, use the default values as shown in
Figure 10. Press “OK” to connect to the CC2540 USB Dongle.
Figure 10 BTool, Serial Port settings
When connected you should see the screen presented in Figure 11. The screen indicates that you now
have a serial port connection to the CC2540 USB Dongle. The screen is divided up into a few sections: the
left sidebar contains information on the CC2540 USB Dongle status. The left side of the sub-window
contains a log of all messages sent from the PC to the CC2540 USB Dongle and received by the PC from
the CC2540 USB Dongle. The right side of the sub-window contains a GUI for control of the CC2540 USB
Dongle.

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Figure 11 BTool, Overview
4.2 Creating a BLE Connection between USB Dongle and Keyfob
At this point the USB Dongle (central) is ready to discover other BLE devices that are advertising. The
keyfob should be preloaded with the KeyFobDemo application. The full project and application source
code files for KeyFobDemo is included in the BLE software development kit.
At this time you will want to insert the battery (or remove and re-insert the battery to reset the device)
into the keyfob (peripheral). When you insert the CR 2032 battery, the LED will be lit green for one
second.
4.2.1 Making the Keyfob Discoverable
When the keyfob powers up, it will not immediately go into a discoverable state. To enable advertising
and make the keyfob discoverable, press the right-hand button on the keyfob once. This will turn
advertisements on; making the device discoverable for 30 seconds (this value is defined in the
Specification of the Bluetooth System [6]). After that time, the device will return to standby mode. To
make the device discoverable again, simply press the button once again. During discoverable mode, the
LED will flash red.
Figure 12 Press Right Button to Turn On Advertisements
Device Information
Message Log
Device Control

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4.2.2 Scanning for Devices
In BTool, Press the “Scan” button under the “Discover / Connect” tab, as shown in Figure 13.
Figure 13 BTool, Scan for Devices
The USB Dongle will begin search for other BLE devices. As devices are found, the log on the left side of
the screen will display the devices discovered. After 10 seconds, the device discovery process will
complete, and the USB Dongle will stop scanning. A summary of all the scanned devices will be displayed
in the log window. In the example in Figure 14, one peripheral device was discovered while scanning. If
you do not want to wait through the full 10 seconds of scanning, the “Cancel” button can be pressed
alternatively, which will stop the device discovery process. The address of any scanned devices will appear
in the “Slave BDA” section of the “Link Control” section in the bottom right corner of the sub-window.

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Figure 14 BTool, Slave Address
4.2.3 Selecting Connection Parameters
Before establishing a connection, you can set up the desired connection parameters. The default values of
100ms connection interval, 0 slave latency, and 20s supervision timeout should serve as a good starting
point; however for different applications you may want to experiment with these values.
Once the desired values have been set, be sure to click the “Set” button; otherwise the settings will not be
saved. Note that the connection parameters must be set before a connection is established; changing the
values and clicking the “Set” button while a connection is active will not change the settings of an active
connection. The connection must be terminated and re-established to use the new parameters. (The
Bluetooth specification does support connection parameter updates while a connection is active; however
this must be done using either an L2CAP connection parameter update request, or using a direct HCI
command. More information can be found in the Specification of the Bluetooth System [6])
Figure 15 BTool, Connection Settings
4.2.4 Establishing a Connection
To establish a connection with the keyfob, select the address of the device to connect with, and click the
“Establish” button as shown in Figure 16.

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Figure 16 BTool, Establish Connection
If the keyfob is still in discoverable mode, a connection should be established (if more than 30 seconds
have passed since the device was previously made discoverable, press the right button on the keyfob
once again). Once a connection is established, the message window will return a “GAP_EstablishLink”
event message with a “Status” value of “0x00 (Success)” as shown in Figure 17.
Figure 17 BTool Log, Link Established
In BTool, you can see your connected peripheral device in the Device Information field, as shown in Figure
18.
Figure 18 BTool, Device Information

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4.3 KeyFobDemo Profiles
The KeyFobDemo software contains several GATT service profiles (More information on the KeyFobDemo
can be found in the Texas Instruments BLE Sample Applications Guide [5]). GATT services contain data
values known as “characteristic values”. All application data that is being sent or received in Bluetooth low
energy must be contained within characteristic value. This section details a step-by-step process that
demonstrates several processes for reading, writing, discovering, and notifying GATT characteristic values
using BTool.
Profiles/Services included in the KeyFobDemo are:
Proximity Profile
oLink Loss Service
oImmediate Alert Service
oTX Power Level Service
Battery Service
Accelerometer Service
Simple Keys Service
In a Bluetooth low energy system, upon connection, the Central Device (Client) performs a service
discovery on the Peripheral device (server) to build up an attribute table. This attribute table will provide
handles (internal addresses of the characteristics) which can be used by the Client to access the data
located in the Server. The service discovery is typically an automated process that can be started with a
single command. In BTool however, the automated service discovery is not implemented (although it’s
still possible to perform it manually). To simplify the evaluation of the KeyFobDemo, the attribute table
will be known so it is possible to use handles directly to read out data.
You will find the KeyFobDemo complete attribute table in the Appendix section, and can be used as a
reference. Services are shown in yellow, characteristics are shown in blue, and characteristic values /
descriptors are shown in grey. When working with the KeyFobDemo application, it might be useful to
print out the table as a reference.
4.3.1 Reading a Characteristic Value by UUID
A characteristic value is essentially where the data is stored, which could be for example temperature
data or battery level. It’s the stored data in a server, that a client wants to access. A characteristic is a
discrete value that has the following three properties associated with it:
1. A handle (address)
2. A type (UUID)
3. A set of permissions
The simplest way to read its value is to use the “Read Characteristic by UUID” sub-procedure. To do this,
you will first need to click the “Read / Write” tab in BTool. Select the option “Read Using Characteristic
UUID” under the “Sub-Procedure” option in the “Characteristic Read” section at the top of the screen.
Enter the UUID (note that the LSB is entered first, and the MSB is entered last) in the “Characteristic
UUID” box, and click the “Read” button.
An attribute protocol Read by Type Request packet gets sent over the air from the dongle to the keyfob,
and an attribute protocol Read by Type Response packet gets sent back from the keyfob to the dongle.
The characteristic value is displayed in the “Value” box, and “Success” is displayed in the “Status” box. In
addition, the message window will display information on the Read by Type Response packet that was
received by the dongle. The message includes not only the characteristic’s data value, but also the handle
of the characteristic value.
4.3.2 Reading a Characteristic Value by Handle
It is also possible to read the characteristic value if the handle is known. This is done by selecting the
option “Read Characteristic Value / Descriptor” under the “Sub-Procedure” option in the “Characteristic
Read” section. The handle is entered to the “Characteristic Value Handle” box and clicking the “Read”
button which execute the read.

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An attribute protocol Read Request packet gets sent over the air from the dongle to the keyfob, and an
attribute protocol Read Response packet gets sent back from the keyfob to the dongle. The new value is
displayed in the “Value” box, and “Success” is displayed in the “Status” box. This value should match the
value that was written in the previous step.
4.3.3 Writing a Characteristic Value
If a characteristic has write permission, it is possible for a client to write a value to the server. This is done
in the “Characteristic Write” section by entering the handle into the “Characteristic Value Handle” box
and value in the “Value” section (the format can be set to either “Decimal” or “Hex”). The write operation
is performed when the “Write Value” button is clicked.
An attribute protocol Write Request packet gets sent over the air from the dongle to the keyfob, and an
attribute protocol Write Response packet gets sent back from the keyfob to the dongle. The status box
will display “Success”, indicating that the write was successful.
4.3.4 Discovering a Characteristic by UUID
By discovering a characteristic by UUID, not only the handle of the UUID will be obtained, but also the
properties of the characteristic (handle and permissions). The operation is performed by selecting the
option “Discover Characteristic by UUID” under the “Sub-Procedure” option in the “Characteristic Read”
section at the top of the screen. The discovery is performed when the UUID is entered in the
“Characteristic UUID” box, and the “Read” button is clicked.
A series of attribute protocol Read by Type Request packets get sent over the air from the dongle to the
keyfob, and for each request an attribute protocol Read by Type Response packet gets sent back from the
keyfob to the dongle. Essentially, the dongle is reading every attribute on the keyfob with a UUID of
0x2803 (this is the UUID for a characteristic declaration as defined in [6]), and checking the “Characteristic
Value UUID” portion of each declaration to see if it matches the UUID type you’ve entered. The procedure
is complete once every characteristic declaration has been read.
As per the Bluetooth specification, the first byte presents the properties of the characteristic. The second
and third bytes present the handle of the characteristic value. The fourth and fifth bytes present the UUID
of the characteristic.
4.3.5 Reading Multiple Characteristic Values
It is also possible to read multiple characteristic values with one request, as long as the handle of each
value is known. To read several values from different characteristics, select the option “Read Multiple
Characteristic Values” under the “Sub-Procedure” option in the “Characteristic Read” section at the top of
the screen. Enter the handles with semicolon separation (for example “0x0022;0x0025”) in the
“Characteristic Value Handle” box, and click the “Read” button.
An attribute protocol Read Multiple Request packet gets sent over the air from the dongle to the keyfob,
and an attribute protocol Read Multiple Response packet gets sent back from the keyfob to the dongle.
The values of the two characteristics are displayed in the “Value” box, and “Success” is displayed in the
“Status” box.
One important note about reading multiple characteristic values in a single request is that the response
will not parse the separate values. This means that the size of each value being read must be fixed, and
must be known by the client. In the example here, this is not an issue since there are only two bytes in the
response; however care must be taken when using this command.
4.3.6 Enable Notifications
In BLE, it is possible for a GATT server device to “push” characteristic value data out to a client device,
without being prompted with a read request. This process is called a “characteristic value notification”.
Notifications are useful in that they allow a device in a BLE connection to send out as much or as little
data as required at any point in time. In addition, since no request from the client is required, the
overhead is reduced and the data is transmitted more efficiently.
In order to enable notifications, the client device must write a value of 0x0001 to the client characteristic
configuration descriptor for the particular characteristic. The handle for the client characteristic
configuration descriptor immediately follows the characteristic value’s handle. Therefore, a value of
0x0001 must be written to the “handle + 1”.

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4.4 Using the Proximity Profile
The Proximity profile is defined for a usage where an alert may be triggered on certain connection events,
for example when the connection is, or about to be, dropped.
Figure 19 Proximity Profile, Attribute Table
The Proximity profile includes three services:
Link Loss (Mandatory Link Loss Service (LLS) Specification v1.0)
Immidiate Alert (Optional Immediate Alert Service (IAS) Specification v1.0)
Tx Power (Optional Tx Power Service (TPS) Specification v1.0)
4.4.1 Activate Link Loss Service
The link loss service allows the proximity reporter to begin an alert in the event the connection drops. The
link loss alert is set by writing a value to <PROXIMITY_ALERT_LEVEL_UUID> in the link loss service. The
default alert value setting is “00”, which indicates “no alert.” To turn on the alert, write a 1-byte value of
“01” (low alert) or “02” (high alert).
This is done in BTool by using the “Characteristic Write” operation as shown in Figure 20. The handle is
obtained from the Proximity Profile attribute table in Figure 19. Note that this handle is unique for this
solution and will probably not be the same on other solutions using Proximity Profile. Usually, the handle
is obtained by performing a “Discover characteristic UUID” as described in Section 4.3.4.
Figure 20 Proximity Profile, Link Loss Activation

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An attribute protocol Write Request packet gets sent over the air from the dongle to the keyfob, and an
attribute protocol Write Response packet gets sent back from the keyfob to the dongle. The status box
will display “Success”, indicating that the write was successful.
By default, the link does not timeout until 20 seconds have gone by without receiving a packet. This
“Supervision Timeout” value can be changed in the “Connection Settings” group in the
“Discover/Connect” tab; however the timeout value must be set before the connection is established.
After completing the write, move the keyfob device far enough away from the USB Dongle until the link
drops. Alternatively, you can disconnect the USB Dongle from the PC, effectively dropping the connection.
Once the timeout on the keyfob expires, the alarm will be triggered. If a low alert was set, the keyfob will
make a low pitched beep. If a high alert was set, the keyfob will make a high pitched beep and the LED
will blink. In either case, the keyfob will beep ten times and then stop. Alternatively to stop the beeping,
either a new connection can be formed with the keyfob, or the left button can be pressed.
4.4.2 Activate Immediate Alert
The Immediate Alert Service allows the proximity reporter to immediately begin an alert. The immediate
alert is set by writing a value to <PROXIMITY_ALERT_LEVEL_UUID> in the immediate alert service. The
default alert value setting is “00”, which indicates “no alert.” To turn on the alert, write a 1-byte value of
“01” (low alert) or “02” (high alert).
This is done in BTool by using the “Characteristic Write” operation as shown in Figure 21. The handle is
obtained from the Proximity Profile attribute table in Figure 19. Note that this handle is unique for this
solution and will probably not be the same on other solutions using Proximity Profile. Usually, the handle
is obtained by performing a “Discover characteristic UUID” as described in Section 4.3.4.
Figure 21 Proximity Profile, Immediate Alert
If a low alert was set, the keyfob will make a low pitched beep for 10 seconds. If a high alert was set, the
keyfob will make a high pitched beep for 10 seconds and the LED will blink. In either case, the keyfob will
beep ten times and then stop. Alternatively to stop the beeping, the left button can be pressed.
4.4.3 Read TX Power
The TX Power Service allows the proximity reporter to report its output power. The TX Power level is
obtained by reading the characteristic value of <PROXIMITY_TX_PWR_LEVEL_UUID> in the TX Power
Service. This can be done in BTool by two ways, “Read Characteristic Value” or “Read Using Characteristic
UUID”. In Figure 22, the “Read Characteristic Value” is been used, because the handle is known.
An attribute protocol Read by Type Request packet gets sent over the air from the dongle to the keyfob,
and an attribute protocol Read by Type Response packet gets sent back from the keyfob to the dongle.
The value is displayed in the “Value” box, and “Success” is displayed in the “Status” box. In addition, the
message window will display information on the Read by Type Response packet that was received by the
dongle. The message includes not only the characteristic’s data value, but also the handle of the
characteristic value (0x002B in this case).

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Figure 22 Proximity Profile, TX Power
The output power can be toggled (0dBm and -6dBm) by pressing the left button.
= -6dBm

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4.5 Using the Battery Service
The Battery Service exposes the Battery Level of the coin cell battery on the keyfob.
Figure 23 Battery Service, Attribute Table
4.5.1 Read the Battery Level
They KeyFob used an ADC to read remaining battery level. The battery profile allows for a peer device
(such as BTool) to read the percentage of battery remaining on the keyfob by reading the value of
<BATTERY_LEVEL_UUID> in the Battery Service. This can be done in BTool by two ways, “Read
Characteristic Value” or “Read Using Characteristic UUID”. In Figure 24, the “Read Using Characteristic
UUID” is been used. Note that the value format is set to “Decimal” in this example, so roughly 61%
battery left.
Figure 24 Battery Service, Read Battery Level
4.5.2 Activate Battery Level Notification
In order to enable notifications, the client device (BTool in this case) must write a value of 0x0001 to the
client characteristic configuration descriptor for the particular characteristic. The handle for the client
characteristic configuration descriptor immediately follows the characteristic value’s handle. Therefore, a
value of 0x0001 must be written to handle 0x0030. Enter “0x0030” into the “Characteristic Value Handle”
box in the “Characteristic Write” section, and enter “01:00” in the “Value” section (note that the LSB is
entered first, and the MSB is entered last) as shown in Figure 25. Click the “Write Value” button. The
status box will display “Success”, indicating that the write was successful.

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Figure 25 Battery Service, Enable Notification
Notification of the battery level-state is handled inside the battery service and if the battery level has
dropped since the previous measurement, a notification is sent as seen in Figure 26.
Figure 26 BTool Log, Battery Service Notification
= 53 %
= 52 %