How do I Configure the Dual antenna of ESP 32 WROOM DA module in Auto mode

[Vaibhav Singh]

I have been trying to test the signal strength of an ESP 32 Wroom DA module using its dual antenna, but I am unable to set them in auto mode. As in auto mode, the antenna itself will be configured as per the signal strength unavailable. I have tried to do that ( const wifi_ant_config_t ) but I haven't found much of a difference in the RSSI strength between a regular module and a DA module.

Code: Select all

void wifi_init_sta(void)
{
    s_wifi_event_group = xEventGroupCreate();

    ESP_ERROR_CHECK(esp_netif_init());

    ESP_ERROR_CHECK(esp_event_loop_create_default());
    esp_netif_create_default_wifi_sta();

    wifi_init_config_t cfg = WIFI_INIT_CONFIG_DEFAULT();
    ESP_ERROR_CHECK(esp_wifi_init(&cfg));

    esp_event_handler_instance_t instance_any_id;
    esp_event_handler_instance_t instance_got_ip;
    ESP_ERROR_CHECK(esp_event_handler_instance_register(WIFI_EVENT,
                                                        ESP_EVENT_ANY_ID,
                                                        &event_handler,
                                                        NULL,
                                                        &instance_any_id));
    ESP_ERROR_CHECK(esp_event_handler_instance_register(IP_EVENT,
                                                        IP_EVENT_STA_GOT_IP,
                                                        &event_handler,
                                                        NULL,
                                                        &instance_got_ip));
    // esp_wifi_set_ant_gpio(5, 18);
    wifi_config_t wifi_config = {
        .sta = {
            .ssid = EXAMPLE_ESP_WIFI_SSID,
            .password = EXAMPLE_ESP_WIFI_PASS,
            /* Setting a password implies station will connect to all security modes including WEP/WPA.
             * However these modes are deprecated and not advisable to be used. Incase your Access point
             * doesn't support WPA2, these mode can be enabled by commenting below line */
            .threshold.authmode = WIFI_AUTH_WPA2_PSK,
        },
    };

    const wifi_ant_config_t wifi_ant_config = {
        .rx_ant_mode = WIFI_ANT_MODE_ANT0,
        .rx_ant_default = WIFI_ANT_ANT0,
        .tx_ant_mode = WIFI_ANT_MODE_ANT1,
        .enabled_ant0 = 1,
        .enabled_ant1 = 0

    };

    ESP_ERROR_CHECK(esp_wifi_set_mode(WIFI_MODE_STA));
    ESP_ERROR_CHECK(esp_wifi_set_config(WIFI_IF_STA, &wifi_config));
    ESP_ERROR_CHECK(esp_wifi_set_ant(&wifi_ant_config));

    ESP_ERROR_CHECK(esp_wifi_start());

    ESP_LOGI(TAG, "wifi_init_sta finished.");

    /* Waiting until either the connection is established (WIFI_CONNECTED_BIT) or connection failed for the maximum
     * number of re-tries (WIFI_FAIL_BIT). The bits are set by event_handler() (see above) */
    EventBits_t bits = xEventGroupWaitBits(s_wifi_event_group,
                                           WIFI_CONNECTED_BIT | WIFI_FAIL_BIT,
                                           pdFALSE,
                                           pdFALSE,
                                           portMAX_DELAY);

    /* xEventGroupWaitBits() returns the bits before the call returned, hence we can test which event actually
     * happened. */
    if (bits & WIFI_CONNECTED_BIT)
    {
        ESP_LOGI(TAG, "connected to ap SSID:%s password:%s",
                 EXAMPLE_ESP_WIFI_SSID, EXAMPLE_ESP_WIFI_PASS);
    }
    else if (bits & WIFI_FAIL_BIT)
    {
        ESP_LOGI(TAG, "Failed to connect to SSID:%s, password:%s",
                 EXAMPLE_ESP_WIFI_SSID, EXAMPLE_ESP_WIFI_PASS);
    }
    else
    {
        ESP_LOGE(TAG, "UNEXPECTED EVENT");
    }

    /* The event will not be processed after unregister */
    ESP_ERROR_CHECK(esp_event_handler_instance_unregister(IP_EVENT, IP_EVENT_STA_GOT_IP, instance_got_ip));
    ESP_ERROR_CHECK(esp_event_handler_instance_unregister(WIFI_EVENT, ESP_EVENT_ANY_ID, instance_any_id));
    vEventGroupDelete(s_wifi_event_group);
}

Can someone please suggest me how can I configure the antenna correctly? As of now I not really seeing much of a difference between the two, say DA module gives me a better RSSI value by a margin of 5 to 10 Dbi points, which I don't think is much. I have tried to configure the antennas on the DA separately as well as together but the result is almost the same.