I am trying to read the wifi signal continuously to see how wifi signal level is changing for an embedded system. I read several articles in SO on how to read wifi signal level in C# such as this :
How often to poll wifi signal strength?
but when I am tring to do the same thing, I am always getting the same value. My code is as follow (simplified version):
static void Main(string[] args)
{
string selectedSSDID = "BTWiFi";
var client = new WlanClient();
for (int i = 0; i < 1000; i++)
{
foreach (WlanClient.WlanInterface wlanIface in client.Interfaces)
{
Wlan.WlanBssEntry[] wlanBssEntries = wlanIface.GetNetworkBssList();
foreach (Wlan.WlanBssEntry network in wlanBssEntries)
{
var networkSSID = Encoding.ASCII.GetString(network.dot11Ssid.SSID, 0, (int)network.dot11Ssid.SSIDLength);
if (selectedSSDID == networkSSID)
{
Console.Out.WriteLine(network.rssi);
}
}
}
System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(1000);
}
}
when I ran this code, I would see that the signal level is always reported as one value and it doesn't change.
I used it against a embedded system which has a wifi and even when I put the device next to PC and when I moves to another room very far from the computer, if the application runs, it always report the same value, if I restart the application the value changes.
What is wrong with this code that it doesn't report correct value?
Related
I'm developing a c# desktop api with forms where I want to receive ACC data from a BLE server und display them in a chart.
So I'm running in a connection problem and I can't find any solution.
I can find my LE server Device with the watcher.
DevicePairingResult dpr = await device.DeviceInformation.Pairing.PairAsync(DevicePairingProtectionLevel.Encryption);
returns me "AlreadyPaired"
But when I do
device = await BluetoothLEDevice.FromBluetoothAddressAsync(bluetoothAddress: eventArgs.BluetoothAddress);
mGattService = device.GetGattService(MotionService_GUID);
mCharacteristic = mGattService.GetCharacteristics(ACC_Characteristic_GUID)[0];
and then
var con = device.ConnectionStatus;
I receive "Disconnected" in con.
I am bound with de device on windows( I searched for it in Windows and entered the Code) but I am not connected(based on the Status in the windows info center).
I've read in another Thread in the windows c# developer page that it should not be necessary anymore to pair the device manually.
I'm pretty shure that the rest of my code works because sometimes I can get a connection( pretty confusing for me) and see the right Data in my chart.
Right now I just want to reach a stable connection before changing other part of my code.
Anyone any idea how to solve this?
Thx medTech
Edit:
Here is part of the Code:
Scanning for BLE
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// Create Bluetooth Listener
var watcher = new BluetoothLEAdvertisementWatcher();
watcher.ScanningMode = BluetoothLEScanningMode.Active;
// Register callback for when we see an advertisements
watcher.Received += OnAdvertisementReceivedAsync;
// Wait 5 seconds to make sure the device is really out of range
watcher.SignalStrengthFilter.OutOfRangeTimeout = TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(5000);
watcher.SignalStrengthFilter.SamplingInterval = TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(2000);
// Starting watching for advertisements
watcher.Start();
}
Connect to Server:
private async void OnAdvertisementReceivedAsync(BluetoothLEAdvertisementWatcher watcher, BluetoothLEAdvertisementReceivedEventArgs eventArgs)
{
// Filter for specific Device
if (eventArgs.Advertisement.LocalName == "MYDEVICE")
{
watcher.Stop();
var MotionService_GUID = new Guid("00002000-0000-1000-8000-00805F9B34FB");
var ACC_Characteristic_GUID = new Guid("00002001-0000-1000-8000-00805F9B34FB");
device = await BluetoothLEDevice.FromBluetoothAddressAsync(bluetoothAddress: eventArgs.BluetoothAddress);
DevicePairingResult dpr = await device.DeviceInformation.Pairing.PairAsync(DevicePairingProtectionLevel.Encryption);
mGattService = device.GetGattService(MotionService_GUID);
mCharacteristic = mGattService.GetCharacteristics(ACC_Characteristic_GUID)[0];
GattDeviceServicesResult result = await device.GetGattServicesAsync();
GattCommunicationStatus status1 = await ReadFromCharacteristicAsync(mCharacteristic);
var con = device.ConnectionStatus;
while (status1 == GattCommunicationStatus.Success)
{
try
{
status1 = await ReadFromCharacteristicAsync(mCharacteristic);
}
catch
{
Console.WriteLine("ERROR");
status1 = GattCommunicationStatus.Unreachable;
}
}
}
}
Read from Characteristic:
async Task ReadFromCharacteristicAsync(GattCharacteristic mCharacteristic)
{
GattReadResult readResult = await mCharacteristic.ReadValueAsync(BluetoothCacheMode.Uncached);
if (readResult.Status == GattCommunicationStatus.Success)
{
byte[] data = new byte[readResult.Value.Length];
DataReader.FromBuffer(readResult.Value).ReadBytes(data);
if (chart1.IsHandleCreated)
{
this.Invoke((MethodInvoker)delegate { updateChart(data); });
}
return readResult.Status;
}
return readResult.Status;
}
Terminate Connection
private async Task<bool> ClearBluetoothLEDeviceAsync()
{
mCharacteristic.Service.Dispose();
mGattService.Dispose();
await device.DeviceInformation.Pairing.UnpairAsync();
device?.Dispose();
device = null;
GC.Collect();
return true;
}
SO now when I connect the first time to the Server, I only receive zeros which shows me that the there might be a authentication Error.
After that I always receive this Error:
"System.ArgumentException" in mscorlib.dll with a notification that there is noch executable Code left because all Threads are doing some asynchronous stuff.
This Error gets thrown when I try to read from the Characteristic.
I never coded in c# before so I am not shure if there is an error in my asynchronous part oder the communication part.
Thanks you
Pairing is not the same as connecting!
I really advise using the BLE-advertisementWatcher to select and connect to your device.
The reason is that many BLE-devices don't save their pairing status.
In windows device-watcher once paired, the device stays paired even if it is switched off or out of reach.
Also many times the connection status is kept, unless the device is unpaired and disposed in code or removed in windows settings.
All BLE-devices that I know of start advertising as soon as there is no connection for some time.
This time depends on the device, but most of the time within seconds.
So don't pair but just connect if the device is advertising.
In the way of learning BLE programming using C#, I'm trying to write a winform application that should detec BLE devices and use them as proximity sensors. For this purpose I've applied the BluetoothAdvertisementWatcher class, filtering the advertisements with a provided signal strength. The problem is the detection seems to be quite crappy... Even with the device at no distance from my PC, the listener often returns a RSSI value of -127, wich stands for "no detection" as I've understood. I've tried setting the OutOfRangeTimeout to 10 seconds and, even if things get better, problems are still heavy. The major issue is the detection can flows without interruption just for about a bunch of seconds, then the debugger signals me a thread exiting with code 0, and the listener can't receive new advertisements (with the device ever aside the pc) for even 30-40 seconds, then it restarts and so it loops.
Do you know if is this how it is intended to work or if am I missing something? Is there a way, eventually, to intercept this interruption and immediately restart the listener?
This is how I initialize the watcher:
public BLEScanner(short maxDBRange, TimeSpan outOfRangeTimeout) {
this.InRange = maxDBRange;
this.OutOfRange = (short)(this.InRange + BLEScanner.BUFFER_RANGE);
this.OutOfRangeTimeout = outOfRangeTimeout;
this.watcher = new BluetoothLEAdvertisementWatcher();
this.watcher.SignalStrengthFilter.InRangeThresholdInDBm = this.InRange;
this.watcher.SignalStrengthFilter.OutOfRangeThresholdInDBm = this.OutOfRange;
this.watcher.SignalStrengthFilter.OutOfRangeTimeout = this.OutOfRangeTimeout;
this.watcher.SignalStrengthFilter.SamplingInterval = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(1);
this.watcher.ScanningMode = BluetoothLEScanningMode.Active;
}
While this is the event handler:
private async void OnAdvertisementReceived(BluetoothLEAdvertisementWatcher watcher, BluetoothLEAdvertisementReceivedEventArgs eventArgs) {
var deviceAddress = eventArgs.BluetoothAddress;
BluetoothLEDevice device = await BluetoothLEDevice.FromBluetoothAddressAsync(deviceAddress);
UpdateUiDelegate update = new UpdateUiDelegate(
(dev, args) => {
if (eventArgs.RawSignalStrengthInDBm == -127) {
this.form.spyLabel.BackColor = System.Drawing.Color.Red;
this.form.nameLabel.Text = "(none)";
this.form.addressLabel.Text = "(none)";
this.form.rssiLabel.Text = "(none)";
this.form.connectedLabel.Text = device.ConnectionStatus.ToString();
} else {
this.form.spyLabel.BackColor = System.Drawing.Color.Green;
this.form.nameLabel.Text = device.Name;
this.form.addressLabel.Text = device.BluetoothAddress.ToString();
this.form.rssiLabel.Text = eventArgs.RawSignalStrengthInDBm.ToString();
this.form.connectedLabel.Text = device.ConnectionStatus.ToString();
}
});
this.form.Invoke(update, device, eventArgs);
Console.Write(eventArgs.RawSignalStrengthInDBm + " ");
}
Any help is appreciated!
I'm having an issue with ZeroMQ, which I believe is because I'm not very familiar with it.
I'm trying to build a very simple service where multiple clients connect to a server and sends a query. The server responds to this query.
When I use REQ-REP socket combination (client using REQ, server binding to a REP socket) I'm able to get close to 60,000 messages per second at server side (when client and server are on the same machine). When distributed across machines, each new instance of client on a different machine linearly increases the messages per second at the server and easily reaches 40,000+ with enough client instances.
Now REP socket is blocking, so I followed ZeroMQ guide and used the rrbroker pattern (http://zguide.zeromq.org/cs:rrbroker):
REQ (client) <----> [server ROUTER -- DEALER --- REP (workers running on different threads)]
However, this completely screws up the performance. I'm getting only around 4000 messages per second at the server when running across machines. Not only that, each new client started on a different machine reduces the throughput of every other client.
I'm pretty sure I'm doing something stupid. I'm wondering if ZeroMQ experts here can point out any obvious mistakes. Thanks!
Edit: Adding code as per advice. I'm using the clrzmq nuget package (https://www.nuget.org/packages/clrzmq-x64/)
Here's the client code. A timer counts how many responses are received every second.
for (int i = 0; i < numTasks; i++) { Task.Factory.StartNew(() => Client(), TaskCreationOptions.LongRunning); }
void Client()
{
using (var ctx = new Context())
{
Socket socket = ctx.Socket(SocketType.REQ);
socket.Connect("tcp://192.168.1.10:1234");
while (true)
{
socket.Send("ping", Encoding.Unicode);
string res = socket.Recv(Encoding.Unicode);
}
}
}
Server - case 1: The server keeps track of how many requests are received per second
using (var zmqContext = new Context())
{
Socket socket = zmqContext.Socket(SocketType.REP);
socket.Bind("tcp://*:1234");
while (true)
{
string q = socket.Recv(Encoding.Unicode);
if (q.CompareTo("ping") == 0) {
socket.Send("pong", Encoding.Unicode);
}
}
}
With this setup, at server side, I can see around 60,000 requests received per second (when client is on the same machine). When on different machines, each new client increases number of requests received at server as expected.
Server Case 2: This is essentially rrbroker from ZMQ guide.
void ReceiveMessages(Context zmqContext, string zmqConnectionString, int numWorkers)
{
List<PollItem> pollItemsList = new List<PollItem>();
routerSocket = zmqContext.Socket(SocketType.ROUTER);
try
{
routerSocket.Bind(zmqConnectionString);
PollItem pollItem = routerSocket.CreatePollItem(IOMultiPlex.POLLIN);
pollItem.PollInHandler += RouterSocket_PollInHandler;
pollItemsList.Add(pollItem);
}
catch (ZMQ.Exception ze)
{
Console.WriteLine("{0}", ze.Message);
return;
}
dealerSocket = zmqContext.Socket(SocketType.DEALER);
try
{
dealerSocket.Bind("inproc://workers");
PollItem pollItem = dealerSocket.CreatePollItem(IOMultiPlex.POLLIN);
pollItem.PollInHandler += DealerSocket_PollInHandler;
pollItemsList.Add(pollItem);
}
catch (ZMQ.Exception ze)
{
Console.WriteLine("{0}", ze.Message);
return;
}
// Start the worker pool; cant connect
// to inproc socket before binding.
workerPool.Start(numWorkers);
while (true)
{
zmqContext.Poll(pollItemsList.ToArray());
}
}
void RouterSocket_PollInHandler(Socket socket, IOMultiPlex revents)
{
RelayMessage(routerSocket, dealerSocket);
}
void DealerSocket_PollInHandler(Socket socket, IOMultiPlex revents)
{
RelayMessage(dealerSocket, routerSocket);
}
void RelayMessage(Socket source, Socket destination)
{
bool hasMore = true;
while (hasMore)
{
byte[] message = source.Recv();
hasMore = source.RcvMore;
destination.Send(message, message.Length, hasMore ? SendRecvOpt.SNDMORE : SendRecvOpt.NONE);
}
}
Where the worker pool's start method is:
public void Start(int numWorkerTasks=8)
{
for (int i = 0; i < numWorkerTasks; i++)
{
QueryWorker worker = new QueryWorker(this.zmqContext);
Task task = Task.Factory.StartNew(() =>
worker.Start(),
TaskCreationOptions.LongRunning);
}
Console.WriteLine("Started {0} with {1} workers.", this.GetType().Name, numWorkerTasks);
}
public class QueryWorker
{
Context zmqContext;
public QueryWorker(Context zmqContext)
{
this.zmqContext = zmqContext;
}
public void Start()
{
Socket socket = this.zmqContext.Socket(SocketType.REP);
try
{
socket.Connect("inproc://workers");
}
catch (ZMQ.Exception ze)
{
Console.WriteLine("Could not create worker, error: {0}", ze.Message);
return;
}
while (true)
{
try
{
string message = socket.Recv(Encoding.Unicode);
if (message.CompareTo("ping") == 0)
{
socket.Send("pong", Encoding.Unicode);
}
}
catch (ZMQ.Exception ze)
{
Console.WriteLine("Could not receive message, error: " + ze.ToString());
}
}
}
}
Could you post some source code or at least a more detailed explanation of your test case? In general the way to build out your design is to make one change at a time, and measure at each change. You can always move stepwise from a known working design to more complex ones.
Most probably the 'ROUTER' is the bottleneck.
Check out these related questions on this:
Client maintenance in ZMQ ROUTER
Load testing ZeroMQ (ZMQ_STREAM) for finding the maximum simultaneous users it can handle
ROUTER (and ZMQ_STREAM, which is just a variant of ROUTER) internally has to maintain the client mapping, hence IMO it can accept limited connections from a particular client. It looks like ROUTER can multiplex multiple clients, only as long as, each client has only one active connection.
I could be wrong here - but I am not seeing much proof to the contrary (simple working code that scales to multi-clients with multi-connections with ROUTER or STREAM).
There certainly is a very severe restriction on concurrent connections with ZeroMQ, though it looks like no one know what is causing it.
I have done done performance testing on calling a native unmanaged DLL function with various methods from C#:
1. C++/CLI wrapper
2. PInvoke
3. ZeroMQ/clrzmq
The last might be interesting for you.
My finding at the end of my performance test was that using the ZMQ binding clrzmq was not useful and produced a factor of 100 performance overhead after I tried to optimize the PInvoke calls within the source code of the binding. Therefore I have used the ZMQ without a binding but with PInvoke calls.these calls must be done with the cdecl convention and with the option "SuppressUnmanagedCodeSecurity" to get most speed.
I had to import just 5 functions which was fairly easy.
At the end the speed was a bit slower than a PInvoke call but with the ZMQ-in my case over "inproc".
This may give you the hint to try it without the binding, if speed is interesting for you.
This is not a direct answer for your question but may help you to increase performance in general.
If you want to know how to use 32feet.NET library to communicate with bluetooth devices, read the solution
I am currently trying to communicate via bluetooth between a computer and a self-built .NET Gadgeteer prototype.
The Gadgeteer prototype consists of the mainboard, a power supply and a bluetooth module. The module is in discoverable mode.
On the computer a custom bluetooth program based on 32feet .NET Bluetooth is running. The program detects all bluetooth devices in range and tries to pair with them. However, this is not done automatically at the moment, I have to enter a pairing code for the device.
How can I pair devices without entering the pairing code?
Devices are found, the problem is the pairing part. I experimented a lot, but didn't find a solution...
foreach (BluetoothDeviceInfo device in this.deviceList)
{
try
{
//BluetoothClient client = new BluetoothClient(this.CreateNewEndpoint(localAddress));
//BluetoothEndPoint ep = this.CreateNewEndpoint(device.DeviceAddress);
EventHandler<BluetoothWin32AuthenticationEventArgs> handler = new EventHandler<BluetoothWin32AuthenticationEventArgs>(HandleRequests);
BluetoothWin32Authentication auth = new BluetoothWin32Authentication(handler);
BluetoothSecurity.PairRequest(device.DeviceAddress, null);
}
}
This code block initiates the pairing and it works, but Windows is asking me to enter the pairing code for the device. I read about the BluetoothWin32Authentication to prevent this case but I don't get it right.
private void HandleRequests(object that, BluetoothWin32AuthenticationEventArgs e)
{
e.Confirm = true;
}
This is the code of the event handler (http://32feet.codeplex.com/wikipage?title=BluetoothWin32Authentication)
If you simply want to allow the pairing to go ahead when to SSP devices are connecting then handling the callback and setting e.Confirm=True will be enough -- but that is a little insecure...
I am confused -.- The goal is that the application and the gadgeteer module can send data in both directions without any user interference.
Is it true that I can't pair devices automatically without user interaction?
Is it true that if two device were already paired they can exchange data without user interaction?
I figured out how to solve my problems and my knowledge about Bluetooth connections is a bit bigger now. If someone else has problems with that, I provide my solution. The code examples represent the C# implementation of a bluetooth controller with the 32feet Bluetooth library.
Scanning
This means that devices in range are detected. My code:
// mac is mac address of local bluetooth device
BluetoothEndPoint localEndpoint = new BluetoothEndPoint(mac, BluetoothService.SerialPort);
// client is used to manage connections
BluetoothClient localClient = new BluetoothClient(localEndpoint);
// component is used to manage device discovery
BluetoothComponent localComponent = new BluetoothComponent(localClient);
// async methods, can be done synchronously too
localComponent.DiscoverDevicesAsync(255, true, true, true, true, null);
localComponent.DiscoverDevicesProgress += new EventHandler<DiscoverDevicesEventArgs>(component_DiscoverDevicesProgress);
localComponent.DiscoverDevicesComplete += new EventHandler<DiscoverDevicesEventArgs>(component_DiscoverDevicesComplete);
private void component_DiscoverDevicesProgress(object sender, DiscoverDevicesEventArgs e)
{
// log and save all found devices
for (int i = 0; i < e.Devices.Length; i++)
{
if (e.Devices[i].Remembered)
{
Print(e.Devices[i].DeviceName + " (" + e.Devices[i].DeviceAddress + "): Device is known");
}
else
{
Print(e.Devices[i].DeviceName + " (" + e.Devices[i].DeviceAddress + "): Device is unknown");
}
this.deviceList.Add(e.Devices[i]);
}
}
private void component_DiscoverDevicesComplete(object sender, DiscoverDevicesEventArgs e)
{
// log some stuff
}
Pairing
This means that devices get coupled with the local bluetooth device. This needs to be done once by entering a code of both sides. Can be done via code so that the user doesn't even notice that a device was added. My code for this purpose:
// get a list of all paired devices
BluetoothDeviceInfo[] paired = localClient.DiscoverDevices(255, false, true, false, false);
// check every discovered device if it is already paired
foreach (BluetoothDeviceInfo device in this.deviceList)
{
bool isPaired = false;
for (int i = 0; i < paired.Length; i++)
{
if (device.Equals(paired[i]))
{
isPaired = true;
break;
}
}
// if the device is not paired, pair it!
if (!isPaired)
{
// replace DEVICE_PIN here, synchronous method, but fast
isPaired = BluetoothSecurity.PairRequest(device.DeviceAddress, DEVICE_PIN);
if (isPaired)
{
// now it is paired
}
else
{
// pairing failed
}
}
}
Connecting
This means establishing a connection and exchanging of data. Again some code:
// check if device is paired
if (device.Authenticated)
{
// set pin of device to connect with
localClient.SetPin(DEVICE_PIN);
// async connection method
localClient.BeginConnect(device.DeviceAddress, BluetoothService.SerialPort, new AsyncCallback(Connect), device);
}
// callback
private void Connect(IAsyncResult result)
{
if (result.IsCompleted)
{
// client is connected now :)
}
}
If you keep the order scan, pair, connect, everything should work fine. To send or receive data, use the GetStream() method of the BluetoothClient. It provides a network stream that can be manipulated.
Receiving a connection
If you want another device to connect with your device you need to listen to incoming connection requests. This only works if the device have already been paired before. My code:
BluetoothListener l = new BluetoothListener(LOCAL_MAC, BluetoothService.SerialPort);
l.Start(10);
l.BeginAcceptBluetoothClient(new AsyncCallback(AcceptConnection), l);
void AcceptConnection(IAsyncResult result){
if (result.IsCompleted){
BluetoothClient remoteDevice = ((BluetoothListener)result.AsyncState).EndAcceptBluetoothClient(result);
}
}
Replace LOCAL_MAC with a valid BluetoothAddress (e.g. by using BluetoothAddress.Parse();). After the devices are connected they can exchange messages via the underlying stream. If the connection does not work there might be authentication issues, so try setting the local device pin in the listener (l.SetPin(LOCAL_MAC, MY_PASSWORD);
I wrote a test app to get all active ports on my network. Did some searching and found this was the easiest way. So I tried it and it work just fine. I then wrote another socket app with a sever and client side. It's pretty basic, has a create sever, join server and refresh button to get the active servers. The only time this method gets called is when you press the refresh button. If I open up the application 3 or more times and create a server with connected clients by the 4th one this method starts giving me this (Unknown error (0xc0000001)) error. Any idea why this could happen? Funny thing is I never get this on the initial application, the one I opened first. I don't know if somehow it get's a lock on this or something.
The exception gets thrown at this line:
IPEndPoint[] endPoints = properties.GetActiveTcpListeners();
Here's the method, it returns an object of List for all ports within a min and max range.
public static List<UserLocalSettings> ShowActiveTcpListeners(int min, int max)
{
List<UserLocalSettings> res = new List<UserLocalSettings>();
try
{
IPGlobalProperties properties = IPGlobalProperties.GetIPGlobalProperties();
IPEndPoint[] endPoints = properties.GetActiveTcpListeners();
foreach (IPEndPoint e in endPoints)
{
if (e.Port > (min - 1) && e.Port < (max + 1))
{
UserLocalSettings tmpClnt = new UserLocalSettings();
tmpClnt.player_ip = e.Address.ToString();
tmpClnt.player_port = e.Port;
tmpClnt.computer_name = Dns.GetHostEntry(e.Address).HostName;
res.Add(tmpClnt);
}
}
}
catch (Exception ex1)
{
}
return res;
}
Here's a screen print of the exception: