I’m wondering whether it’s possible to obtain Distance, AoA, and AoD data using the DWM3001CDK with Qorvo’s Apple Nearby Interaction (NI) API. I understand that the DWM3001CDK has only one antenna, whereas the iPhone has multiple antennas, which could be utilized for AoA and AoD calculations.
However, I’ve read in various sources that Apple doesn’t provide the low-level information developers need for AoA computation. Is there support for this functionality in Qorvo’s SDK and NI sample code?
Additionally, does the “nRF52832DK-QANI-FreeRTOS_full_QNI_3_0_0.hex” firmware enable communication with the iPhone for Distance, AoA, and AoD calculations?
Hi HamzaMuneer,
You are correct that the DWM3001CDK has a single antenna and that alone will not provide you with AoA information but from the iPhone’s perspective, there are some models(up to iPhone 13) that have more than one antenna to provide you with the AoA information while the newer models will use the sensor fusion technology to provide this information.
You can download the Qorvo Nearby Interaction SDK[https://www.qorvo.com/products/d/da008212] to check the Apple app source code as well as the accessory source code, which includes the supported DWM3001C module.
Hi Hamza,
Yes the Qorvo Nearby Interaction app will need to be loaded onto the DWM3001CDK and then you can use the iOS Qorvo Nearby Interaction app from the app store to obtain Distance and Angle information. I have tested this on an iPhone 12 and 13.
Starting with iPhone 14 and newer (iPhone 16 Pro Max), the app will only show distance information as the angle will be derived by the camera.
Thank you for your response. Could you please provide more details on how the angle is derived using the camera? Specifically, if the device is positioned to the right of the phone and is only sharing the distance, how does the phone determine the angle?
Hi Hamza,
That is outside the scope of Qorvo UWB support. I suggest checking out the Apple AR kit and related Apple Sensor Fusion technology to get a better idea and poke around the Apple ecosystem pages to find out more.