This package provides a Python interface for the BGAPI binary protocol. It reads the BGAPI definition file and dynamically generates a parser for it.

To get started with Silicon Labs Bluetooth software, see QSG169: Bluetooth® SDK v3.x Quick Start Guide.

In the NCP context, the application runs on a host MCU or a PC, which is the NCP Host, while the Bluetooth stack runs on an EFR32, which is the NCP Target.

The NCP Host and Target communicate via a serial interface (UART). The communication between the NCP Host and Target is defined in the Silicon Labs proprietary protocol, BGAPI. pyBGAPI is the reference implementation of the BGAPI protocol in Python for the NCP Host.

AN1259: Using the v3.x Silicon Labs Bluetooth® Stack in Network CoProcessor Mode provides a detailed description how NCP works and how to configure it for custom hardware.

For latest BGAPI documentation, see docs.silabs.com.

For pyBGAPI example applications, see github.com/SiliconLabs/pybgapi-examples.

First, create an instance of the BGLib class, which is the main component of the package. BGLib class provides functions for sending BGAPI commands and returning responses and ways to receive asynchronous BGAPI events. The BGLib constructor takes a connector, which is the transport between BGLib and the device, and a list of BGAPI definition files. The currently supported connectors are bgapi.SerialConnector and bgapi.SocketConnector.

Start by importing the bgapi package and creating a BGLib object with the Bluetooth API and a serial port connector. The SerialConnector takes the serial port as an argument, which is a device file on Linux OS and macOS, e.g., '/dev/tty.usbmodem1421', or a COM port on windows, e.g., 'COM1'. Remember to change the path to sl_bt.xapi which can be found for each SDK version in the Bluetooth SDK under /path/to/sdks/gecko_sdk_suite/v3.x/protocol/bluetooth/api.

>>> import bgapi
>>> l = bgapi.BGLib(
...         bgapi.SerialConnector('/dev/tty.usbmodem1421'),
...         '/path/to/SDK/protocol/bluetooth/api/sl_bt.xapi')
>>> l.open()

The BGLib constructor has an event_handler parameter too. Its default value is None, which means that all received events go to a queue for later retrieval. Alternatively, an event handler function may be passed, which is useful in interactive mode for printing the received events, as follows:

>>> def event_handler(evt):
...     print("Received event: {}".format(evt))

Start calling BGAPI commands, as follows:

>>> l.bt.system.hello()
rsp_system_hello(result=0)

The command functions are blocking, where the return value is the command's response. The commands are in an attribute named after the device name that the API is for, bt in this example. Then, they are grouped by the class name.

The response objects behave like a Python namedtuple, i.e., the response fields can be accessed as attributes (the dot notation) or like a tuple by their index. The attribute access is usually the preferred option.

>>> response = l.bt.system.get_counters(0)
>>> print(response)
rsp_system_get_counters(result=0, tx_packets=543, rx_packets=2000, crc_errors=195, failures=0)

>>> print(response.crc_errors)
195

>>> print(response[3])
195

>>> address, = l.bt.system.get_bt_address()
>>> print(address)
00:0b:57:49:2b:47

If a command fails and reports a non-zero result code, an exception is thrown, as follows:

>>> try:
...     l.bt.advertiser.start(0, 0, 0)
... except bgapi.bglib.CommandFailedError as e:
...     print("Error 0x{:x} received, "
...           "try to create an advertising set first."
...           .format(e.errorcode))
Error 0x21 received, try to create an advertising set first.

The received events are stored in an event queue, which can be accessed by functions, such as gen_events(). This function is a generator, which yields events from the queue as they are received. With the default parameters, it is non-blocking and stops as soon as no more events are received. Usually, to receive a single event, you'll set a timeout, the timeout parameter, and the maximum time the generator will run altogether, which is the max_time parameter. The following example resets the device and waits for a boot event for one second.

>>> l.bt.system.reset(0)
>>> for e in l.gen_events(timeout=None, max_time=1):
...     print("Received event: {}".format(e))
...     if e == 'bt_evt_system_boot':
...         print("Bluetooth stack booted: v{major}.{minor}.{patch}-b{build}".format(**vars(e)))
...         break
Received event: bt_evt_system_boot(major=3, minor=2, patch=0, build=169, bootloader=17563648, hw=1, hash=3698707457)
Bluetooth stack booted: v3.2.0-b169

Event object fields are accessed the same way as the response objects.