Description

TX power and RX sensitivity in the CC2538-CC2592EM add-on module of CC2538DK have different profiles when compared to the CC2538EMK add-on module of the same CC2538DK. The former uses the CC2592 which has Power Amplifier (PA) for higher output and a Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) for improved receiver sensitivity, thus, when flashing the CC2538-CC2592EM module using the CC2538DK board configuration the receiving capability becomes stronger compared to the transmitting capability. I mean if CC2538-CC2592EM is receiving a packet from an outside device with a signal strength of 55, the outside device will have a received signal strength of 1 if the CC2538-CC2592EM module sends back a reply.

Steps to reproduce the issue

The CC2538-CC2592EM add-on module and CC2538EMK add-on module each are attached to their individual SmartRF06EB boards.

I used "ndn-consumer" (in CC2538EMK module) and "ndn-producer" (in CC2538-CC2592EM module) examples found here to print the RSSI values.

CC2538-CC2592EM module:
make PORT=/dev/ttyUSB1 BOARD=cc2538dk flash term

CC2538EMK module:
make PORT=/dev/ttyUSB3 BOARD=cc2538dk flash term

Expected results

RSSI values of both modules should be similar not with a huge gap.

Within two-meters
RSSI is ~65 in the CC2538-CC2592EM when receives the CC2538EMK message
RSSI is ~65 in the CC2538EMK when receives the CC2538-CC2592EM message

Actual results

Within two-meters
RSSI is ~55 in the CC2538-CC2592EM when receives the CC2538EMK message
RSSI is ~1 in the CC2538EMK when receives the CC2538-CC2592EM message