[Q] FM Transmitter? - Xperia Arc General

I was wondering if it is possible to use the FM chip in the phone and use it as an FM transmitter (like the n97)
I'm interested in hearing your thoughts.

Basically no.
For a start, you'd need a chipset capable of transmitting via FM as well as receiving. Just because you can do one, it doesn't mean you can do the other.
Even if the chipset is capable, for it then to work, it'd need to have the necessary drivers installed, which is maybe doable.
It'd also then need an antenna attached to the transmission pin-out on the chipset, which is extremely unlikely to be in place.
So technically it might be possible but in reality it's not - unless SE just happen to have built a fully-functional FM transmitter into the Arc and just forgotten to activate it...

Related

fm transmitter

is their a way to transmit audio from the hd2 to a device via fm waves?
DAMIEN123_666 said:
is their a way to transmit audio from the hd2 to a device via fm waves?
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Although it appears that the HD2 is capable of FM transmission, it is not activated. There is a long discussion about the FM transmitter here:
forum,xda-developers,com/showthread.php?t=622377
(I can't post links... just change the commas to dots)
yeah, seems like we need a driver written for it. No other wm phones have this particular Broadcom chip.
meegulthwarp said:
yeah, seems like we need a driver written for it. No other wm phones have this particular Broadcom chip.
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That'd be fantastic!
@op, as nothing's available now, you might be interested in one of the many 3.5mm FM transmitters available at www.dealextreme.com or on ebay. Obviously they need a power source (usually 12v car port, USB or AAA batteries).
Hope that helps.
You can also get bluetooth adapters with built in FM transmitters that will enable hands free for car use. Very handy!

Can audio come out of car stereo via FM Tuner

I can't remember where I saw it but I remember reading that the Incredible can use the built in FM Tuner to broadcast the sound out of the car speakers rather than just receive FM signal to play on the phone. Does anyone know anything about this?
you would need an FM transmitter to do that and I don't think it has one built-in.
Not sure it would probably need some type of application or hack to get it to do that not sure it does it put of the box though.
Supposedly the chip has that capability, but it may need an antenna which may or may not be installed, and it hasn't been advertised as a feature.
It is unlikely this will work out of the box, and may never work without opening the phone.
But we won't know until someone finds a way to turn on that part of the chip
EDIT: And for the naysayers, This has an FM tuner out of the box... we're talking about an FM modulator, which the chip *does* support, whether HTC implemented it is the unknown
fm tuner just means you can listen to the radio on your phone... if it said FM modulator then it would mean you can transmit fm signal out of it...
vilord said:
Supposedly the chip has that capability, but it may need an antenna which may or may not be installed, and it hasn't been advertised as a feature.
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That same chip also could provide us 802.11n. They managed to get that portion working after the fact on the Nexus One. I remain hopeful for this as well.

FM Transmitter/Receiver Broadcom BCM4329EKUBG

I was trying to do a little research in to if I could get the FM transmitter/reciever to work or if it would be even possible. A little google searching around I found this. And the person who had been doing the most work on that part of android was an actual broadcom employee. So I sent him a quick, polite email asking him about FM support in the Nexus one. It is as follows:
"Mr. Harte,
I noticed your commits here. Will Broadcom provide support/drivers for the FM transmitter/receiver in the Nexus One and other Android devices?
Sincerely,
Will"
And his surprisingly helpful and quick response:
"Hello,
The FM receiver is supported in the HTC Incredible and HTC EVO 4G. I’m not sure if the Nexus One hardware supports FM. The 4329 chip has FM, but I don’t know if the external components required for the FM Antenna are populated on the board. I believe there is also some work needed in the kernel to enable the audio path for FM, but if/when HTC open-sources the kernel for the EVO or Incredible, this should be evident. Also, the EVO and Incredible use the Broadcom Bluetooth stack, while the Nexus One uses BlueZ. I don’t think there is any support in BlueZ for FM. I have no idea about FM Transmit, but I would highly doubt it is possible to get that to work…
-Howard"
That makes me sad but at least now I know. Hopefully though this will provide some light to any crafty developers interested tinkering with this.
Shorthand.
Even if the hardware says fm/transmit/receive, we would have to solder, replace the bluetooth stack, and possibly replace the chip firmware to get it to work.
Short, short hand.. NO FM on nexus one.
No really, somehow he neglected to mention the sister Desire.
Regarding the antenna portion, it's been proven that the nexus can find stations. . .just not output any sound from them.
Mi|enko said:
Regarding the antenna portion, it's been proven that the nexus can find stations. . .just not output any sound from them.
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I do remember reading about that. Can you find the source? If thats true, then we know the only problem is the stack.
williamthrilliam said:
I do remember reading about that. Can you find the source? If thats true, then we know the only problem is the stack.
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Check the notes from Modaco's Desire ROM port. I think it's there. But since FM radio is analog, there may be a lot more to it than a stack.
attn1 said:
Check the notes from Modaco's Desire ROM port. I think it's there. But since FM radio is analog, there may be a lot more to it than a stack.
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Yup, his bluetooth doesn't work because he is using the Nexus One kernel. Well, we now know what part of the kernel isn't allowing the bluetooth to work; Bluez vs the Broadcom Stack. I don't know the legal implications of using it, but it seems like it would be possible.
Devastatin said:
Shorthand.
Even if the hardware says fm/transmit/receive, we would have to solder, replace the bluetooth stack, and possibly replace the chip firmware to get it to work.
Short, short hand.. NO FM on nexus one.
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Patently FALSE.
All we need is a kernel with FM support and the FM driver. Receive is definitely possible.
I do believe however that the power amplifier chips for transmitting are absent, so that won't be a possibility.
williamthrilliam said:
Yup, his bluetooth doesn't work because he is using the Nexus One kernel. Well, we now know what part of the kernel isn't allowing the bluetooth to work; Bluez vs the Broadcom Stack. I don't know the legal implications of using it, but it seems like it would be possible.
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Getting an analog tuner that isn't connected to anything to tune is not much help. I don't care what software you write, if there is no output to be captured, it's not going to happen. It's like a cable box with no television connection. It tunes just fine. If the rest of the connecting hardware is there, then there's a shot. But Google has never said there would be FM in the Nexus One at any point. I am less than optimistic.
GldRush98 said:
Patently FALSE.
All we need is a kernel with FM support and the FM driver. Receive is definitely possible.
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That still has not been determined.
or you can go to your favorite radio station's website and click on "listen in" or whatever and now your listening to FM on your phone. =D
or maybe not, thats how it works on my pc..
i dont understand what the bluetooth has anything to do with this? why does it matter the blueZ vs broadcom bluetooth hardware? it sounds like the fm radio portion is there and can even pick up stations with an antenna, just routing the audio. but that doesnt need to happen thru bluetooh, it could happen through the headset or loudspeaker.
RogerPodacter said:
i dont understand what the bluetooth has anything to do with this? why does it matter the blueZ vs broadcom bluetooth hardware? it sounds like the fm radio portion is there and can even pick up stations with an antenna, just routing the audio. but that doesnt need to happen thru bluetooh, it could happen through the headset or loudspeaker.
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The Broadcom BCM4329EKUBG has all of these functions built in. FM, 802.11, bluetooth.
http://www.broadcom.com/products/Bluetooth/Bluetooth-RF-Silicon-and-Software-Solutions/BCM4329
RogerPodacter said:
i dont understand what the bluetooth has anything to do with this? why does it matter the blueZ vs broadcom bluetooth hardware? it sounds like the fm radio portion is there and can even pick up stations with an antenna, just routing the audio. but that doesnt need to happen thru bluetooh, it could happen through the headset or loudspeaker.
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The bluetooth/fm/wifi are all on one chipset.
ChillRays said:
or you can go to your favorite radio station's website and click on "listen in" or whatever and now your listening to FM on your phone. =D
or maybe not, thats how it works on my pc..
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For the most part yes (esp. with those of us with froyo and flas ). But what made me start searching for this was a tornado that past by me by only a few miles. I luckily was in the car and able to tune in to a station broadcasting the Emergency Broadcasting Systems's message, but I thought it would be nice to be able to do that on my phone.
RogerPodacter said:
i dont understand what the bluetooth has anything to do with this? why does it matter the blueZ vs broadcom bluetooth hardware? it sounds like the fm radio portion is there and can even pick up stations with an antenna, just routing the audio. but that doesnt need to happen thru bluetooh, it could happen through the headset or loudspeaker.
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Integrated circuits perform multiple functions. That broadcom chip could do a lot more than blue tooth. FM is analog. If all you have is the tuner and there is no connecting hardware, then yeah, you receive a signal, but it's going nowhere. If you can't capture the output, you can't use it. Do we know if the FM radio signal in the Desire is ever digitized? It could work like a regular FM radio and the digital/software part is for tuning purposes only and radio itself is analog. I read somewhere is that the HTC FM radios require wired headset use - and don't play back through blue tooth. Irony there, I think. Speculation is that is because they are used for an antenna, but I think it could also be that it's because it's an analog output. I am guessing the N1 is missing all the required circuits - except the tuner.
attn1 said:
Integrated circuits perform multiple functions. That broadcom chip could do a lot more than blue tooth. FM is analog. If all you have is the tuner and there is no connecting hardware, then yeah, you receive a signal, but it's going nowhere. If you can't capture the output, you can't use it. Do we know if the FM radio signal in the Desire is ever digitized? It could work like a regular FM radio and the digital/software part is for tuning purposes only and radio itself is analog. I read somewhere is that the HTC FM radios require wired headset use - and don't play back through blue tooth. Irony there, I think. Speculation is that is because they are used for an antenna, but I think it could also be that it's because it's an analog output. I am guessing the N1 is missing all the required circuits - except the tuner.
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This is true of the Touch Pro hardware at least. The FM Radio wouldn't function with out the headphones plugged in. It used the headphone wire as the antenna.
there is a great thread going in the nexus development area where some people are trying to write the kernel so that the sound has an output. It sounds like they are making great progress maybe anyone reading this thread who has some technical skills can help. I believe they too have been able to tune the phone to a station but not output the sound yet.
It seems to me we need definitive answers to the following 2 questions from HTC / Google ...
Q1. Does the nexus one have the necessary hardware and interconnections for FM radio reception and output through either the speaker or headphones. YES/NO?
Q2. Does the nexus one have the necessary hardware and interconnections for FM radio transmission of any type (music / voice). YES/NO?
If both answers are a definitive NO, we can move on. If there is a YES then the clever people here, who make the magic happen, have some hope of success.
Does anyone know the correct ppl at HTC / Google to ask these questions of?
I don’t have anything to add but would like to encourage you guys in your endeavour to get FM radio working on the N1 and also point you too or remind you what androidpolice reported at Google I/O
If this is true then perhaps all the building blocks are in place.
http://www.androidpolice.com/2010/0...nity-as-our-best-bet-post-google-io-coverage/
sd00 said:
It seems to me we need definitive answers to the following 2 questions from HTC / Google ...
Q1. Does the nexus one have the necessary hardware and interconnections for FM radio reception and output through either the speaker or headphones. YES/NO?
Q2. Does the nexus one have the necessary hardware and interconnections for FM radio transmission of any type (music / voice). YES/NO?
If both answers are a definitive NO, we can move on. If there is a YES then the clever people here, who make the magic happen, have some hope of success.
Does anyone know the correct ppl at HTC / Google to ask these questions of?
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Or maybe we just need to think and use the info that we have in other threads on the subject. But I'll repeat things written in another thread, by myself and other guys:
Q1. Broadcom chip brief (the best doc available for it on the net) clearly shows the radio having no separate connections but using BT's high speed UART and I2C. The interconnects are the same, and since Paul's Desire port has radio control working - that means I2C is working too, so the answer is YES.
Q2. The stated output power of the chip is good enough for short-range transmission w/o a dedicated antenna, using headphone cord. The control and data are given in the same way as in Q1. So, the answer is YES again, but with more trouble - while there is a working device utilizing FM receiver functionality, which can at least theoretically be ported completely using its source, there is no device with FM transmitter, which means - if someone wants to use transmitter, that someone needs to acquire specific Broadcom documents for the chip.
So I guess the thread can be laid to rest, and anyone that can really help - for example, to go over Desire source and figure out the correct setting for QSD UART to receive FM audio and the procedures to stream it to the speaker - are welcome to head over to Dev section.

FM Transmitter BCM4329

I think we have a chance to activate the FM transmitter in our phones..
At least we should give a shot?
The BCM4329 has FM Tx & Rx abilities. The Rx part is not used, but maybe we can use the Tx part?
Unfortunately, google doesn't help a lot.
I know that our galaxy S i9000 uses a Si4709 chip for the FM reception, so that's not good for the transmit part.
does somebody have any useful info about this?
i would definitely do everything i could to make this work. this should be the biggest hit feature...
this is a problem for me too.... amy someone helps us...
That was discussed a long time ago without any progress.
Apparently we can't use the FM transmitter if there is one inside SGS
why can't we? what does stops the devs?
orenzah said:
why can't we? what does stops the devs?
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First it's not easy without manufacturer's cooperation to have access to the chips and phone documentation, so how to create the drivers drivers ...
Secondly don't even know if physically it could work (for example the transmitter would need a antenna...).
i think the problem was no connection of some pins of whatever - use search option
the antenna issue i think it's not the most problem, I think the not connected pins is more complicated if that is true.
FM transmitter could be nice, but like it seems Samsung probably didn't connect the relevant pins for transmitting audio.

[Q] which wifi chip does this have?

I know the package is the Azurewave AW-NH665 but there's no data sheet published for that. I'm hoping it's got at least a BCM4330 in it. Also hoping for BlueTooth 3.0.
someone who has one check your system/etc/nvram_nh665.txt
it should have info on the wifi chip.
Thanks.
bump
Well, I can tell from the kernel it uses BCM4330 chipset. That should mean b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0+HS, and FM...
BCM4330.
I'm hoping to connect an FM antenna. See my sig.
AzureWave does other Broadcom modules too.
I don't have one but a dump shows:
bin/brcm_patchram_plus
etc/firmware/bcm4330.hcd
etc/nvram.txt:
Azurewave Release 2011/12/29
# NH665 bgn+BT+FM
manfid=0x2d0
prodid=0x0552
vendid=0x14e4
devid=0x4360
boardtype=0x0552
boardrev=0x11
# this design has 2.4GHz SP3T switch
boardflags=0x00081200
nocrc=1
xtalfreq=37400
boardnum=22
#macaddr=00:11:22:33:44:55
#nvram_override=1
cckdigfilttype=20 #20~26
ag0=255
aa2g=3
ccode=XY
regrev=4
#pa0b0=0x13e1
#pa0b1=0xfdab
#pa0b2=0xff66
rssismf2g=0xa
rssismc2g=0x3
rssisav2g=0x7
maxp2ga0=0x46
sromrev=3
#il0macaddr=00:11:22:33:44:55
wl0id=0x431b
cckPwrOffset=5
#ofdmdigfilttype2g=4
ofdm2gpo=0x44444444
mcs2gpo0=0x6666
mcs2gpo1=0x6666
swctrlmap_2g=0x44844484,0x4a8a4282,0x42824282,0x818a82,0x1ff
rfreg033=0x19
rfreg033_cck=0x1f
dacrate2g=160
txalpfbyp2g=1
bphyscale=17
cckPwrIdxCorr=-15
pacalidx2g=45
txgaintbl=1
muxenab=0x10
#triso2g=9
mikereidis said:
BCM4330.
I'm hoping to connect an FM antenna. See my sig.
AzureWave does other Broadcom modules too.
I don't have one but a dump shows:
bin/brcm_patchram_plus
etc/firmware/bcm4330.hcd
...
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Click to collapse
Nice, just checked out your radio app. Would be very cool to get that working on the N7. Interestingly I noticed that although that firmware is present, the kernel is actually configured to use:
/system/vendor/firmware/fw_bcmdhd.bin
Not sure exactly what the implications are of that yet.
There are 3 identical files, size 209,175 bytes, and they are for the WiFi core on the chip. Bluetooth and FM share a seperate core.
fw_bcmdhd_apsta.bin
fw_bcmdhd.bin
fw_bcmdhd_p2p.bin
brcm_patchram_plus is a Broadcom proprietary replacement for hciattach and it loads the bcm4330.hcd file. I'm 100% sure because my FM app can do the same as brcm_patchram_plus.
The top of the HCD file contains: "AZW Module665 BCM4330B1 37.4 MHz Class 1.5 ExtLNA"
-----
There is not a single, easily available non-obscure Android tablet over 5" which supports FM. So if possible, even if it requires some hardware mods, the popularity of Nexus 7 will make it compelling for the combination of Android tablet and FM.
Further, FM transmit on Android is virtually unheard of. With access to the transmit antenna pins, this might be possible. There are LOTS of people who don't care about receive, but want transmit to their car stereo.
I expect to see a good number of hardware hackers looking to use the Nexus 7 as a built-in car/entertainment device.

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