Baseband
4.5.3 Flow control
Since the RX ACL buffer can be full while a new payload arrives, flow control is
required. The header field FLOW in the return TX packet may use STOP or GO
in order to control the transmission of new data.
4.5.3.1 Destination control
As long as data can not be received, a STOP indication shall be transmitted
which is automatically inserted by the Link Controller into the header of the
return packet. STOP shall be returned as long as the RX ACL buffer is not
emptied by the Baseband Resource Manager. When new data can be
accepted again, the GO indication shall be returned. GO shall be the default
value. All packet types not including data can still be received. Voice communication for example is not affected by the flow control. Although a device can not
receive new information, it may still continue to transmit information: the flow
control shall be separate for each direction.
4.5.3.2 Source control
On the reception of a STOP signal, the Link Controller shall automatically
switch to the default packet type. The ACL packet transmitted just before the
reception of the STOP indication shall be kept until a GO signal is received. It
may be retransmitted as soon as a GO indication is received. Only default
packets shall be sent as long as the STOP indication is received. When no
packet is received, GO shall be assumed implicitly. Note that the default packets contain link control information (in the header) for the receive direction
(which may still be open) and may contain synchronous data (HV or EV packets). When a GO indication is received, the Link Controller may resume transmitting the data that is present in the TX ACL buffers.
In a multi-slave configuration, only the transmission to the slave that issued the
STOP signal shall be stalled. This means that the master shall only stop transmission from the TX ACL buffer corresponding to the slave that momentarily
cannot accept data.
The header contains link control (LC) information and consists of 6 fields:
• LT_ADDR: 3-bit logical transport address
• TYPE: 4-bit type code
• FLOW: 1-bit flow control
• ARQN: 1-bit acknowledge indication
• SEQN: 1-bit sequence number
• HEC: 8-bit header error check
The total header, including the HEC, consists of 18 bits, see Figure 6.8 on page
109, and is encoded with a rate 1/3 FEC (not shown but described in Section
7.4 on page 134) resulting in a 54-bit header. The LT_ADDR and TYPE fields
shall be sent LSB first.
6.4.3 FLOW
The FLOW bit is used for flow control of packets over the ACL logical transport.
When the RX buffer for the ACL logical transport in the recipient is full, a STOP
indication (FLOW=0) shall be returned to stop the other device from transmit
ting data temporarily. The STOP signal only affects ACL packets. Packets
including only link control information (ID, POLL, and NULL packets), SCO
packets or eSCO packets can still be received. When the RX buffer can accept
data, a GO indication (FLOW=1) shall be returned. When no packet is
received, or the received header is in error, a GO shall be assumed implicitly. In
this case, the slave can receive a new packet with CRC although its RX buffer
is still not emptied. The slave shall then return a NAK in response to this packet
even if the packet passed the CRC check.
The FLOW bit is not used on the eSCO logical transport or the ACL-C logical
link and shall be set to one on transmission and ignored upon receipt.
HCI flow control
4.1 HOST TO CONTROLLER DATA FLOW CONTROL
On initialization, the Host shall issue the Read Buffer Size command. Two of
the return parameters of this command determine the maximum size of HCI
ACL and synchronous Data Packets (excluding header) sent from the Host to
the Controller. There are also two additional return parameters that specify the
total number of HCI ACL and synchronous Data Packets that the Controller
may have waiting for transmission in its buffers.
When there is at least one connection to another device, or when in local loop
back mode, the Controller shall use the Number Of Completed Packets event
to control the flow of data from the Host. This event contains a list of Connec
tion Handles and a corresponding number of HCI Data Packets that have been
completed (transmitted, flushed, or looped back to the Host) since the previous
time the event was returned (or since the connection was established, if the
event has not been returned before for a particular Connection Handle).
Based on the information returned in this event, and the return parameters of
the Read Buffer Size command that specify the total number of HCI ACL and
synchronous Data Packets that can be stored in the Controller, the Host
decides for which Connection Handles the following HCI Data Packets should
be sent.
Every time it has sent an HCI Data Packet, the Host shall assume that the free
buffer space for the corresponding link type (ACL, SCO or eSCO) in the Con
troller has decreased by one HCI Data Packet.
Each Number Of Completed Packets event received by the Host provides
information about how many HCI Data Packets have been completed (trans
mitted or flushed) for each Connection Handle since the previous Number Of
Completed Packets event was sent to the Host. It can then calculate the actual
current buffer usage.
When the Controller has completed one or more HCI Data Packet(s) it shall
send a Number Of Completed Packets event to the Host, until it finally reports
that all the pending HCI Data Packets have been completed. The frequency at
which this event is sent is manufacturer specific.
Note: The Number Of Completed Packets events will not report on synchro
nous Connection Handles if Synchronous Flow Control is disabled. (See Read/
26 July 2007 HCI Flow ControlBLUETOOTH SPECIFICATION Version 2.1 + EDR [vol 2] page 387 of 906
Host Controller Interface Functional Specification
Write Synchronous Flow Control Enable, Section 7.3.36 on page 544 and Sec
tion 7.3.37 on page 545)
For each individual Connection Handle, the data must be sent to the Controller
in HCI Data Packets in the order in which it was created in the Host. The Con
troller shall also transmit data on the air that is received from the Host for a
given Connection Handle in the same order as it is received from the Host.
Data that is received on the air from another device shall, for the corresponding
Connection Handle, be sent in HCI Data Packets to the Host in the same order
as it is received. This means the scheduling shall be decided separately for
each Connection Handle basis. For each individual Connection Handle, the
order of the data shall not be changed from the order in which the data has
been created.
4.2 CONTROLLER TO HOST DATA FLOW CONTROL
In some implementations, flow control may also be necessary in the direction
from the Controller to the Host. The Set Host Controller To Host Flow Control
command can be used to turn flow control on or off in that direction.
On initialization, the Host uses the Host Buffer Size command to notify the
Controller about the maximum size of HCI ACL and synchronous Data Packets
sent from the Controller to the Host. The command also contains two additional
command parameters to notify the Controller about the total number of ACL
and synchronous Data Packets that can be stored in the data buffers of the
Host.
The Host uses the Host Number Of Completed Packets command in exactly
the same way as the Controller uses the Number Of Completed Packets event
as was previously described in this section.
The Host Number Of Completed Packets command is a special command for
which no command flow control is used, and which can be sent anytime there
is a connection or when in local loopback mode. The command also has no
event after the command has completed. This makes it possible for the flow
control to work in exactly the same way in both directions, and the flow of nor
mal commands will not be disturbed.
7.3.37 Write Synchronous Flow Control Enable Command
HCI_Write_Synchronous_ Flow_Control_Enable 0x002F
The Write_Synchronous_Flow_Control_Enable command provides the ability to write the Synchronous_Flow_Control_Enable setting. See Section 6.21 on page 408.
Note: the Synchronous_Flow_Control_Enable setting can only be changed if no connections exist.
7.3.38 Set Controller To Host Flow Control Command
HCI_Set_Controller_To_ Host_Flow_Control
0x0031 Flow_Control_Enable Status
This command is used by the Host to turn flow control on or off for data and/or
voice sent in the direction from the Controller to the Host. If flow control is turned
off, the Host should not send the Host_Number_Of_Completed_Packets command.
L2CAP flow control
Assuming that the TxWindow size is equal to the buffer space available in the receiver (counted in number of I-frames), in flow control mode the number of unacknowledged frames in the transmitter window is always less than or equal to the number of frames for which space is available in the receiver.