Operating with regulatory support

The nRF70 Series devices operate in the license exempt 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz radio frequency spectrum bands. However, in order to satisfy license exemption, the supported channels in each band need to adhere to regulatory operation rules. The regulatory rules vary based on the country. The rules are framed on the basis of the following key parameters:

  • Channel scan mode (Active/Passive)

  • Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS) operation

  • Maximum transmit power

Regulatory Database

The regulatory database used by the nRF70 Series captures regulatory rules in 173 different countries. For more information about the individual country rules, see Wi-Fi regulatory channel rules. In addition, the regulatory database has an entry for a world regulatory domain, which has highly restrictive transmission rules making it suitable for worldwide operation.

The regulatory database is a part of the nRF70 Series ROM based firmware images. You can configure the country of operation and based on this configuration, the appropriate rules of operation are enforced.

Supported 20 MHz channels

The nRF70 Series device supports up to 42 channels.

The device supports the following 14 channels in the 2.4 GHz band:

Channel

Start frequency

End frequency

Center frequency

1

2401

2423

2412

2

2406

2428

2417

3

2411

2433

2422

4

2416

2438

2427

5

2421

2443

2432

6

2426

2448

2437

7

2431

2453

2442

8

2436

2458

2447

9

2441

2463

2452

10

2446

2468

2457

11

2451

2473

2462

12

2456

2478

2467

13

2461

2483

2472

14

2473

2495

2484

Where the 5 GHz band is supported, the device supports the following 28 channels:

Channel

Start frequency

End frequency

Center frequency

Band

36

5170

5190

5180

U-NII-1

40

5190

5210

5200

U-NII-1

44

5210

5230

5220

U-NII-1

48

5230

5250

5240

U-NII-1

52

5250

5270

5260

U-NII-2A

56

5270

5290

5280

U-NII-2A

60

5290

5310

5300

U-NII-2A

64

5310

5330

5320

U-NII-2A

100

5490

5510

5500

U-NII-2C

104

5510

5530

5520

U-NII-2C

108

5530

5550

5540

U-NII-2C

112

5550

5570

5560

U-NII-2C

116

5570

5590

5580

U-NII-2C

120

5590

5610

5600

U-NII-2C

124

5610

5630

5620

U-NII-2C

128

5630

5650

5640

U-NII-2C

132

5650

5670

5660

U-NII-2C

136

5670

5690

5680

U-NII-2C

140

5690

5710

5700

U-NII-2C

144

5710

5730

5720

U-NII-2C

149

5735

5755

5745

U-NII-3

153

5755

5775

5765

U-NII-3

157

5775

5795

5785

U-NII-3

161

5795

5815

5805

U-NII-3

165

5815

5835

5825

U-NII-3

169

5835

5855

5845

U-NII-4

173

5855

5875

5865

U-NII-4

177

5875

5895

5885

U-NII-4

Conformance to regulatory restrictions

Once a regulatory domain is configured, the following restrictions are imposed on the operation of the nRF70 Series device:

  1. Channels: The device will operate only on the channels allowed in that country.

  2. Scan mode: The device will use Active scans where allowed and resort to Passive scans on channels where Active scans are not allowed.

  3. DFS: DFS operation is enabled on the channel. In the connected state, the device will switch to another channel as directed by the Access Point (AP) in the event of radar detection. Scanning will be restricted to Passive scan only on these channels.

  4. Transmit power: The maximum transmit power on each channel is restricted to a value allowed for that channel in that country.

Without user configuration, the nRF70 Series device will default to operating with world regulatory rules and utilize regulatory hints extracted from the AP beacon packet in order to adjust to more appropriate regional rules.

Configuration options

You can configure the regulatory domain through build time or run time.

Build time

Use the CONFIG_NRF700X_REG_DOMAIN Kconfig option to set the regulatory region. The regulatory region will take an ISO/IEC alpha-2 country code for the country in which the device is expected to operate. The beacon’s regulatory region (if present) will be given higher precedence over the Kconfig option.

Run time

You can also set the regulatory domain using either an API or a shell command as shown in the following table:

Wi-Fi regulatory domain network management APIs

Network management APIs

Command

Description

Expected output
net_mgmt(NET_REQUEST_WIFI_CMD_REG_DOMAIN, <XY>, force=true)
(Set option 1)

wifi reg_domain <XY> -f

Override country code regulatory hints

Wi-Fi regulatory domain is set to: <XY>
net_mgmt(NET_REQUEST_WIFI_CMD_REG_DOMAIN, <XY>)
(Set option 2)

wifi reg_domain <XY>

Set regulatory domain using regulatory hints from the AP beacon, else set regulatory domain to <XY>

Wi-Fi regulatory domain is set based on AP beacon hints or to <XY>

If you set a specific regulatory region with force=true flag (Set option 1), the beacon’s country or region information will be ignored, and the current region will be overridden with the set value.

In the automatic region setting, the beacon’s regulatory region (if present) will be given higher precedence over the following scenarios:

  • The set region during booting and Kconfig options.

  • The user configured regulatory region (force=false flag (Set option 2)).

Once the nRF70 Series device disconnects from the AP, the device restores the regulatory region to world regulatory (code: 00) if automatic mode was enabled.

Regulatory region query

You can get the configured regulatory domain using either an API or a shell command as shown in the table:

Wi-Fi regulatory region query

Network management APIs

Command

Description

Expected output
net_mgmt(NET_REQUEST_WIFI_CMD_REG_DOMAIN)
(Get option)

wifi reg_domain

Get current regulatory domain setting

Wi-Fi regulatory domain is: <XY>

Wi-Fi regulatory channel rules

The following tables indicate the Wi-Fi® regulatory channel rules for different countries.

The values in the tables show the maximum allowed transmit power (in dBm) for each country.

Country name

CH/Code

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

36

40

44

48

52

56

60

64

100

104

108

112

116

120

124

128

132

136

140

144

149

153

157

161

165

169

173

177

World regulatory

00

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20#

20#

20#

20#

20#

20#

20#

20*

20*

20*

20*

20*

20*

20*

20*

20*

20*

20*

20*

20*

20*

20*

20*

20#

20#

20#

20#

20#

27#

27#

27#

Group 1

GP1

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

-

23

23

23

23

20*

20*

20*

20*

27*

27*

27*

27*

27*

27*

27*

27*

27*

27*

27*

-

14

14

14

14

14

14

14

-

Group 2

GP2

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

-

20

20

20

20

20*

20*

20*

20*

27*

27*

27*

27*

27*

27*

27*

27*

27*

27*

27*

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Group 3

GP3

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

-

17

17

17

17

24*

24*

24*

24*

24*

24*

24*

24*

24*

24*

24*

24*

24*

24*

24*

24*

30

30

30

30

30

-

-

-

Group 4

GP4

30

30

30

30

30

30

30

30

30

30

30

-

-

-

24

24

24

24

24*

24*

24*

24*

24*

24*

24*

24*

24*

24*

24*

24*

24*

24*

24*

24*

30

30

30

30

30

-

-

-

Group 5

GP5

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

-

24

24

24

24

24*

24*

24*

24*

24*

24*

24*

24*

24*

24*

24*

24*

24*

24*

24*

24*

30

30

30

30

30

-

-

-

The following table lists the countries and their groups:

Country groups and countries

Country group

Countries

Group 1

Andorra(AD), Albania(AL), Austria(AT), Bosnia and Herzegovina(BA), Belgium(BE), Bulgaria(BG), Switzerland(CH), Cyprus(CY), Czech Republic(CZ), Germany(DE), Denmark(DK), Estonia(EE), Spain(ES), Finland(FI), France(FR), Greece(GR), Hungary(HU), Ireland(IE), Iceland(IS), Italy(IT), Liechtenstein(LI), Lithuania(LT), Luxembourg(LU), Latvia(LV), Monaco(MC), Moldova(MD), Montenegro(ME), Macedonia(MK), Malta(MT), Netherlands(NL), Norway(NO), Poland(PL), Portugal(PT), Romania(RO), Serbia(RS), Sweden(SE), Slovenia(SI), Slovak(SK)

Group 2

Afghanistan(AF), Anguilla(AI), Netherlands Antilles(AN), Aruba(AW), Saint Barthelemy(BL), Bhutan(BT), Belarus(BY), Ethiopia(ET), French Guiana(GF), Greenland(GL), Guadeloupe(GP), Cambodia(KH), Lesotho(LS), Saint Martin(MF), Martinique(MQ), Mauritania(MR), Malawi(MW), Oman(OM), French Polynesia(PF), Saint Pierre and Miquelon(PM), Réunion(RE), Saudi Arabia(SA), Suriname(SR), Chad(TD), Togo(TG), Saint Vincent and the Grenadines(VC), Wallis and Futuna(WF), Samoa(WS), Mayotte(YT), Zimbabwe(ZW)

Group 3

United Arab Emirates(AE), Argentina(AR), Burkina Faso(BF), Brazil(BR), Central Africa(CF), Cote d’ivoire(CI), Colombia(CO), Costarica(CR), Ghana(GH), Honduras(HN), Jamaica(JM), Lebanon(LB), Sri Lanka(LK), Mexico(MX), Peru(PE), Papua New Guinea(PG), Philippines(PH), Rwanda(RW), Senegal(SN), Thailand(TH), Trinidad and Tobago(TT), Vietnam(VN), Vanuatu(VU)

Group 4

American Samoa(AS), Bermuda(BM), Micronesia(FM), Haiti(HT), Marshall Islands(MH), Northern Mariana Islands(MP), Nicaragua(NI), Palau(PW), Virgin Islands(VI)

Group 5

Bahamas(BS), Christmas Island(CX), Cayman Islands(KY), Mongolia(MN), Mauritius(MU), Paraguay(PY), Turks and Caicos Islands(TC), Uganda(UG)
[-] - Channel not supported
* - DFS and Passive scan only
# - Passive scan only

Note

The maximum allowed transmit power values (shown in the table) may exceed the actual transmit power values for the nRF70 Series device. In the world regulatory domain, the non-DFS passive channel becomes active in subsequent scan operations if it finds a beacon on the first scan.