GAP Bond Manager and LE Secure Connections

The GAP Bond Manager (GAPBondMgr) is a configurable module that offloads most of the Pairing & Bonding security mechanisms associated with the Security Manager (SM) protocol from the application. The GAPBongMgr executes in the protocol stack task’s context. Table 7. lists the terminology.

Table 7. GAP Bond Manager Terminology

Term	Description
Pairing	The process of generating & exchanging keys. Not to be confused with forming or establishing a BLE connection between two devices
Encryption	Data is encrypted after pairing, or re-encryption (a subsequent connection where keys are looked up from nonvolatile memory).
Association	The pairing method used based on the I/O Capabilities of both devices. For LE devices, Just Works, Numeric Comparison, Passkey Entry and Out-Of-Band are supported.
Authentication	The pairing process using an association method that supports MITM (Man in the Middle) protection.
Bonding	Storing the keys generated during the pairing process in nonvolatile memory to use for the next encryption sequence.
Authorization	An additional application level verification in addition to authentication.
OOB	Out of Band. Pairing keys are not exchanged over the air, but rather over some other source such as serial port or NFC. This also provides MITM protection.
MITM	Man in the Middle protection. MITM provides authentication during the pairing process which helps prevent a malicious attacker from impersonating the peer device during the key exchange.
Just Works	Unauthenticated pairing association method where keys are exchanged without MITM protection.

The general process that the GAPBondMgr uses is as follows:

1. The pairing process: exchange keys through the methods described in Selection of Pairing Method.

2. The encryption process: Encrypt the link using keys Step 1.

3. The bonding process: store keys in secure flash (Simple Non Volatile memory, SNV).

4. Reconnecting: Use the keys stored in SNV to encrypt the link.

Tip

Performing all of these steps is not necessary. For example, two devices may choose to pair but not bond.

Selection of Pairing Method

Bluetooth Core Specification Version 4.2 added support for the LE Secure Connections feature to enable additional strength to the BLE pairing process. For a detailed description of the algorithms used for LE Secure Connections, see the Security Architecture section ([Vol 1], Part A, Section 5.1) of the Bluetooth Core Specifications Version 5.2. The previous pairing methods used in the Bluetooth Core Specification Versions 4.1 and 4.0 are still available, and are now defined as LE Legacy Pairing. The main difference is that Secure Connection uses Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman (ECDH) cryptography, while LE Legacy Pairing does not.

There are four types of pairing methods which are referred to as “Association Models” in the core specification. Each pairing method is described in detail in GAPBondMgr Examples for Different Pairing Methods.

• Just Works (LE Secure Connections or LE Legacy)

• Passkey Entry (LE Secure Connections or LE Legacy)

• Numeric Comparison (LE Secure Connections)

• Out Of Band (LE Secure Connections or LE Legacy)

Which pairing method is selected, and whether or not pairing will succeed depends on the following parameters from both peer devices during the pairing process:

• Out Of Band (OOB) set / not set

• Man In The Middle (MITM) set / not set

• Input/Output (IO) Capabilities

• LE Secure Connections supported / not supported

The GAPBondMgr parameters, as they map to the table parameters below are listed here. For more information on these parameters, see BLE Stack API Reference (GAPBondMgr section).

• GAPBOND_OOB_ENABLED: Out of band (OOB) set / not set

• GAPBOND_MITM_PROTECTION: Man in the middle (MITM) set / not set

• GAPBOND_IO_CAPABILITIES: Input/Output (IO) Capabilities

• GAPBOND_SECURE_CONNECTION: LE Secure connections supported / not supported

  Beyond what the Bluetooth Core Specifications Version 5.2 defines, this parameter also affects whether or not pairing succeeds, as described in BLE Stack API Reference (GAPBondMgr section).

The tables below are from the Selecting Key Generation Method section ([Vol 3], Part H, Section 2.3.5.1) of the Bluetooth Core Specifications Version 5.2. Use these tables to determine which pairing mode is selected for any set of parameters.

If both devices support LE Secure Connections, use Figure 83. to decide upon the next step.

Figure 83. GAPBondMgr parameters when LE Secure Connections is supported by both devices.

If at least one device does not support LE Secure Connections, use Figure 84. to decide upon the next step.

Figure 84. GAPBondMgr parameters when LE Secure Connections is not supported by one or both devices.

If, based on one of the previous tables, IO capabilities are to be used to determine the association model, use Figure 85.

Figure 85. GAPBondMgr parameters with IO capabilities

Using GAPBondMgr

This section describes what the application must do to configure, start, and use the GAPBondMgr. The GAPBondMgr is defined in gapbondmgr.c and gapbondmgr.h. BLE Stack API Reference (GAPBondMgr section) describes the full API including commands, configurable parameters, events, and callbacks.

The general steps to use the GAPBondMgr module are as follows:

1. Configure the stack to include GAPBondMgr functionality by defining the following in build_config.opt in the stack project:

• -DGAP_BOND_MGR

2. If using LE Secure Connections, the PDU size must be >= 69. This can be set by defining the following preprocessor symbol in the application project: MAX_PDU_SIZE=69. Also, the minimum heap size that can be used with LE Secure Connections is 3690. (See Dynamic Memory Allocation for heap size management.)

3. Configure the GAPBondMgr by initializing its parameters as desired. GAPBondMgr configuration parameters are not persistent and must be configured after the device is reset. See BLE Stack API Reference (GAPBondMgr section) for a complete list of parameters with functionality described. There are examples of this for the various pairing/bonding modes in GAPBondMgr Examples for Different Pairing Methods.

4. Register application callbacks with the GAPBondMgr, so that the application can communicate with the GAPBondMgr and be notified of events.

// Register with bond manager after starting device
GAPBondMgr_Register(&bondmanager_callbacks);

Here bondmanager_callbacks is defined as a structure containing the GAPBondMgr Callbacks. A passcode callback function is mandatory.

// Bond Manager Callbacks
static gapBondCBs_t bondMgrCBs =
{
  SimpleCentral_passcodeCb, // Passcode callback
  SimpleCentral_pairStateCb // Pairing/Bonding state Callback
};

5. Once the GAPBondMgr is configured, it operates mostly autonomously from the perspective of the application. When a connection is established, the GAPBondMgr manages pairing and bonding depending on the configuration parameters set during initialization. It also communicates with the application as needed through the defined callbacks.

A few parameters can be set and functions can be called asynchronously at any time from the application. See BLE Stack API Reference (GAPBondMgr section) for more information.

Most communication between the GAPBondMgr and the application at this point occurs through the callbacks which were registered in Step 5. Figure 86. is a flow diagram example of the GAPBondMgr notifying the application that pairing has been completed. The same method occurs for various other events and will be expanded upon in the following section.

Figure 86. GapBondMgr Callback Example.

GAPBondMgr Examples for Different Pairing Methods

This section provides message diagrams for the types of security that can be implemented. These modes assume acceptable I/O capabilities are available for the security mode, and that the selection of whether or not to support LE Secure Connections allows for the pairing method. See the Selection of Pairing Method on how these parameters affect pairing. These examples only consider the pairing aspect. Bonding can be added to each type of pairing in the same manner and is shown in the next section.

Caution

The code snippets here are not complete functioning examples, and are only intended for illustration purposes.

Warning

It is not allowed to set MITM to TRUE while IO capability is set to GAPBOND_IO_CAP_NO_INPUT_NO_OUTPUT since these two conflict each other.

Disabling Pairing

With pairing mode set to GAPBOND_PAIRING_MODE_NO_PAIRING, the BLE stack automatically rejects any attempt at pairing. Configure the GAPBondMgr as follows to disable pairing:

// Pairing is not allowed
uint8_t pairMode = GAPBOND_PAIRING_MODE_NO_PAIRING;
GAPBondMgr_SetParameter(GAPBOND_PAIRING_MODE, sizeof(uint8_t), &pairMode);

Enabling Pairing

To start or allow the pairing process after a connection is formed, the GAPBondMgr can be configured to automatically request pairing or wait for pairing request from the peer device. The actual behavior depends on the device’s GAP role (Central or Peripheral) and the setting of the GAPBondMgr pairing mode (GAPBOND_PAIRING_MODE).

To initiate the pairing process on Peripheral role devices, GAPBOND_PAIRING_MODE_INITIATE will send a Slave Security Request shortly after the GAPBondMgr is informed that the connection is formed. For Central role devices, GAPBOND_PAIRING_MODE_INITIATE will send a Pairing Request or request the Link Layer to encrypt the link if the device has previously paired/bonded:

// Initiate pairing request
uint8_t pairMode = GAPBOND_PAIRING_MODE_INITIATE;
GAPBondMgr_SetParameter(GAPBOND_PAIRING_MODE, sizeof(uint8_t), &pairMode);

The Peripheral can be configured to wait for a Pairing Request from the Central when the pairing mode is set to GAPBOND_PAIRING_MODE_WAIT_FOR_REQ. When this pairing mode is selected, the GAPBondMgr will automatically respond with a Pairing Response based on other GAPBondMgr configured parameters.

// Wait for a pairing request
uint8_t pairMode = GAPBOND_PAIRING_MODE_WAIT_FOR_REQ;
GAPBondMgr_SetParameter(GAPBOND_PAIRING_MODE, sizeof(uint8_t), &pairMode);

Tip

When pairing with smartphone Central devices, it is recommended to use GAPBOND_PAIRING_MODE_WAIT_FOR_REQ as undefined behavior may occur when a Slave Security Request is sent by the Peripheral. Both iOS and Android will initiate pairing when the peripheral responds with an Insufficient Authentication error response when a GATT secure characteristic is accessed.

Pairing can also be enabled by utilizing GAPBondMgr_Pair(). This API can be used to start the pairing process when pairing is not started automatically by the GAPBondMgr. For more information, please refer to Pairing and Encryption without GAPBondMgr

bStatus_t stat = GAPBondMgr_Pair(connHandle);

LE Secure Connections

LE Secure Connections is enabled by default in BLE5-Stack. If you don’t want to use LE Secure Connections, set the GAPBOND_SECURE_CONNECTION variable to GAPBOND_SECURE_CONNECTION_NONE during the GAPBondMgr initialization.

uint8_t gapbondSecure = GAPBOND_SECURE_CONNECTION_NONE;
GAPBondMgr_SetParameter(GAPBOND_SECURE_CONNECTION, sizeof(uint8_t), &gapbondSecure);

It is important when trying to decipher over-the-air sniffer logs with LE Secure Connections enabled, you need to use a specific “debug” key as defined by Vol 3 Part H section 2.3.5.6.1 of the Bluetooth Core Specifications Version 5.2. In the BLE5-Stack, this key is enabled using SysConfig, by checking ‘ECC Debug Keys’ under BLE, Bond Manager (see Bond Manager Configurations). When either the initiating or non-initiating device uses this specific debug key, it enables over-the-air sniffer equipment that supports LE Secure Connections to determine the LTK and therefore monitor/decrypt encrypted traffic throughout the connection.

LESC Limitations & Recommendations

LE Secure Connections uses an ECDH public-private key pair as part of the pairing process. See Selection of Pairing Method and the LE Secure Connections Pairing Phase 2 section of the Bluetooth Core Specifications Version 5.2 for more information about how these keys and how they are used in the pairing process.

To summarize, as part of LESC pairing Phase 1 each device will generate its own ECDH public-private key pair. As part of LESC pairing Phase 2 each device will compute the Diffie-Hellman (DH) Key based on the public keys that are exchanged.

ECC public-private and DH key generation is implemented by the ECDH TI-RTOS driver for the Private Key Accelerator (PKA) on the CC13xx or CC26xx. These routines are blocking by nature and take around 136.5ms to execute. During LESC pairing, the ECDH driver will be accessed twice by the link layer (LL) once to generate the public/private key pair and again to generate the DH key. This means the stack OSAL tasks will be blocked for around 136.5ms twice during pairing. However, the user application task will be able to run at this time.

Because of this, TI recommends the following when using LESC:

• Supervision timeout >= 140ms

To alleviate the amount of blocking required, the user application can generate the public-private key pair ahead of the pairing process, or it can define when the keys should be recycled by using the following parameters of the GapBondMgr. These options are mutually exclusive, as generation of keys by the application bypasses the recycle parameter. To truly minimize the affect of ECC on the BLE connection, perform ECC before any connections are established.

• GAPBOND_ECC_KEYS

• GAPBOND_ECCKEY_REGEN_POLICY

Authentication Pairing Only

For users that want the pairing method results in a key generation that provides Authenticated MITM protection only, they can achieve that by doing the following.

uint8_t ioCap = GAPBOND_IO_CAP_KEYBOARD_DISPLAY;
uint8_t mitm = TRUE;
uint8_t authenPairingOnly = TRUE;

// Only certain combinations of IO capability will result
// authenticad pairing mode. Here we use GAPBOND_IO_CAP_KEYBOARD_DISPLAY
// as code example to make sure whichever IO capability other than NoInput
// NoOutput the peer device has will result in an authenticated link
GAPBondMgr_SetParameter(GAPBOND_IO_CAPABILITIES, sizeof(uint8_t), &ioCap);

// For authenticated pairing, MITM has to be set to TRUE
GAPBondMgr_SetParameter( GAPBOND_MITM_PROTECTION, sizeof (uint8_t), &mitm);

// Enable authentication only pairing
GAPBondMgr_SetParameter( GAPBOND_AUTHEN_PAIRING_ONLY, sizeof (uint8_t), &authenPairingOnly);

Upon setting GAPBOND_AUTHEN_PAIRING_ONLY to true, if the peer device’s IO capability can not result in authenticated link, the BLE5-Stack will reject the pairing and return error code SMP_PAIRING_FAILED_AUTH_REQ.

Figure 87. Authentication Only Pairing.

For more information regarding which pairing mode results authenticated link, please refer Figure 85.

Just Works Pairing

Just Works pairing allows encryption without man in the middle (MITM) authentication and is vulnerable to MITM attacks. Just Works pairing can be LE Legacy or LE Secure Connections pairing. The GAPBondMgr does not need any additional input from the application for Just Works pairing. Configure the GAPBondMgr for Just Works pairing as follows.

uint8_t mitm = FALSE;
GAPBondMgr_SetParameter( GAPBOND_MITM_PROTECTION, sizeof (uint8_t), &mitm);

Figure 88. describes the interaction between the GAPBondMgr and the application for Just Works pairing. As shown, the application receives a GAPBOND_PAIRING_STATE_STARTED event once the pairing request has been sent, and a GAPBOND_PAIRING_STATE_COMPLETE event once the pairing process has been completed. At this time, the link is encrypted.

Figure 88. Just Works Pairing.

Passcode Entry

Passkey entry is a type of authenticated pairing that can prevent man in the middle (MITM) attacks. It can be used with either LE Legacy pairing or Secure Connections pairing. In this pairing method, one device displays a 6-digit passcode, and the other device enters the passcode. As described in Selection of Pairing Method, the IO capabilities decide which device performs which role. The passcode callback registered with the GAPBondMgr when it was started is used to enter or display the passcode. The following is an example of initiating Passcode Entry pairing where the passcode is displayed.

1. Define passcode callback

Listing 130. Define passcode callback.

    // Bond Manager Callbacks
    static gapBondCBs_t bondMgrCBs =
    {
      SimpleCentral_passcodeCb, // Passcode callback
      SimpleCentral_pairStateCb // Pairing/Bonding state Callback
    };

    /*********************************************************************
     * @fn      SimpleCentral_passcodeCb
     *
     * @brief   Passcode callback.
     *
     * @return  none
     */
    static void SimpleCentral_passcodeCb(uint8_t *deviceAddr, uint16_t connHandle,
                                         uint8_t uiInputs, uint8_t uiOutputs,
                                         uint32_t numComparison)
    {
      uint8_t *pData;

      // Allocate space for the passcode event.
      if ((pData = ICall_malloc(sizeof(uint8_t))))
      {
        *pData = uiOutputs;

        // Enqueue the event.
        SimpleCentral_enqueueMsg(SC_EVT_PASSCODE_NEEDED, 0, pData);
      }
    }

2. Configure GAPBondMgr

Listing 131. Configure GAPBondMgr for MITM.

uint8_t pairMode = GAPBOND_PAIRING_MODE_INITIATE;
uint8_t mitm = TRUE;
GAPBondMgr_SetParameter(GAPBOND_PAIRING_MODE, sizeof(uint8_t), &pairMode);
GAPBondMgr_SetParameter(GAPBOND_MITM_PROTECTION, sizeof(uint8_t), &mitm);

3. Process passcode callback and send the response to the stack.

Listing 132. Process passcode and send the response.

//! BLE Default Passcode
#define B_APP_DEFAULT_PASSCODE                    123456

/*********************************************************************
 * @fn      SimpleCentral_processPasscode
 *
 * @brief   Process the Passcode request.
 *
 * @return  none
 */
static void SimpleCentral_processPasscode(uint16_t connHandle,
                                          uint8_t uiOutputs)
{
  // Display passcode to user
  if (uiOutputs != 0)
  {
    Display_printf(dispHandle, SC_ROW_CUR_CONN, 0, "Passcode: %d",
                   B_APP_DEFAULT_PASSCODE);
  }

  // Send passcode response
  GAPBondMgr_PasscodeRsp(connHandle , SUCCESS, B_APP_DEFAULT_PASSCODE);
}

Depending on the uiInputs and uiOutputs returned from the GAPBondMgr, the passcode must either be displayed or entered. The passcode is then sent to the GAPBondMgr using GAPBondMgr_PasscodeRsp(), so that pairing can continue. In this case, the password is statically set to 123456. In a real product, the password will likely be randomly generated, and the device must expose a way for the user to enter the passcode, then send it to the GAPBondMgr using GAPBondMgr_PasscodeRsp(). An example interaction between the GAPBondMgr and the application is shown in Figure 89..

Figure 89. Interaction Between the GAPBondMgr and the Application when exchanging a passcode.

Numeric Comparison

Numeric comparison is a type of authenticated pairing that protects from MITM attacks. It is only possible as a LE Secure Connections pairing; not LE legacy. For numeric comparison pairing, both devices display a 6-digit code. Each device must then indicate, through a button press or some other Yes-No input, whether the codes match. The passcode callback registered with the GAPBondMgr when it was started is used to display the 6-digit code. The following is an example of initiating Numeric Comparison pairing where the passcode is displayed. The IO capabilities must be set appropriately to select numeric comparison (that is, Display/Yes-No on both sides).

1. Define passcode callback to display code.

Listing 133. Define passcode callback to display code.

// Bond Manager Callbacks
static gapBondCBs_t bondMgrCBs =
{
  SimpleCentral_passcodeCb, // Passcode callback
  SimpleCentral_pairStateCb // Pairing/Bonding state Callback
};

static void SimpleCentral_passcodeCb(uint8_t *deviceAddr, uint16_t connHandle, uint8_t uiInputs, uint8_t uiOutputs, uint32_t numComparison)
{
  gapPasskeyNeededEvent_t *pData;

  // Allocate space for the passcode event.
  if ((pData = ICall_malloc(sizeof(gapPasskeyNeededEvent_t))))
  {
    memcpy(pData->deviceAddr, deviceAddr, B_ADDR_LEN);
    pData->connectionHandle = connHandle;
    pData->numComparison = numComparison;

    // Enqueue the event.
    SimpleCentral_enqueueMsg(SC_EVT_PASSCODE_NEEDED, 0, pData);

2. Configure GAPBondMgr

Listing 134. Configure GAPBondMgr For LE Secure Connections + Authentication.

uint8_t pairMode = GAPBOND_PAIRING_MODE_WAIT_FOR_REQ;
uint8_t scMode = GAPBOND_SECURE_CONNECTION_ONLY;
uint8_t mitm = TRUE;
uint8_t ioCap = GAPBOND_IO_CAP_DISPLAY_YES_NO;

GAPBondMgr_SetParameter(GAPBOND_IO_CAPABILITIES, sizeof(uint8_t), &ioCap);
GAPBondMgr_SetParameter(GAPBOND_PAIRING_MODE, sizeof(uint8_t), &pairMode);
GAPBondMgr_SetParameter(GAPBOND_MITM_PROTECTION, sizeof(uint8_t), &mitm);
GAPBondMgr_SetParameter(GAPBOND_SECURE_CONNECTION, sizeof(uint8_t), &scMode);

3. Process passcode callback and display code.

Listing 135. Process passcode callback and display code.

  static void SimpleCentral_processPasscode(uint16_t connHandle,
                                            uint8_t uiOutputs)
  {
    // Display passcode to user
    if (uiOutputs != 0)
    {
      Display_printf(dispHandle, SC_ROW_CUR_CONN, 0, "Passcode: %d",
                     B_APP_DEFAULT_PASSCODE);
    }

    // Send passcode response
    GAPBondMgr_PasscodeRsp(connHandle, SUCCESS, B_APP_DEFAULT_PASSCODE);
  }

4. Accept Yes-No input from user and send response to GAPBondMgr.

Listing 136. Accept Yes-No input from user and send response to GAPBondMgr.

if (keys & KEY_RIGHT)
{
  //Send response to indicate that code matches
  GAPBondMgr_PasscodeRsp(connHandle, SUCCESS, TRUE);
  return;
}

In this case, the third parameter of GAPBondMgr_PasscodeRsp, which usually accepts a passcode, is overloaded to send TRUE to the stack to indicate that the codes match and to continue with pairing. The process of numeric comparison is illustrated in Figure 90.

Figure 90. Numeric Comparison.

Out of Band Pairing

Out of Band is a feature that allows two devices to send authentication information over a communication channel that is out of the band of the device, e.g. by NFC. The purpose is to allow two devices with no input or output capabilities to create an authenticated pairing. This happens by sending three authentication parameters: device address, random number and confirm value.

The main purpose of OOB authentication is to protect against MITM attacks. The idea is to generate a key on one device. (This can be the initiator or the responder.) Then the OOB data is communicated to the other device by some other means of communication than BLE.

The OOB data is generated at runtime. This can be done using elliptic-curve cryptography (ECC) or not. In this example we will use ECC to generate a key. To generate OOB data with a central application such as Simple Central follow these steps:

1. Create gapBondOOBData_t variables, one for the local OOB data and one for the remote device’s data:

// This is needed for the device that generates OOB data
gapBondOOBData_t localOobData;
// This is needed to store the OOB data this device receives
gapBondOOBData_t remoteOobData;

2. Define the pair state callback

// Bond Manager Callbacks
static gapBondCBs_t bondMgrCBs =
{
SimpleCentral_passcodeCb, // Passcode callback
SimpleCentral_pairStateCb // Pairing/Bonding state Callback
};

/*********************************************************************
 * @fn      SimpleCentral_pairStateCb
 *
 * @brief   Pairing state callback.
 *
 * @return  none
 */
static void SimpleCentral_pairStateCb(uint16_t connHandle, uint8_t state, uint8_t status)
{
  scPairStateData_t *pData;
  // Allocate space for the event data.
  if ((pData = ICall_malloc(sizeof(scPairStateData_t))))
  {
    pData->connHandle = connHandle;
    pData->status = status;
    // Queue the event.
    if(SimpleCentral_enqueueMsg(SC_EVT_PAIR_STATE, state, (uint8_t*) pData) != SUCCESS)
    {
      ICall_free(pData);
    }
  }
}

3. To generate OOB data with ECC keys, you need to call GAPBondMgr_GenerateEccKeys() prior to GAPBondMgr_SCGetLocalOOBParameters(). After calling GAPBondMgr_GenerateEccKeys(), once the ECC keys are ready, the BLE5-Stack will send GAPBOND_GENERATE_ECC_DONE event to application and the event should be processed under pair state callback.

   Then application can call GAPBondMgr_SCGetLocalOOBParameters() to obtain OOB data which is generated using the ECC Keys. The OOB data can then be extracted. The example code below illustrate how to extract the OOB data.

   Note

   The GAPBondMgr_GenerateEccKeys() and GAPBondMgr_SCGetLocalOOBParameters() can be called either before and after the connection is established. But these need to be called before the pairing started. In this case, we call both functions before the connection is established.

   Listing 137. SimpleCentral_init Generate ECC keys.

   // Generate ECC Keys
   GAPBondMgr_GenerateEccKeys();
   

   Listing 138. SimpleCentral_processPairState::GAPBOND_GENERATE_ECC_DONE Generate OOB data after ECC keys are ready.

   /*********************************************************************
    * @fn      SimpleCentral_processPairState
    *
    * @brief   Process the new paring state.
    *
    * @return  none
    */
   static void SimpleCentral_processPairState(uint8_t state,
                                              scPairStateData_t* pPairData)
   {
     uint8_t status = pPairData->status;
     uint8_t pairMode = 0;
     if (state == GAPBOND_GENERATE_ECC_DONE)
     {
       if (status == SUCCESS)
       {
           GAPBondMgr_SCGetLocalOOBParameters(&localOobData);
           uint8_t i;
           for (i = 0; i < KEYLEN; i++)
           {
               Display_printf(dispHandle, SC_ROW_CUR_CONN+i, 0, "OOB data confirm[%d]: %d", i, localOobData.confirm[i]);
               Display_printf(dispHandle, SC_ROW_CUR_CONN+KEYLEN+i, 0, "OOB data confirm[%d]: %d", i, localOobData.confirm[i]);
           }
       }
       break;
     }
   }
   

   Note

   If GAPBondMgr_GenerateEccKeys() is not called before GAPBondMgr_SCGetLocalOOBParameters(), the OOB data will be generated without ECC.

4. After the OOB data is generated, the device needs to send it over to the peer device using any other medium for example NFC or wired solutions(E.g. UART, SPI, LIN, CAN…etc). The device which has received the OOB data (not the one that generated it) should set the GAPBOND_OOB_ENABLED parameter to true. If both devices have generated and shared their OOB data both should set the flag. In this case we will only set the flag on the peripheral device.

   uint8_t oobEnabled = TRUE;
   
   GAPBondMgr_SetParameter(GAPBOND_OOB_ENABLED, sizeof(uint8_t), &oobEnabled);
   

5. Perform OOB communication, i.e. communicate the data in localOobData to the responder device. For simplicity, in this example the central device will display the data thus it can be hard coded on the peripheral device.

   

   Figure 91. The central device displays the OOB data.

Listing 139. SimplePeripheral_processGapMessage::GAP_DEVICE_INIT_DONE_EVENT The OOB data is hard coded on the peripheral device.

uint8_t oobEnabled = TRUE;
GAPBondMgr_SetParameter(GAPBOND_OOB_ENABLED, sizeof(uint8_t), &oobEnabled);
remoteOobData.confirm[0] = 204;
remoteOobData.confirm[1] = 29;
remoteOobData.confirm[2] = 240;
remoteOobData.confirm[3] = 154;
remoteOobData.confirm[4] = 141;
remoteOobData.confirm[5] = 40;
remoteOobData.confirm[6] = 132;
remoteOobData.confirm[7] = 41;
remoteOobData.confirm[8] = 156;
remoteOobData.confirm[9] = 106;
remoteOobData.confirm[10] = 91;
remoteOobData.confirm[11] = 230;
remoteOobData.confirm[12] = 11;
remoteOobData.confirm[13] = 88;
remoteOobData.confirm[14] = 117;
remoteOobData.confirm[15] = 104;
remoteOobData.rand[0] = 56;
remoteOobData.rand[1] = 242;
remoteOobData.rand[2] = 38;
remoteOobData.rand[3] = 152;
remoteOobData.rand[4] = 189;
remoteOobData.rand[5] = 78;
remoteOobData.rand[6] = 164;
remoteOobData.rand[7] = 36;
remoteOobData.rand[8] = 153;
remoteOobData.rand[9] = 82;
remoteOobData.rand[10] = 167;
remoteOobData.rand[11] = 190;
remoteOobData.rand[12] = 140;
remoteOobData.rand[13] = 235;
remoteOobData.rand[14] = 207;
remoteOobData.rand[15] = 93;
GAPBondMgr_SCSetRemoteOOBParameters(&remoteOobData, 1);

The process of aforementioned OOB pairing example is illustrated in Figure 92.

Figure 92. Out of Band Pairing

GAPBondMgr Examples for Manipulating Bonding

GAPBondMgr offers various functions to help users to:

1. Enable bonding

2. Extract bonding information

3. Import bonding information to NV

Enable Bonding

Bonding can enabled or disabled for any type of pairing through the GAPBOND_BONDING_ENABLED parameter, and occurs after the pairing process is complete. To enable bonding, configure the GAPBondMgr as follows:

uint8_t bonding = TRUE;
GAPBondMgr_SetParameter(GAPBOND_BONDING_ENABLED, sizeof(uint8_t), &bonding);

With bonding enabled, the GAPBondMgr stores the long-term key transferred during the pairing process to SNV. See GAPBondMgr and SNV for more information. After this is completed, the application is notified through the GAPBOND_PAIRING_STATE_COMPLETE event. GAPBOND_PAIRING_STATE_BOND_SAVED is only passed to the application pair state callback when initially connecting, pairing, and bonding. For future connections to a bonded device, the security keys are loaded from flash, thus skipping the pairing process. In this case, only GAPBOND_PAIRING_STATE_BONDED is passed to the application pair state callback. This is illustrated in Figure 93.

Figure 93. GAPBondMgr Example With Bonding Enabled.

Extract Bonding Information

After bonding, the local device can extract the bonding information saved in NV using gapBondMgrReadBondRec(). To successfully extract the bonding information, application will need to input the peer device’s address type and the peer device’s address. Those information are provided from the BLE5-Stack to the application when the link is established.

Following are the code snippet to extract the aforementioned parameters.

Listing 140. SimplePeripheral_processGapMessage::GAP_LINK_ESTABLISHED_EVENT Extract peer device address and address type.

// LOCAL VARIABLES

// Array to save peer device's address
static uint8_t peerDeviceAddr[B_ADDR_LEN];

// enum to store peer device's address type
static GAP_Peer_Addr_Types_t pPeerAddrType;

static void SimplePeripheral_processGapMessage(gapEventHdr_t *pMsg)
{
  switch(pMsg->opcode)
  {
    case GAP_LINK_ESTABLISHED_EVENT:
    {
      gapEstLinkReqEvent_t *pPkt = (gapEstLinkReqEvent_t *)pMsg;

      if (pPkt->hdr.status == SUCCESS)
      {

        // Copy Peer's addr
        memcpy(peerDeviceAddr, pPkt->devAddr, B_ADDR_LEN);

        // Copy Peer's addrType
        pPeerAddrType = (GAP_Peer_Addr_Types_t)(pPkt->devAddrType & MASK_ADDRTYPE_ID);
      }

      //...
      //...

Once extracting the needed parameters, we can call gapBondMgrReadBondRec() by using the following code snippet.

Listing 141. Extract bonding information

// Parameters needed for storing bonding information.
static gapBondRec_t pSavedBondRec;
static gapBondLTK_t pLocalLtk;
static gapBondLTK_t pPeerLtk;
static uint8_t pPeerIRK[KEYLEN];
static uint8_t pPeerSRK[KEYLEN];
static uint32_t pPeerSignCount;
static gapBondCharCfg_t charCfg;


uint8_t readStatus = FAILURE;
readStatus = gapBondMgrReadBondRec(pPeerAddrType,
                                   peerDeviceAddr,
                                   &pSavedBondRec,
                                   &pLocalLtk,
                                   &pPeerLtk,
                                   pPeerIRK,
                                   pPeerSRK,
                                   pPeerSignCount,
                                   &charCfg);
if (readStatus == SUCCESS)
{
  // If read success, then export the data
  // Here we will print it out for later use.
  // For the print, we added the following defines
  // Please consider your own example and modify as needed
  // #define SP_ROW_DEBUG_BondLog  (TBM_ROW_APP + 9)
  // #define SP_ROW_DEBUG_PeerAddr (TBM_ROW_APP + 10)
  // #define SP_ROW_DEBUG_LocalLTK (TBM_ROW_APP + 16)
  // #define SP_ROW_DEBUG_PeerIRK  (TBM_ROW_APP + 40)
  // #define SP_ROW_DEBUG_PeerSRK  (TBM_ROW_APP + 56)

  Display_printf(dispHandle, SP_ROW_DEBUG_PeerAddr, 0,
                 "Peer Device Addr = [0x%02x, 0x%02x, 0x%02x, 0x%02x, 0x%02x, 0x%02x];",
                 pSavedBondRec.addr[0],
                 pSavedBondRec.addr[1],
                 pSavedBondRec.addr[2],
                 pSavedBondRec.addr[3],
                 pSavedBondRec.addr[4],
                 pSavedBondRec.addr[5]);

  Display_printf(dispHandle, SP_ROW_DEBUG_PeerAddr+1, 0, "Peer Device AddrType = 0x%02x; stateFlag = 0x%02x;", pSavedBondRec.addrType, pSavedBondRec.stateFlags);
  Display_printf(dispHandle, SP_ROW_DEBUG_PeerAddr+2, 0, "Local Device eDiv = 0x%02x; keySize = 0x%02x", pLocalLtk.div, pLocalLtk.keySize);
  Display_printf(dispHandle, SP_ROW_DEBUG_PeerAddr+3, 0, "peer Device SignCount = 0x%08x;", pPeerSignCount);
  for (i = 0; i < KEYLEN; i++)
  {
      Display_printf(dispHandle, SP_ROW_DEBUG_LocalLTK+i, 0, "Local Device LTK[%d]= 0x%02x;", i, pLocalLtk.LTK[i]);
      Display_printf(dispHandle, SP_ROW_DEBUG_PeerIRK+i, 0, "Peer Device IRK[%d]= 0x%02x;", i, pPeerIRK[i]);
      Display_printf(dispHandle, SP_ROW_DEBUG_PeerSRK+i, 0, "Peer Device SRK[%d]= 0x%02x;", i, pPeerSRK[i]);
  }
  for (i = 0; i < B_RANDOM_NUM_SIZE; i++)
  {
      Display_printf(dispHandle, SP_ROW_DEBUG_LocalLTK+16+i, 0, "Local Device rand[%d]= 0x%02x;", i, pLocalLtk.rand[i]);
  }

  Display_printf(dispHandle, SP_ROW_DEBUG_PeerSRK+16+1, 0, "Charcfg attrHandle = 0x%04x; value = 0x%02x", charCfg.attrHandle, charCfg.value);
}

Warning

The pPeerLtk struct is not needed when extracting and importing bonds to another device. Therefore, we are not printing it out as the content of pPeerLtk is 0.

Here is the printout content using the code snippet.

Import Bonding Information

The bond import feature is useful when for example, there are multiple Bluetooth LE devices as peripheral and one mobile phone as central, and you would like the phone to go through the pairing process only once but is able to establish an encrypted link with any other peripheral nodes.

The following content illustrates such usecase.

Note

Here we assume device A and device B have the same secondary address. The device address can be configured by either using HCI_EXT_SetBDADDRCmd() or through SysConfig tool –> Device Configuration –> Configure BLE Address.

After extracting bonding information from device A and transfer the information to device B, we can then add those information into NV for device B by using gapBondMgrImportBond().

Listing 142. SimplePeripheral_init Import bonding information

// Make sure the device B has the same BD address as device A
// For example, if the device A's address is the following
// Then use HCI_EXT_SetBDADDRCmd to change the device B's address
uint8_t bondImportTestAddr[B_ADDR_LEN] = {0x12, 0x34, 0x45, 0xFE, 0xCA, 0x98};
// Change device's address
HCI_EXT_SetBDADDRCmd(bondImportTestAddr);

// Import Bond here
// Hardcode the bonding information from the printout
pSavedBondRec.addr[0] = 0xf5;
pSavedBondRec.addr[1] = 0xda;
pSavedBondRec.addr[2] = 0x31;
pSavedBondRec.addr[3] = 0xb0;
pSavedBondRec.addr[4] = 0x6f;
pSavedBondRec.addr[5] = 0x80;

pSavedBondRec.addrType = PEER_ADDRTYPE_PUBLIC_OR_PUBLIC_ID;
pSavedBondRec.stateFlags = 0x1c;

pLocalLtk.LTK[0]= 0xa8;
pLocalLtk.LTK[1]= 0x82;
pLocalLtk.LTK[2]= 0x09;
pLocalLtk.LTK[3]= 0x19;
pLocalLtk.LTK[4]= 0x65;
pLocalLtk.LTK[5]= 0x01;
pLocalLtk.LTK[6]= 0xbc;
pLocalLtk.LTK[7]= 0x58;
pLocalLtk.LTK[8]= 0x49;
pLocalLtk.LTK[9]= 0x28;
pLocalLtk.LTK[10]= 0x31;
pLocalLtk.LTK[11]= 0xac;
pLocalLtk.LTK[12]= 0x6c;
pLocalLtk.LTK[13]= 0x50;
pLocalLtk.LTK[14]= 0x6f;
pLocalLtk.LTK[15]= 0xd2;

pLocalLtk.div = 0;
pLocalLtk.keySize = 0x10;

pPeerLtk.div = 0;
pPeerLtk.keySize = 0;
uint8_t i;
for (i = 0; i < B_RANDOM_NUM_SIZE; i++)
{
    pLocalLtk.rand[i] = 0;
    pPeerLtk.rand[i] = 0;
}

for (i = 0; i < KEYLEN; i++)
{
    pPeerIRK[i] = 0;
    pPeerLtk.LTK[i] = 0;
}

pPeerSRK[0]= 0xab;
pPeerSRK[1]= 0x31;
pPeerSRK[2]= 0x78;
pPeerSRK[3]= 0xe5;
pPeerSRK[4]= 0x5a;
pPeerSRK[5]= 0x33;
pPeerSRK[6]= 0xf6;
pPeerSRK[7]= 0xe9;
pPeerSRK[8]= 0x1b;
pPeerSRK[9]= 0x80;
pPeerSRK[10]= 0xeb;
pPeerSRK[11]= 0xae;
pPeerSRK[12]= 0x25;
pPeerSRK[13]= 0xd4;
pPeerSRK[14]= 0x1d;
pPeerSRK[15]= 0x19;

pPeerSignCount = 0;
charCfg.attrHandle = 0xffff;
charCfg.value = 0xff;

gapBondMgrImportBond(&pSavedBondRec,
                     &pLocalLtk,
                     &pPeerLtk,
                     pPeerIRK,
                     pPeerSRK,
                     pPeerSignCount,
                     &charCfg);

The bonding import can be called at anytime, but for the demo purpose, we added the code under application_init. Therefore when device B connects with the central device that has paired with device A, the link between device B and central will be encrypted without going through the pairing process again.

Figure 94. illustrates the whole process of enable bonding, extract bonding information and import bonding information.

Figure 94. GAPBondMgr Example With Extracting and Importing Bonding Information.

GAPBondMgr and SNV

This section describes how the GAPBondMgr uses the SNV flash area for storing bonding information. For more information on SNV itself, see Flash. The amount of bonds that can be stored is set by the GAP_BONDINGS_MAX definition, which is set to 10 by default in gapbondmgr.h, which can be modified as needed by the application. The functionality of the GAPBondMgr when there are no more available bonds varies based on whether the “least recently used” scheme is enabled. See BLE Stack API Reference (GAPBondMgr section) for more information on the GAPBOND_LRU_BOND_REPLACEMENT parameter. If this parameter is set to false, it is not possible to add any more bonds without manually deleting a bond. If the parameter is set to true, the least recently used bond is deleted to make room for the new bond.

The following components comprise one bonding entry:

1. Bond Record: this consists of the peer’s address, address type, privacy reconnection address, and state flags. This comprises 8 bytes and is defined as such:

// Structure of NV data for the connected device's address information
typedef struct
{
  /**
   * Peer's address
   *
   * If identity information exists for this bond, this will be an
   * identity address
   */
  uint8_t               addr[B_ADDR_LEN];
  /**
   * Peer's address type
   */
  GAP_Peer_Addr_Types_t addrType;
  /**
   * State flags of bond
   *
   * @ref GAP_BONDED_STATE_FLAGS
   */
  uint8_t               stateFlags;
} gapBondRec_t;

2. Client Characteristic Configurations (CCC): the amount of CCCs stored in each entry are set by the GAP_CHAR_CFG_MAX define. This is set to 4 by default. Each CCC is comprised of 4-bytes and is defined as follows:

// Structure of NV data for the connected device's characteristic configuration
typedef struct
{
  uint16 attrHandle;  // attribute handle
  uint8  value;       // attribute value for this device
} gapBondCharCfg_t;

3. Local Long Term Key (LTK) info: this stores the local device’s encryption information. This comprises 28 bytes and is composed as such:

typedef struct
{
  uint8   LTK[KEYLEN];              // Long Term Key (LTK)
  uint16  div;  //lint -e754        // LTK eDiv
  uint8   rand[B_RANDOM_NUM_SIZE];  // LTK random number
  uint8   keySize;                  // LTK key size
} gapBondLTK_t;

4. Peer Device Long Term Key Info: this stores the peer device’s encryption information. This is also a gapBondLTK_t and comprises 28 bytes.

5. Peer Device Identity Resolving Key (IRK): this stores the IRK generated during pairing. This is a 16-byte array.

6. Peer Device Connection Signature Resolving Key (CSRK): this stores the CSRK generated during pairing. This is a 16-byte array.

7. Peer Device Sign counter: this stores the sign counter generated during pairing. This is a 4-byte word.

Increasing Number of Bonding Entries

The amount of bonds that can be stored is set by the GAP_BONDINGS_MAX definition, which is set to 10 by default in gapbondmgr.h. However, due to the structure of SNV, if a GAP_BONDINGS_MAX value of more than 13 is needed, then there are some additional required changes to support storage of the larger number of bonds:

1. Modify GAP_BONDINGS_MAX to the desired maximum number of bonding entries to store before requiring deletion of old bonds. The value of GAP_BONDINGS_MAX should not exceed 32.

   Warning

   If scanning or connection initiation on 2M PHY is used, then the maximum number of bonds that can be saved in NV is 21.

2. In the file bcomdef.h, modify the start and end ranges of Bonding NV Items, GATT Configuration NV Items, and Customer NV Items. This is done by modifying BLE_NVID_GAP_BOND_END, BLE_NVID_GATT_CFG_START, BLE_NVID_GATT_CFG_END, BLE_NVID_CUST_START, and BLE_NVID_CUST_END. The modifications must follow these rules:

   • For GAP: (BLE_NVID_GAP_BOND_END - BLE_NVID_GAP_BOND_START) >= GAP_BONDINGS_MAX*6

   • For GATT: (BLE_NVID_GATT_CFG_END - BLE_NVID_GATT_CFG_START) >= GAP_BONDINGS_MAX.

   • No overlap can exist between any of the ranges.

   • All indexes are 1 Byte values and so should not exceed 0xFF or 255.

Note

Any change in the bonding configuration, such as increasing the max number of bonding entries, must be followed by a full erase of the NV. Since there is no API in the stack for doing this, the erase must be performed using a programming tool such as CCS or Uniflash.

GAPBondMgr and Service Change Indication

Background

Commonly used mobile phones implement Attribute Caching. As its name suggests, this mechanism allows the GATT client - i.e. the phone - to cache the attribute handles. Upon consecutive connections with paired and bonded devices, the cached attribute handles are used instead of rediscovering the whole GATT table. This saves time and energy.

However, if the GATT server changes the attributes handles - typically after a firmware update through an OAD - the cached GATT table is not correct anymore. This may lead the phone to not be aware of certain services or attributes. This inconsistency can lead to issues with your application as the old attribute handles may point to different attributes.

The solution consists in leveraging the standard Generic Attribute Service, especially the characteristic called Service Changed. Through this service, the client is made aware of the GATT table changes and can rediscover it.

Send Service Change Indications

1. Add the predefines: GAP_BOND_MGR and DV41_FEATURES=L2CAP_COC_CFG in Project → Proporties → Arm Compiler → Predefined Symbols.

2. Use function GAPBondMgr_ServiceChangeInd() as following

   case GAP_LINK_ESTABLISHED_EVENT:
   {
     gapEstLinkReqEvent_t *pPkt = (gapEstLinkReqEvent_t *)pMsg;
   
     // Display the amount of current connections
     uint8_t numActive = linkDB_NumActive();
   
     if (pPkt->hdr.status == SUCCESS)
     {
       // Add connection to list and start RSSI
       UserApp_addConn(pPkt->connectionHandle);
       GAPBondMgr_ServiceChangeInd(pPkt->connectionHandle, TRUE);
     }
   

Note

The code snippet presented sends a service change indication every time a connection is established. This is not required nor recommended. Instead, a flag could be set in NV memory to track whether GATT table has changed since last boot. That way, a service change indication could be sent only when required.

Pairing and Encryption without GAPBondMgr

Even though GAPBondMgr can offload most of the Pairing & Bonding mechanisms from the application, the start of pairing process will be controlled by the BLE5-Stack. For applications that want to control the start of the pairing process, the following modification will be needed.

1. Set GAPBOND_PAIRING_MODE to GAPBOND_PAIRING_MODE_WAIT_FOR_REQ: This can be acheived by either using SysConfig tool or add the following to application.

   uint8_t pairMode                =    GAPBOND_PAIRING_MODE_WAIT_FOR_REQ;
   GAPBondMgr_SetParameter(GAPBOND_PAIRING_MODE, sizeof(uint8_t), &pairMode);
   

2. After connection has been established, the application must invoke the API GAPBondMgr_FindAddr() to figure out whether the connected devices has been paired and bonded or not.

3. If the peer device is not bonded, call GAPBondMgr_Pair(): Then the pairing process will be started.

4. If the peer device is already bonded, then application can call gapBondMgrReadBondRec() to extract the bonding information. Refer to Extract Bonding Information for more information.

5. Once the bonding information is available, call HCI_LE_StartEncyptCmd() to start the encryption process.

Figure 95. Pairing and Encryption Example Without Using GAPBondMgr.