fix(esp32): make CSI callback actually fire (connected-STA CSI + self-ping)

[merajmehrabi]

Problem

On ESP32-S3, wifi_csi_callback never fires — pkt_yield=0pps, the ADR-081 adaptive controller stays in ADAPT_STATE_DEGRADED, and every rv_feature_state_t packet reads motion=0, presence=0, DEGRADED. The node streams but senses nothing. Reproduced on v0.6.5 and v0.7.0, on 3 boards, on both HT40 and HT20 APs. (Same symptom as #954 and the closed #521.)

Root cause

The ESP32 CSI engine only produces CSI for received OFDM frames (it measures the L-LTF/HT-LTF training fields). csi_collector_init() captured CSI only through a MGMT-only promiscuous filter (the #396 Core-0 DATA-sniff crash workaround), so the only CSI-eligible frames were beacons — which APs almost always transmit at non-OFDM DSSS basic rates (1–2 Mbps) that carry no training field. Net: zero CSI-eligible frames → zero callbacks.

The OFDM traffic source the comments describe ("probe request injection at 10 Hz") does not exist — csi_inject_ndp_frame() has no callers and is a TX-only null-data stub anyway (TX does not generate CSI).

The prior #521 fix — esp_wifi_set_ps(WIFI_PS_NONE) — was a wrong diagnosis (modem sleep) committed without a hardware check; it is present in current firmware and the symptom persists.

Fix

Mirror Espressif's reference (esp-csi/examples/get-started/csi_recv_router): use plain connected-STA CSI and generate received OFDM frames by pinging the gateway at 50 Hz (esp_ping). Each ICMP echo reply is a unicast OFDM data frame addressed to the station → the CSI engine fires.

Disabling promiscuous mode also removes the #396 Core-0 crash surface entirely (we no longer sniff DATA frames; we only receive our own low-rate replies).

Verification (ESP32-S3 N16R8, ESP-IDF v5.4)

csi_collector: Promiscuous DISABLED — connected-STA CSI + self-ping (fix #521/#954)
csi_collector: self-ping started -> 192.168.0.1 @50Hz
csi_collector: CSI cb #1: len=256 rssi=-65 ch=3      <- callback now fires
adaptive_ctrl: state=6 yield=32pps motion=1.00 presence=10.48   <- SENSE_ACTIVE

Host-side decode of 0xC5110006: DEGRADED 0/70, PRES_VALID|RESP_VALID|HB_VALID, breathing ≈ 9–13 bpm and heart rate ≈ 40–46 bpm computed.

Notes / follow-ups

• motion saturates at 1.00 in early testing — likely the constant self-ping baseline; the motion threshold/normalisation may want a follow-up tune.
• Ping rate (50 Hz) and target (gateway) could be made NVS-configurable.
• 1 file changed (firmware/esp32-csi-node/main/csi_collector.c); builds clean for esp32s3, 47% app partition free.

Closes #954. Supersedes the unverified #521 fix.

[ruvnet]

Thanks for the root-cause and the fix, @merajmehrabi — your self-ping diagnosis was correct and verified on our ESP32-S3 (COM8).

We landed it as #985 (merged to main) as an additive variant rather than merging this PR directly. The reason: since you branched (2026-06-05) main shipped #893 (898c536ea), which fixes the same starvation a different way — it keeps promiscuous on and upgrades MGMT→MGMT+DATA on display-less boards via csi_collector_enable_data_capture() (called from main.c). Removing promiscuous here would have left that path calling esp_wifi_set_promiscuous_filter() on a disabled interface, and would have dropped the promiscuous capture multistatic sensing relies on.

#985 keeps #396/#893 intact and adds your gateway self-ping as a guaranteed ~50 Hz OFDM floor — which also fixes the display-build edge case from the #954 thread. You're credited as co-author on the squashed commit. Closing this as superseded by #985. 🙏