Is it possible to connect to Wi-Fi using Thingy:91 and nRF7002-DK, without using both boards' other main nRF ICs?

[Gova]

Hi all,

I am new to nRF7002 DK and to any interfaces out of Thingy:91.

So your patience would be really appreciated.

I saw that, nRF7002 is a companion IC and needs SPI or QSPI interface to talk with Host MCU.

I also was able to see that, Thingy:91's SPI pins are taken out as Test Points.

To basically connect to internet over Wi-Fi and make a simple HTTP Post request to my server, is it possible to use nRF9160 IC in Thingy:91 and nRF7002 IC in the DK alone and do it?

Only these two ICs will be available in my custom Board, and only when Wi-Fi is not available, I would like to connect using NB-IoT.

As of now, I have a thingy:91 board, nRF7002-DK board, Segger J-Link programmer and a cable to program Thingy:91.

I was not able to find any information on the nRF7002-EK / Shield anywhere and I dont have one.

Can I make the above requirement work with what I have?

If so, can anyone please let me know the steps involved in it?

I would be super grateful, if someone can help me out.

Thanks a ton in advance.

[Øyvind]

Hello,

During the summer season, our workforce is currently operating with reduced staff levels throughout the company, which may lead to slight delays in our response time as we await additional resources. Rest assured, we are actively addressing all issues and working diligently to resolve them promptly.

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I will look into your case and get back to you by end of tomorrow. 

Kind regards,
Øyvind

[Øyvind]

To basically connect to internet over Wi-Fi and make a simple HTTP Post request to my server, is it possible to use nRF9160 IC in Thingy:91 and nRF7002 IC in the DK alone and do it?

Currently there is no support for this in our SDK. The main usage of WiFi with nRF9160 is to scan SSID and provide better location using i.e. Modem Shell sample

Kind regards,
Øyvind

[Gova]

Thanks for your response.

Actually my question was specifically for the hardware and its connections, to check if it is feasible to connect Thingy 91 board and nrf7002 DK and then connect over Wi-Fi. 

I am just checking if this can be an alternate for nrf9160 DK + nRF7002-EK (upcoming shield).

Now coming to your reply, I assume that nrf7000 only provides scanning, while nrf7002 ic provides both connectivty and locationing. So, with nRF7002 IC, it should be possible to make a simple HTTP request to my server. Right?

Thanks and expecting your response.

[Øyvind]

In regards to the connection, yes, it should be possible. But there is currently no direct support for LTE + Wi-Fi in our SDK for this, only scanning to be used for location services. Controlling Wi-Fi can be done with

• nRF9160: Modem Shell - Note: nrf\samples\nrf9160\modem_shell\overlay-nrf7002ek-wifi-scan-only.conf
   Overlay to use nRF7002 EK on top of nrf9160 DK for Wi-Fi scanning
• Wi-Fi: Shell - Note: nrf\samples\wifi\shell\overlay-scan-only.conf. Follow the documentation for building sample.

The following information is found the in our Infocenter for nRF7002DK and Thingy:91

Shorting the solder bridges (located close to the nRF7002) on the QSPI lines should allow you to connect external devices to the P24 header.

SB20	Open	Short to connect P0.16 to the P24 header
SB21	Open	Short to connect P0.17 to the P24 header
SB22	Open	Short to connect P0.13 to the P24 header
SB23	Open	Short to connect P0.18 to the P24 header
SB24	Open	Short to connect P0.14 to the P24 header
SB25	Open	Short to connect P0.15 to the P24 header

Where the pins on the P24 header are

P0.13	QSPI_DATA0	Data line 0
P0.14	QSPI_DATA1	Data line 1
P0.15	QSPI_DATA2	Data line 3
P0.16	QSPI_DATA3	Data line 3
P0.17	QSPI_CLK	Clock
P0.18	QSPI_SS	Slave select

The Thingy:91 does have an extra spare header, P6, which is routed from the nRF52840. You could connect the nRF7002DK to this header and then program QSPI pins in the nRF52840 to the header. Note that the nRF52840 on the Thingy:91 is what controls the USB connection through the Connectivity Bridge application.

1	SPARE1	General-Purpose Input/Output (GPIO) of the nRF52840
2	SPARE2	GPIO of the nRF52840
3	SPARE3	GPIO of the nRF52840
4	SPARE4	GPIO of the nRF52840
5	SPARE5	GPIO of the nRF52840
6	SPARE6	GPIO of the nRF52840

Kind regards,
Øyvind

[Gova]

Hello Øyvind,

Thanks for your reply. With your below reply,

Øyvind said:

In regards to the connection, yes, it should be possible. But there is currently no direct support for LTE + Wi-Fi in our SDK for this, only scanning to be used for location services.

I assume that, connecting to the Access Point and transmitting data (eg. using Rest APIs) is possible using nRF7002, but it is actually not directly available in the SDK as of now. Only scanning, for Wi-Fi locationing is available as of now.

Correct me if my above understanding is wrong.

Now into the hardware connections, 

Øyvind said:

The Thingy:91 does have an extra spare header, P6, which is routed from the nRF52840. You could connect the nRF7002DK to this header and then program QSPI pins in the nRF52840 to the header.

This means, it is not possible to connect nRF9160 and nRF7002 alone, and it will involve nRF52840 also, which will be contradictory for our requirement, as mentioned in the title of the ticket. We have only nRF9160 and nRF7002 in our custom board. So my understanding is, with thingy91 and nRF7002-DK. it is not possible to avoid nRF52840 and make only cellular and Wi-Fi wok. 

Let me know if this is right. Based on your reply, I will order a nRF7002-EK, to make sure we are prototyping with only the components we will have in the end product. 

But this hardware connection information will be really useful, and we will implement this if procurring nRF7002-EK is getting late.

Pls, I want your suggestion on my below query as it demands technical input. Our product works both in-campus and outside the campus using NB-IoT, Wi-Fi and GNSS and its data is time-critical / urgent. We have 2 workflows and both of them are mentioned below. Based on coverage guarantee of technologies, power consumption and modem wake-up & connect time, please suggest me one of the following 2 methods.

1. Both modems sleep. Wake up every 10 minutes or on interrupt, Turn on Wi-Fi modem, check for known SSIDs (inside campus), connect to them and transmit data. If no known SSIDs scanned, turn ON Cellular modem, connect to the network, transmit basic+GNSS data(if available) to the cloud.

2. Cellular modem always connected in eDRX mode. On timer reset or interrupt, Turn on Wi-Fi modem, scan for SSIDs, gather the basic + Wi-Fi AP data and transmit it via cellular network. If no SSIDs scanned, transmit basic + GNSS data(if available) to the cloud.

 

Your support in resolving the above query will be really appreciated. 

Thanks a ton in advance,

Govardhanan.