How would I go about sending MIPI data via Bluetooth to a computer?

RE: How would I go about sending MIPI data via Bluetooth to a computer?

Simonr — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 11:17:46 GMT

Yes, BLE should be able to handle transferring an image every few seconds, but either way I'd recommend a newer nRF52 series device than the old nRF51 series.

I think it would be worth looking into how to convert the MIPI data into an image or file though, as that will make the transfer easier I believe. Unfortunately we here at Nordic aren't too familiar with the MIPI specification (I think I found the correct spec for the camera you're using), so I'd recommend giving it a read to I.E. see what the possibilities here are.

Best regards,

Simon

RE: How would I go about sending MIPI data via Bluetooth to a computer?

robertz — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 00:39:18 GMT

Thanks for the quick reply.

I wasn't aware that the nRF5x series only did BLE. I would much rather convert the MIPI data to some sort of image file and then send it over Bluetooth, but I don't know how to do that so I'm also open to just sending the raw MIPI data where it might be easier to find a library/driver to handle it somehow on the computer.

The good news is that I don't care a ton about throughput- I just want an image to be sent once every few seconds, which I think even old BLE should be able to handle?

I might check out the devboard you sent as well as it seems like a really easy solution to my problem, but ideally I could just stick with the existing IC and refactor the code because I have a bunch leftover from previous projects.

RE: How would I go about sending MIPI data via Bluetooth to a computer?

Simonr — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 11:03:42 GMT

Are you planning on sending the MIPI data over Bluetooth Low Energy (the nRF5x series doesn't support Bluetooth Classic) as just images/files or to "stream" footage in real-time? BLE is not very well suited for throughputs as high as what's needed to stream a steady video stream unfortunately, and the nRF51822 is even less suitable, as it is a rather old IC by now, and doesn't support any of the BLE features that increased throughput by quite a bit in BLE 5.0.

Either way I'd recommend moving to at least the nRF52 series that we have updated SDKs for and sample projects. We even have this BLE image transfer demo for the nRF52840 DK that uses a camera sensor to capture a JPG image and send it oer BLE to a phone app. A throughput of ~1300kbps has been tested and confirmed here.

You're right that the MIPI will need to be handled in software, but we don't have a library/driver that handles MIPI data I'm afraid. Perhaps a third party does though.

Best regards,

Simon