Micropython on nRF5340?

[ace.johnny]

I understand that Nordic has completely converted to Zephyr going forward, and will only support that OS for future development, but are there any technical limitations preventing community ports of Micropython for the nRF5340?

The nRF51 and nRF52 series already have ports of Micro/Circuitpython available, but I've found absolutely nothing regarding the nRF53. Obviously the SoC's complexity and full feature set can't be completely supported, but I'm surprised that there's not even a basic single-core build for this powerful platform at all.

Is it possible to reuse the nRF52 port on the nRF53, or are the architectural differences between them too pronounced? I'm not nearly proficient enough yet to attempt implementing a port myself, but I'm curious why seemingly no one else has tried. Is it simply not possible due to reasons beyond my novice comprehension?

[Sigurd Hellesvik]

Hi,

I understand that Nordic has completely converted to Zephyr going forward, and will only support that OS for future development, but are there any technical limitations preventing community ports of Micropython for the nRF5340?

I do not see any limitations myself. The nRF5340 is just two Cortex cores, and those will run code compiled by micropython.
Drivers for inter-core communication will be a bit complicated to use I think, but should be technically possible.

Other than that, remember to follow our Erratas when implementing it, those Errata fixes are one of the things that are easy to forget you get for free with our supported software.

Obviously the SoC's complexity and full feature set can't be completely supported, but I'm surprised that there's not even a basic single-core build for this powerful platform at all.

The Radio is only available to the network core, so to use both the application core (the powerful core) and the Radio, you need some type of intercore functionality.

Is it possible to reuse the nRF52 port on the nRF53, or are the architectural differences between them too pronounced? I'm not nearly proficient enough yet to attempt implementing a port myself, but I'm curious why seemingly no one else has tried. Is it simply not possible due to reasons beyond my novice comprehension?

I suspect you could reuse some but not all.
I will leave this answer up to the community.

Regards,
Sigurd Hellesvik

[ace.johnny]

It's disappointing that nothing simpler than Zephyr exists for the nRF53, since most other platforms offer at least several languages to choose from. When inspiration strikes on the nRF5340, it often quickly dissipates before slogging through the myriad intricacies involved, rather than easily banging out a functional (albeit less performant) proof of concept.

For the amount of effort, study, and time I've invested in NCS, you'd think I'd have more to show for it, but even as someone who's been programming since the Apple 2, I can accomplish so frustratingly little using Nordic's dictatorial choice of code. It has sadly sucked a lot of joy from my experience.

Having to port an entire language to such a staggeringly complex SoC just to simplify experimentation is unfortunately too big a task for me. I foolishly assumed that the nRF53 would be the next ubiquitously popular nRF52, but I've begun to regret my choice of DK selection.

Thank you though, Sigurd, for the patient and insightful response.