ZBOSS NCP Serial Protocol for ncp_host_v3.0.1?

[John Connett]

ZBOSS NCP: ZBOSS NCP Serial Protocol, Version 1.5 states that a "Full featured Zigbee PRO r22 platform is provided".

Is a more recent version of this document available for the ZBOSS NCP Serial Protocol used by ncp_host_v3.0.1 for the nRF54L Series with r23 support?

[DaKa]

Hello,

Were you able to find the documentation for the ZBOSS NCP Serial Protocol used in R23? I am also interested in this.

I tested the NCP sample from the ncs-zigbee addon (R23) that uses ZBOSS 4.2.2.0 and I can see that a few things have changed in the protocol.

Also, I noticed that when I use the NCP from ncs-zigbee-r22 and use the GetVersion command (from ZBOSS NCP Serial Protocol, Version1.5), I get the protocol version as such:

Current NCP versions:
Stack: 3.11.6.0
Protocol: 0.0.1.21

while using the R23 ncs-zigbee NCP sample, no protocol version is specified.

Current NCP versions:
Stack: 4.2.2.0
Protocol: 0.0.0.0

Best regards,
Damien

[DaKa]

Now I am very confused.

I went ahead and checked the versions in the official NCP firmware shipped with the ncp_host_v3.5.0 from the infocenter (https://docs.nordicsemi.com/bundle/addon-zigbee-r23-latest/page/samples/ncp/README.html).

Now, from the ncp_host_v3.5.0.zip file I downloaded, I flashed a nRF52840 DK with `ncp_host_v3.5.0/ncp_fw/ncp.usb.nrf52840dk_nrf52840.hex` and I expected to get stack version 4.2.2.3:

But here is what I get:

Current NCP versions:
FW: 0.0.0.1
Stack: 3.15.99.99
Protocol: 0.0.0.0

Here is the full serial communication log between the host and NCP:

2025-12-10 10:21:12,129 [INFO]: Opened /dev/serial/by-id/usb-ZEPHYR_Zigbee_NCP_AF7506A6C9113CA5-if00 serial port
2025-12-10 10:21:12,132 [DEBUG]: TX: b'DE:AD:0C:00:06:C0:7C:DC:5A:00:00:01:00:00'
2025-12-10 10:21:13,134 [DEBUG]: No ACK after 1s for b'DE:AD:0C:00:06:C0:7C:DC:5A:00:00:01:00:00'
2025-12-10 10:21:13,237 [DEBUG]: RX: b'DE:AD:05:00:06:01:8F'
2025-12-10 10:21:13,240 [DEBUG]: RX: b'DE:AD:1A:00:06:C0:72:C2:18:00:01:01:00:00:00:00:01:00:00:00:63:63:0F:03:00:00:00:00'
2025-12-10 10:21:13,242 [DEBUG]: TX: b'DE:AD:05:00:06:01:8F'
2025-12-10 10:21:13,248 [DEBUG]: RX: b'DE:AD:0C:00:06:C4:84:F9:30:00:02:2B:00:02'
2025-12-10 10:21:13,250 [DEBUG]: TX: b'DE:AD:05:00:06:11:C0'

Edvin  do you have any idea why the stack version is not 4.2.2.3?

Best regards,
Damien

[Edvin]

Hello Damien,

I am not sure why it says that. Does the same also happen if you build the NCP sample from the nRF Connect SDK v3.1.1? If it does, can you please create a new ticket, and describe the issue there?

Best regards,

Edvin

[DaKa]

Hi,

The Zigbee NCP sample has been moved to an addon (https://github.com/nrfconnect/ncs-zigbee) and the latest version of the addon is v1.2.1.
I checked the west.yaml file which pulls the NCS v2.9.2.

# Copyright (c) 2024 Nordic Semiconductor ASA
# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0

manifest:
  remotes:
    - name: ncs
      url-base: https://github.com/nrfconnect

  projects:
    - name: nrf
      remote: ncs
      repo-path: sdk-nrf
      revision: v2.9.2
      import: true

That means there is no Zigbee NCP sample in NCS v3.1.1 I can build from.

Now, when I build the NCP sample from ncs-zigbee v1.2.1, I get the Stack version 4.2.2.0 (which should actually be 4.2.2.3 according to the release notes).
This makes sense though, because ncs-zigbee is using ZBOSS 4.0 (R23).

At that point, I am just confused, it looks like the latest ZBOSS NCP host package we can download in the infocenter is still for Zigbee 3.0 (R22) since the pre-built firmware are using ZBOSS Stack version 3.15.99.99.
That means, I couldn't find any ZBOSS NCP host download for Zigbee 4.0

[Edvin]

DaKa said:

and the latest version of the addon is v1.2.1

Sorry. I was a bit quick. Yes, I meant to say that the latest was v1.2.1, not 3.1.1. The zigbee stack is moved this addon, yes.

Our zigbee team confirmed that it is a minor bug, where it reports the wrong stack version. While it says 4.2.2.0, it is actually running 4.2.2.3.

Also note that for the NCP sample, there is no real difference between 4.2.2.0 and 4.2.2.3.

Best regards,

Edvin