Is there an officially supported SoftDevice-free BLE environment? (Zephyr, NimBLE, or Nordic Radio API)

[kimhh]

I'm currently working on a project using the nRF52833 with nRF5 SDK 17.1.0 and SoftDevice S140 v7.2.0, aiming to run BLE (Peripheral role) and Qorvo DW3000-based UWB communication on the same application.

• BLE stack version: SoftDevice S140 v7.2.0

• SDK: Nordic nRF5 SDK 17.1.0

• UWB driver: libdwt_uwb_driver-m4-hfp-6.0.7.a

• MCU: nRF52833 

Unfortunately, the UWB driver is not compatible with the SoftDevice — due to conflicts with GPIOTE, TIMER, and NVIC — and cannot run simultaneously with the BLE stack.

So i have questions, Is there an official or supported BLE environment provided by Nordic that does not use the SoftDevice, such as:

• Zephyr + NimBLE

• Nordic Radio APIs (i.e., raw radio mode)

In addition:

• Are there SoftDevice-free replacements for app_timer, nrf_pwr_mgmt, and similar modules in the SDK?

• Does Nordic provide any guidance or examples for BLE implementation without SoftDevice, suitable for use cases like coexistence with aggressive low-level peripheral drivers (UWB, etc.)?

• Any internal BLE controller implementation without SoftDevice

Any guidance on SoftDevice-free BLE options or migration strategies would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your support!

[Turbo J]

Try using NRF5340 MCU - this has the timing sensitive radio stuff on a separate core.

The Zephyr open source radio stuff shares the time sensitive nature on all single core MCU variants AFAIK.