nRF9151DK with nRF7002 EK

[itieledri]

Hi everyone,

I’m currently evaluating whether it is practical to use the nRF9151 DK together with the nRF7002 EK in the same project.

The goal is to use the nRF9151 for LTE-M/NB-IoT connectivity and the nRF7002 for Wi-Fi, using nRF Connect SDK / Zephyr.

I wanted to ask:

1. Has anyone successfully used the nRF9151 DK + nRF7002 EK combination?
2. Is there an official or recommended sample/project configuration for this setup?
3. Are there any required Devicetree overlays or Kconfig options specific to this combination?
4. Are there any known limitations with RAM/flash usage when combining LTE, modem libraries, Wi-Fi, TLS/cloud connectivity, and Zephyr networking on the nRF9151?
5. Would Nordic recommend this architecture for a production design, or would it be better to use a separate MCU for the Wi-Fi side and communicate with the nRF9151 over UART/SPI?

Any guidance, example overlays, or references to similar projects would be very helpful.

Thanks.

[Nishant Gaurav]

Hi itieledri

1 ) Yes, nRF9151 DK + nRF7002 EK is a supported combo in NCS, and also nordic Thingy91x device is using nrf9151 and nrf7002 for wifi based location. 

2 ) Yes there is official sample for this like  Wi-Fi: Scan sample and Wi-Fi: Shell sample , both sample you will bget in NCS, Keep (  nrf9151dk/nrf9151/ns )  board target with the ( nrf7002ek_nrf7000 )shield. build with command ( west build -p -b nrf9151dk/nrf9151/ns -- -DEXTRA_CONF_FILE=overlay-scan-only.conf -DSHIELD=nrf7002ek -DSB_CONFIG_WIFI_NRF70_SCAN_ONLY=y ).

3 )  Reference overlay examples are available in the SDK at:

• sdk-nrf/boards/shields/nrf7002ek/boards/nrf9160dk_nrf9160_ns.overlay
• sdk-nrf/samples/cellular/lwm2m_client/boards/nrf9160dk_with_nrf7002ek.overlay

Feature	nRF9151 DK + nRF7002 EK
Wi-Fi Scan (location)	Supported
Wi-Fi Shell (scan-only)	Supported
STA Mode (full Wi-Fi)	Not supported
SoftAP / Wi-Fi Provisioning	Not supported

4)   RAM/flash gets tight running full LTE + TLS + full Wi-Fi networking + cloud together on nRF9151 (limited app-core RAM).

Nordic's own combos avoid this by running Wi-Fi in scan-only mode (CONFIG_WIFI_NRF700X_SCAN_ONLY) alongside LTE.

Full dual-stack + TLS is possible but needs trimming and checking via west build -t ram_report/rom_report.

5 ) Nordic's own Thingy:91 X validates the integrated architecture. Nordic's own reference product integrates nRF9151 + nRF7002 + nRF5340 on a single board, which implies the integrated approach is considered production-viable — at least for the Wi-Fi scan-only + LTE use case. [Thingy:91 X hardware].

Regards

Nishant

[itieledri]

Thanks for the detail explanation. 

[Samruddhi Jadhav]

Hello,

I see that most of your questions seem to be answered in the case already, but just to confirm:

1. Has anyone successfully used the nRF9151 DK + nRF7002 EK combination?

The nRF9151dk is compatible with the nRF7002 ek which can be used for Wi-Fi locationing as the kit is Arduino Uno Rev3 compatible. 

2. Is there an official or recommended sample/project configuration for this setup?

I would recommend you to take a look at the following samples: Wi-Fi Shell, Wi-Fi Scan, Wi-Fi Shutdown, Cellular: location and Cellular: Modem Shell

These samples contain the necessary build commands and board targets with the shield. 

Are there any required Devicetree overlays or Kconfig options specific to this combination?

Please refer to the overlay examples given here: https://nrfconnectdocs.nordicsemi.com/ncs/latest/nrf/app_dev/device_guides/nrf70/nrf7002ek_dev_guide.html

• sdk-nrf/boards/shields/nrf7002ek/boards/nrf9160dk_nrf9160_ns.overlay

• sdk-nrf/samples/cellular/lwm2m_client/boards/nrf9160dk_with_nrf7002ek.overlay

4. Are there any known limitations with RAM/flash usage when combining LTE, modem libraries, Wi-Fi, TLS/cloud connectivity, and Zephyr networking on the nRF9151?

Full Wi-Fi cannot be run as there isn't enough Flash and RAM but Wi-Fi scan-only mode can be used. 

or would it be better to use a separate MCU for the Wi-Fi side and communicate with the nRF9151 over UART/SPI?

That seems like a valid approach. We have the Thingy:91x where the nRF9151 manages the LTE/cellular side, the nRF5340 is like a secondary processor and the nRF7002 connected to either chip via a shared SPI bus. 

https://www.nordicsemi.com/Products/Development-hardware/Nordic-Thingy-91-X

Please let us know if you have any further questions.

Best Regards,

Samruddhi