Is nRF51822 QFAAG0 compatible with nRF51 SDK v. 5.x.x ?

[Henry Wong]

Hi,

In order to use new nRF51 SDK v. 5.1.0, we have just bought a new NRF51822 EV Kit from your distributor. It contains PCA10001 v2.2.0 2013.49 but the IC is nRF51822 QFAAG0 instead of QFAAGC .

The "nWP-018 White Paper v1.1" mentions that nRF51822 QFAAG0 is the new version and compatible with nRF51 SDK v. 5.x.x and S110 v6.x.x

However, the release_notes of nRF51 SDK v. 5.1.0 mentions it is not compatible with nRF51822 QFAAG0.

I am so confused about it?

If nRF51822 QFAAG0 is not compatible with nRF51 SDK v. 5.1.0 , we have to exchange the PCA10001 for the one contains nRF51822 QFAAGC . Which version of PCA10001 does contain nRF51822 QFAAGC ?

[Stefan Birnir Sverrisson]

Hi Henry Wong

The nRF51822 QFAAGC and nRF51822 QFAAG0 are both compatible with softdevice S110 v6.x.x and SDK 5.x.x. In terms of compatibility and from the programmers point of view, these chips are identical. There may be minor differences between those chips in radio performance where the nRF51822 QFAAG0 has been optimized for best radio performance. The nRF51822 QFAAG0 is the production version of the chip, so if you are having the QFAAG0 version, you are in perfectly good hands.

Sorry for the confusion in the release notes. I guess the reason is that the nRF51822 QFAAG0 version was not available at the time the SDK was tested, but as said before, in terms of compatibility, these two chips are identical.

[Ritesh Panchal]

i am unable to program s110_nrf51822_6.2.1_softdevice.hex softdevice into my PCA10001 board. I am getting "Invalid parameter error". But i can program 7.3.0 and 8.0.0 softdevice. So can this versions compatible with nRF51822 QFAAG0 board?

[Stefan Birnir Sverrisson]

@Ritesh The nRF51822QFAAG0 chip is second revision chip which is compatible with softdevice 6.2.1 according to the nRF51 Series Compatibility Matrix, so that should work fine. Make sure you erase all contents from the chip before programming. Are you using nRFgo Studio for programming? If so what version?