How to connect NRF 8001 BLE with Arduino

[Saurabh Gulia]

Can anyone tell me how to connect NRF 8001 with Arduino mega 2560. I have developed an iPhone application and just want to connect with NRF 8001.Please tell me how to connect NRF 8001 with Arduino mega 2560 and make the BLE chip discoverable?

[David Edwin]

The lib_aci_init function allows you to choose the pins to be used for interfacing to the nRF8001.

The SPI pins of the nRF8001 need to be connected to the SPI pins of the Arduino Mega, however since the Arduino Mega is a 5v board and the nRF8001 is a 3.3v chip (the olimex module is also 3.3v) , some level conversion is preferred. To make the design low power you can use a 3.3v based Arduino clone like this that has a 5v and 3.3v switch so both the micro-controller and the nRF8001 operate at the same voltage level.

The module does not have any Services or Characteristics pre-loaded, all the Services and Characteristics get loaded from the micro-controller i.e from the services.h and do_aci_setup() , using ACI Setup Commands.