v13.0.0-1.alpha and nRF51 series

[Eliot Stock]

Hi. I just noticed this bombshell in the release notes for v13.0.0-1.alpha:

• Dropped support for nRF51 Series devices.

Although this is preceded by:

This release is an alpha release and should ONLY be used for the following purposes:

• Exploring and trying out the new Bluetooth 5 features available with the new SoftDevices.
• Trying out new features on the nRF52840 chip.

Am I to read this as implying that support for the nRF51 series will be added back in the final v13.0.0 SDK release?

[Sigurd]

Hi,

The nRF51 does not support Bluetooth 5. With the release of Bluetooth 5 and the new nRF52840 chip, the focus in future SDK releases will be on developing new software that utilizes the new Bluetooth 5 specifications and the new features of the nRF52840.

Based on this, there won’t be any new software development for the nRF51 in future SDK releases. But there will of course be technical support for all customers that uses the nRF51.

[Eliot Stock]

This is very disappointing to hear. There is still not an SDK release in which secure buttonless DFU OTA is working end to end for the nRF51. The service for this in SDK 12.1 was badly broken. Is it fixed and stable in SDK 12.2?

[Manni]

Hi,

what does this mean for the nRF52832? For how long will it be supported by the SDK? It also does not support Bluetooth 5. What about bugs in the softdevice? Will there be updates? Is it a good idea to develop new devices with the 52832?

[Sigurd]

Hi Manni,

The dropped support for the nRF51 in the SDK will not affect the nRF52832. The nRF52832 is considered Bluetooth 5-ready, with support for both the higher datarate (x 2) and increased broadcast capability (x 8) introduced with Bluetooth 5. The only Bluetooth 5 feature the nRF52832 is missing is the long range. Therefore, there will be full support for both the nRF52832 and nRF52840 in the future SDK and SoftDevice releases. You can already download the Bluetooth 5-ready SoftDevice for the nRF52832 here (S132 version 5.0.0-1.alpha).

The nRF52 Series, including both nRF52832 and nRF52840, is ready for the next generation Bleutooth devices. Which of them you should use depends on your application. You can read more about the nRF52832 here, and the nRF52840 here.

You can read more about the major features in Bluetooth 5 here.

[Raj]

Hi, I observed that s130_nrf51_2.0.1_softdevice.hex and supported toolchains, headers and board support packages are present in sdk13.0.0-alpha if I migrated applications from sdk12 to sdk13-alpha for nrf51 is it works?

[Sigurd]

Hi Raj,

Since nRF51 is not supported in SDK13, we have not done any tests with SDK13 and nRF51, so it would not be recommended to migrate any nRF51 applications to SDK13. SDK 13 mainly adds features that are not supported or intended for nRF51, so there is no reason to migrate a nRF51 application to SDK13.