Which HID device type to use?

[kbaud]

We are upgrading an existing product to use Bluetooth instead of the parallel port.

It must support >20kbit/sec communications between the device and the host PC.

We are considering the nRF52832 because of it's local processing power.

I currently have the PCA10040 developer kit board.

Question: what service do you recommend? I looked at the HID keyboard example and it is running fine after building it in eclipse. However, having multiple keyboards on a customer computer might cause problems. Assuming a HID device profile is the best way to connect, which profile would you recommend?

Thank you for your time!

[kbaud]

Yes, the data stream requirement is continuous.

Wouldn't a custom BLE profile require a non-standard dongle to communicate with windows?

[ovrebekk]

Not at all. BLE was designed to allow easy creation of custom GATT profiles, and all the HCI dongles will support this.
On a system level the only difference between a standard and a custom profile is that the former uses 16-bit UUID's, instead of the 128-bit UUID's necessary for custom services and profiles.

[kbaud]

And windows will be able to connect and pair to a custom profile?

[ovrebekk]

Yes. It seems there is even a tool in Visual Studio to generate random 128-bit UUID's for use with custom profiles: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/uwp/devices-sensors/gatt-server