Programming nRf51822 for central/peripheral role?

[nar0909]

Hi, I am trying to flash program an nRF51822 module to operate as both central/peripheral role. So I'm looking for some advice on how this could be done?

Programming Hardware: Black magic probe (BMP), which is a JTAG and SWD Adapter used for programming and debugging ARM Cortex MCUs.

Nordic Device: nRF51822 QFAA G1

Interface: arm-gcc cmd line tool, Eclipse(neon with GNU plugin) (Is this ideal? , I have come across developers using Keil uvision?)

So the idea is to program two modules to be operating as both in central and peripheral roles with UART service, while being able to use the Nordic toolbox app to send a command to tell the BLE device to operate as a central or operate as a peripheral.

Please let me know how this could be performed?

How do I use the compile ble_uart_s130 from SDK 10 and flash it into my target device through SWD/JTAG? Is there an example eclipse project I can use?

I have gone through this page but it uses a Segger J-Link.

devzone.nordicsemi.com/.../

Thanks

[Jørgen Holmefjord]

Hi,

Maybe this blog post could provide you with some useful information? Unfortunately, we do not have any tutorials or guides for other programmers than the supported Segger J-Link tools. All our software is built for use with J-Link, so I would recommend you to get a J-Link to take advantage of all our tools. Our nRF51/nRF52-DKs come with on-board J-Link debugger that can be used for programming external boards as well.

The s130 softdevice can operate in both central and peripheral role, concurrently. I would recommend that you start with ble_app_uart example, and extend your application from this. If you are starting a new project with nRF51, please use SDK 12.3 instead of SDK 10. For nRF52 series, use the latest SDK v14.2.

Best regards,

Jørgen

[nar0909]

Thanks Jorgen, Appreciate your response. Very useful post. But how do I achieve a ble_uart_s130 hex file to load into the target device? Could you provide a little info on how I could generate a compiled hex for the example programs? Regards

[Jørgen Holmefjord]

Most examples in the SDK comes with precompiled HEX-files, that you can use for testing. To compile the examples yourself, you need to use one of the supported compilers, Keil, IAR, or GCC (and Segger Embedded studio in SDK 14). If you do not want to buy an expensive license, GCC is the only free alternative without any size restictions. The Eclipse + GCC tutorial should described the required tools. If you want to use an IDE, Eclipse will also generate HEX-files (it use GCC for compilation). This can be flashed to the board as described in the above linked blog post.

[nar0909]

@Jorgen, Thanks for the useful information. I have managed to get an ST-Link v2 now. So how can I create a compiled binary hex file from ARM keil uvision for ble_uart_s130 + s130 softdevice? Pls advice Thanks

[Jørgen Holmefjord]

The HEX-file generated by Keil is found in the the _build directory. You can merge it with the softdevice HEX (found in components/softdevice/s130/hex) using the mergehex-tool.