Developing on EVK NINA B111

[Stagiair]

Hi Nordic developers,

For my internship I’m developing a BLE application on de NINA-B111 module which does have the nRF52832. I'm using SDK 15.0.0 and Softdevice 132 v6.0.0 in Segger Embedded Studio. 

Currently I’m developing on a EVK-NINA-B111. But the BLE application is supposed to run on a different custom board.   

The data transfer on that custom board looks like this: LPC ---UART--->NINA---BLE--->UWP App.

So the NINA is supposed to be a bridge between UART and BLE. The ble_nus example is a good example to start. But I want to know what is the best way to have the nus service with security (like pairing and bonding) and the Device Information Service. 

I think I have four options:

1: Implement security parameters in the ble_nus example.

2: Implement nus service and security in ble_template example.

3: Implement nus service in an example with security already implemented (like ble_hrs example). And remove the other services.

4: Build everything from scratch  

What do you think of this?

Kind regards,

Bob Göbel

EDIT: I have chosen to use option 2. I successfully added the nus and dis to the ble_app_template. My next step will be configuring the peer manager. I have no I/O capabilities on my custom_board. I’ve read the chapter peer manager in the infocenter. When I set the different configurations as given in the Usage tab I don’t recognize any differences in connecting when using the nRF Connect app. Do you have a tutorial about this subject and is the multirole_lesc a good reference?   

http://infocenter.nordicsemi.com/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.nordic.infocenter.sdk5.v15.0.0%2Flib_peer_manager.html 

http://infocenter.nordicsemi.com/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.nordic.infocenter.sdk5.v14.0.0%2Flib_crypto.html&anchor=lib_crypto_installing    

[ketil]

Hi Bob,

Just wanted to let you know that we have received your support case. Due to Easter holiday we may not be able to provide an answer until week 14. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Ketil

[ketil]

Hi again Bob,

Did you manage to figure this out or would you still like assistance?

Ketil

[Stagiair]

Hi Ketil,

Yes I did manage to figure this out. I have a new problem. I want to send a json string from LPC to NINA over UART. When the Json string is bigger than 20 characters the NINA module can't handle the data. Is an example available for handling the data received over UART?

Kind regards,

Bob  

[ketil]

Hi Bob,

If you do a search for uart 20 bytes on DevZone you will find several cases with answers. Please let me know if this enables you to solve your problem or if you require further assistance.

Ketil

[Stagiair]

Hi,

I don't quite get it. The code is already splitting the data in parts of 20 bytes. So I think it has something to do with the fifo buffer. My code returns the NRF_ERROR_RESOURCES error. I’ve read that this means the BLE buffers are full. In here:

https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/f/nordic-q-a/23118/introducing-fifo-buffer-in-uart_data_handler-function 

How can I prevent this in softdevice 132 v6.0.0

Kind regards,

Bob

[Sigurd]

Hi,

There are a couple of things you could try. 

1) By setting the hvn_tx_queue_size, you are setting the minimum guaranteed number of Handle Value Notifications that can be queued for transmission. Try to increase this, if step 2 does not work.

2) But, even if the application configures a large number of packets to be queued, not all of them will be sent during a single connection event if the configured event length(NRF_SDH_BLE_GAP_EVENT_LENGTH) is not large enough to send the packets. You should therefore make sure that you set the NRF_SDH_BLE_GAP_EVENT_LENGTH in sdk_config.h to a high enough number (try 320).

3) If you still get NRF_ERROR_RESOURCES, either try again until you get NRF_SUCCESS or wait for the BLE_EVT_TX_COMPLETE event before you try again.

[Stagiair]

Hi Sigurd,

Thank you, step 2 worked for me! Is 320 the max NRF_SDH_BLE_GAP_EVENT_LENGTH?

[Sigurd]

Hi,

I'm happy to hear it worked. 

The event length is the time set aside for a connection on every connection interval in 1.25 ms units. The event length should be used together with the connection interval to set the desired bandwidth of the connection. It is used to ensure a fair allocation of the available radio time resources between the existing roles(i.e. if you run multilink). There is no defined maximum value, but for a single-link peripheral you should set it to match the maximum connection interval you use, in order to be able to send packets for the whole connection event