How to set up Beacons from one nRF51822 to another?

[BeaconBLE]

Hello, I want to send beacons from one nRF51822 device to another. My project involves using omnidirectional antennas. So, will nRF51822 be the right choice for me?

I was planning on using the design and replacing the nRF51822 antenna with an omnidirectional one. Also, my main concern is how do I transmit a beacon from nRF51822 to another nRF51822 and how do I program these modules? I saw in the documentation that nRF51822 come with an ARM microcontroller, can I code that microcontroller to send and receive beacons and how? I also need the RSSI value at the receiver how do I get that?

All the help is really appreciated. Thank You.

[Håvard]

Hello BeaconBLE,

Martin made an excellent "getting started" reply to a similar question.

https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/f/nordic-q-a/30338/getting-started-for-beginners

please have a look and see if this helps you. For beacons, you would probably want to look at the lightweight nRF52810 instead of nRF52832 or nRF52840.

There are examples in the SDK that show how to set up a beacon.

Good luck with your project! :)

[BeaconBLE]

Hello,

Thank you for your response. How can I connect multiple (more than 2) nRF52810 chips to a single microcontroller?

and can I setup communication between two nRF52810 chips (transmitter and receiver)?

[Håvard]

the nRF52 can communicate with other devices using many different peripherals. (You can check out the specification here http://infocenter.nordicsemi.com/pdf/nRF52810_PS_v1.2.pdf). SPI, TWI and UART are all common choices. I don't see any problem with connecting several nRF52 with another microcontroller.

Maybe this UART example can be helpful?

Here is a simple bluetooth application that will light up a LED with button press called BLE blinky

Peripheral can be tested with the nRF blinky andoird app

Or if you have two devices, you can use the central BLE Blinky

 

 

 

[BeaconBLE]

I had one more doubt, so If I program one of the nRF52810 to transmit the beacons, will they independently transmit the beacon without any other microcontroller? For example I want 4 nRF52 receivers detecting the beacon signal and they would be connected to a microcontroller, but should only interrupt the microcontroller when they have received a beacon signal. Is that possible?

[Håvard]

The nRF52810 is a powerful microcontroller and does not need a second microcontroller to be able to operate, if that is what you mean. All the functionality needed to function as a beacon (and more) is contained within the nRF52810.

For the second part of your question, yes, it is possible that multiple nRF52 are connected to a device and send an interrupt to that device when they receive beacon data.

 

[BeaconBLE]

That is exactly what I am looking for. Thank You so much. Are the same functionalities possible with nRF51822? I recently bought 4 nRF51 Development Kits. CAn you guide me on how do I get started on coding the kits? I want to use the SDK given by Nordic to code the kit, what software do I use and how do I proceed? Also if you have any code available on how to set up an interrupt in nRF51 to a device when it receives beacon data, please provide me with that link.

Thank you for all your help.

[Håvard]

nRF51 should also be able to meet your demands. The last SDK to come out that supports nRF51 was 12.3.0

Link to out "getting started":

http://infocenter.nordicsemi.com/topic/com.nordic.infocenter.sdk5.v12.3.0/nrf51_getting_started.html?cp=4_0_6_1

There are many resources on youtube to help understand Bluetooth Low Energy basics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLgnHuGI69s

Good luck with your project!