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Generic HID example

Is there an example somewhere to show how to use the "BLE_APPEARANCE_GENERIC_HID"  to transfer data over BLE to a another BT device such as a laptop ?

The HID mouse and HID keyboard examples works fine, but would like to know how to use the Generic HID device to transfer binary data.

  • Hi 

    What kind of application or service do you want to receive the data on the host side?

    Any particular reason you want to use HID, rather than a purpose built proprietary BLE service?

    Best regards
    Torbjørn

  • I have the same question. I have a USB connected device that I would like to port to BLE.  At the present time I have bidirectional 8-bit communication. The USB characteristics are such that no inf or special driver is required. Just the built-in HID driver on all OS's. So to be able to do similar on BLE would be great. So, it's not a keyboard or mouse just an HID "thing". Super easy to write software on the PC for also.  Can  we make something like this in BLE?  I can provide more USB info if needed.

  • Hi Grant

    We don't have a dedicated example for this, but it should be relatively straight forward to modify one of the existing examples (like ble_apps_hid_keyboard) to use a generic HID descriptor. 

    The appearance is set in the gap_params_init() function, and the HID descriptor is configured in the hids_init() function. 

    Assuming you change the descriptor you would also need to change the functions for reading and writing HID data to match the new descriptor. 

    Best regards
    Torbjørn

  • Thanks, that's encouraging. I've failed on a competitors platform because there was no "server" for generic HID (only, kb, mouse, joystick, etc). So I'm new to your toolchain. I downloaded the Keil tools and can't make the various HID examples due to size restrictions I suppose. What do you recommend for a toolchain to try this out? I have no issue with the Keil price as long I can make proof of concept beforehand.

  • Hi Grant

    In the later SDK's we have added support for Segger Embedded Studio (SES). This is an IDE similar to Keil, but is provided for free to users of Nordic products without any code size limitation. 

    For an introduction to software development in SES, please refer to the following guide

    Best regards
    Torbjørn

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