How to connect 6 nrf52840 boards on a board as central and send data via serial UART?

RE: How to connect 6 nrf52840 boards on a board as central and send data via serial UART?

Marjeris Romero — Sun, 23 Dec 2018 12:51:47 GMT

Hi Ricardo,

You need to follow the instructions listed here to test the example. You need to flash the ble_app_uart example to your DK, not the blinky example.

Best Regards,

Marjeris

RE: How to connect 6 nrf52840 boards on a board as central and send data via serial UART?

awneil — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 19:43:44 GMT

Your screenshot shows two Nordic_Blinky peripherals.

As the linked documentation says, the NUS example should appear as Nordic_UART.

[quote userid="75980" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/41764/how-to-connect-6-nrf52840-boards-on-a-board-as-central-and-send-data-via-serial-uart/162743"]I need a simple script. A file version to write to the central, which receives several simultaneous connections and sends through a UART interface, and a version for the peripherals to connect to the central.[/quote]

It is your job to develop that.

As already explained, the Nordic UART examples give you a starting point from which to work - but they are not ready-made solutions.

RE: How to connect 6 nrf52840 boards on a board as central and send data via serial UART?

RicardoFranco — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 19:13:52 GMT

I'm using nRF Connect v2.6.1.
Yes, I recorded the Softdevice correctly.
My question is:
Is the BLE -> UART link visible on the automatically generated COM port, or should I use a USB / Serial adapter on a couple of devKit pins?
I can establish the link, but I can not see the data I send.
I need a simple script. A file version to write to the central, which receives several simultaneous connections and sends through a UART interface, and a version for the peripherals to connect to the central.

RE: How to connect 6 nrf52840 boards on a board as central and send data via serial UART?

awneil — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 19:04:59 GMT

[quote userid="6462" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/41764/how-to-connect-6-nrf52840-boards-on-a-board-as-central-and-send-data-via-serial-uart/162741"]Debugging is a key part of development[/quote]

Also, following what happens in the debugger is a good way to understand what the code is doing.

This will help you enormously when it comes to adapting the code to send your own data.

RE: How to connect 6 nrf52840 boards on a board as central and send data via serial UART?

awneil — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 19:00:17 GMT

[quote userid="75980" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/41764/how-to-connect-6-nrf52840-boards-on-a-board-as-central-and-send-data-via-serial-uart/162738"]I'm not using a debug interface[/quote]

Why not?

Debugging is a key part of development - you are going to need it ... !

Unanswered questions:

[quote userid="6462" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/41764/how-to-connect-6-nrf52840-boards-on-a-board-as-central-and-send-data-via-serial-uart/162736"][/quote]

Have you remembered to program the SoftDevices?

Are you using the correct newline character?

Have you tested the peripheral with nRF Connect?

RE: How to connect 6 nrf52840 boards on a board as central and send data via serial UART?

RicardoFranco — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 18:29:36 GMT

I'm running the examples provided in nRF5_SDK_15.2.0_9412b96. I am using emStudio to compile and write the code.

RE: How to connect 6 nrf52840 boards on a board as central and send data via serial UART?

RicardoFranco — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 18:28:00 GMT

I recorded both boards using a J-link, and then I used the created COM port to try to perform the communication.
I'm not using a debug interface, just trying to bridge the BLE to UART as suggested in the Nordic documentation.
Do I need to set a special parameter in my terminal to send and receive this data?

RE: How to connect 6 nrf52840 boards on a board as central and send data via serial UART?

RicardoFranco — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 18:24:46 GMT

I tried to communicate using a BLE as a UART, 1 to 1, but I did not succeed. The boards send the default messages on the reset, but do not send the characters written to the terminal.

RE: How to connect 6 nrf52840 boards on a board as central and send data via serial UART?

awneil — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 18:23:49 GMT

Please give details of what, exactly, you tried.

Have you remembered to program the SoftDevices?

The screenshots show that the code is, at least, starting - as it has sent messages to your terminals.

Have you used the debugger to see if the nRF is actually receiving anything from the terminal?

The documentation (linked above) describes what should happen.

Are you using the correct newline character?

Have you tested the peripheral with nRF Connect?

RE: How to connect 6 nrf52840 boards on a board as central and send data via serial UART?

awneil — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 18:17:38 GMT

Yes - that is exactly what Marjeris Romero and I described.

RE: How to connect 6 nrf52840 boards on a board as central and send data via serial UART?

RicardoFranco — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 18:16:27 GMT

Hi awneil,

I need an example that does this:

RE: How to connect 6 nrf52840 boards on a board as central and send data via serial UART?

RicardoFranco — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 17:56:55 GMT

Hi msromero,

I tried to do this, but i can't communicate using a simple terminal.

RE: How to connect 6 nrf52840 boards on a board as central and send data via serial UART?

awneil — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 14:01:13 GMT

[quote userid="73427" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/41764/how-to-connect-6-nrf52840-boards-on-a-board-as-central-and-send-data-via-serial-uart/162659"]start out taking a look at the UART/Serial port emulation over BLE[/quote]

That will show you how to do one peripheral to the Central.

Once you have got familiar with that, and got it working, look at the Multi-link example for how to get the Central to support multiple peripherals simultaneously.

RE: How to connect 6 nrf52840 boards on a board as central and send data via serial UART?

Marjeris Romero — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 13:05:40 GMT

Hi Ricardo,

I will recommend you to download our nRF5 SDK and start out taking a look at the UART/Serial port emulation over BLE example for peripheral devices here, and the for central devices, here. The examples are in the SDK folder under the following paths <InstallFolder>\examples\ble_peripheral\ble_app_uart for the peripheral devices and <InstallFolder>\examples\ble_central\ble_app_uart_c for the central device.

Best Regards,

Marjeris