recommendation on hardware configuration of nRF52

RE: recommendation on hardware configuration of nRF52

Simonr — Fri, 26 Apr 2019 07:43:51 GMT

If cost isn't an issue, there are no reasons not to use the nRF52840, it is no real differences in the development process between the two chips.

The TWI examples in our SDK should be helpful for using I2C to transmit data. You can refer to the TWI drivers documentation in our Infocenter to understand the usage etc.

Best regards,

Simon

RE: recommendation on hardware configuration of nRF52

soleilsword — Thu, 25 Apr 2019 14:39:29 GMT

Hi Simon,

thank you for your reply.

I see that 840 is a more powerful device than 832 from your description and your website, I also realized that according to the spec, 840 is less power consuming compared to 832, which is favorable.

I'm wondering besides being more expensive, is there any other reason to not use 840 to 832? For example, it is more difficult to program 840 than 832?

Another question, could you please share an example / link of using I2C to transmit data in a transparent mode?

RE: recommendation on hardware configuration of nRF52

Simonr — Thu, 25 Apr 2019 06:50:41 GMT

The biggest difference between the 840 and the 832 is the Flash and RAM size, as well as the 840 supporting long range BLE. The application you are describing does not seem to need a 52840, and I think a 52832 would be sufficient, but this is entirely up to you, and you check out the product specifications to find out which one you will need.
Yes, I2C would also be a possible solution of data transfer.

Best regards,

Simon

RE: recommendation on hardware configuration of nRF52

soleilsword — Wed, 24 Apr 2019 13:21:37 GMT

Dear Simon,

thank you very much for your help , I appreciate it! Happy Easter ! I have followup questions to your answers.

1. I already bought a nRF52840 (high-end) version evaluation board. Could you please tell me what is the advantage of 52832 vs 840 for my application? there is no problem for me to switch to 52832.

2. my PIC MCU will take care of data acquisition and processing, so ready-to-transmit data should be available. At the moment all I want is to have BLE to do the data communication part. My PIC supports both UART as well as I2C. At the moment UART port is unfortunately taken, can I use I2C for the data communication task to ''pass it on''?

RE: recommendation on hardware configuration of nRF52

Simonr — Wed, 24 Apr 2019 11:32:02 GMT

Sorry for the late reply, but we've just had Easter holiday here in Norway, and we're working through our backlog.

1. You're correct, the nRF52 series are what you're after. I think the nRF52832 will hit the spot for your use case.

2. If all your PIC MCU is doing is heart rate and temperature measurements, the nRF52832 should be able to do these tasks as well, as we have both example projects in our SDKs for both of these features and transmitting the values via BLE. But if you just want it to communicate with the PIC, I guess it depends on the PIC. If it supports UART, you could check out our ble_app_uart example in the SDK where it can communicate with a device via UART and "pass it on" to a central via BLE.

Best regards,

Simon

RE: recommendation on hardware configuration of nRF52

soleilsword — Tue, 23 Apr 2019 22:39:43 GMT

can anyone help me on this please?