Use nRF5SDK examples with pc-ble-driver

RE: Use nRF5SDK examples with pc-ble-driver

brianreinhold — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 08:41:40 GMT

Thanks. I need the BLE functionality, the other things I know how to do (or at least have dome them on other platforms). So this is good (and the SDK is always a good source of references as to HOW to make the ble calls, because I do not know the SoftDevice APIs and how they work).

RE: Use nRF5SDK examples with pc-ble-driver

Einar Thorsrud — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 07:09:30 GMT

Hi,

Yes, you are correct. You can do everything, but you would have to port or implement all the higher-level functionality that is provided by the SDK yourself since pc-ble-driver only provides access to the SoftDevice API. So things like implementations for BLE service, bond management, etc. are missing.

RE: Use nRF5SDK examples with pc-ble-driver

brianreinhold — Tue, 08 Oct 2019 14:20:54 GMT

I assume that everything I could do with the nRFSDK (ble-wise) I can do with the pc-ble-driver. Its just that the nRFSDK has a large set of helpers ( all the C-code is some type of helper; making calls into 'SoftDevice').

RE: Use nRF5SDK examples with pc-ble-driver

Einar Thorsrud — Tue, 08 Oct 2019 11:41:17 GMT

Hi,

I have heard about other customers doing something like this, bu tit is not the main motivation for serialization from Nordic's side. The main motivations are:

Serialization firmware running on the nRF chip can be used when the nRF is used as a BLE connectivity chip for another host MCU.
The pc-ble-driver is a PC side companion that can be used with serialization for:
- Nordics developed Test tools (such as nRF Connect BLE)
- Customer test tools or other applications (such as for instance your use case).

Regarding the original questions, the pc-ble-driver is just a host-side implementation of the SoftDevice API. We do not provide anything similar to the nRF5 SDK for any other platform then the nRF itself (so no PC side equivalent).

RE: Use nRF5SDK examples with pc-ble-driver

brianreinhold — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 21:01:58 GMT

I can understand the business model; but there is something to be said for ease of development - write, run, and test code on PC. Then when it all works, port to the embedded platform. Renesas did this and it was really fast to make embedded apps. The problem Renesas had was with their BLE.

I kind of assumed that was one of the main motivations behind supporting the serialization library...

RE: Use nRF5SDK examples with pc-ble-driver

awneil — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 20:45:25 GMT

the main point being this reply:

[quote userid="7377" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/51245/api-usage-documentation-for-pc-ble-driver-and-pc_ble_driver_py/205271"]The API is essentially the same as you get from the underlying SoftDevice[/quote]

that being the API that the SDK examples use.

And the links for Serialisation explain how it all works.

[quote userid="83646" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/52989/use-nrf5sdk-examples-with-pc-ble-driver/213747"]there is a plethora of examples in the nRF5SDK compared to the two in the pc-ble-driver![/quote]

That's understandable: Nordic's business is selling chips,not developing PC apps - so the focus is very much on facilitating the embedded side.

RE: Use nRF5SDK examples with pc-ble-driver

brianreinhold — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 20:33:48 GMT

I am well aware of that. But that does not help me when trying to use the examples in the HUGE nRF5SDK package. I don't even know if it can be done, but there is a plethora of examples in the nRF5SDK compared to the two in the pc-ble-driver!

RE: Use nRF5SDK examples with pc-ble-driver

awneil — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 20:29:03 GMT

https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/f/nordic-q-a/51245/api-usage-documentation-for-pc-ble-driver-and-pc_ble_driver_py