Can nrf52840 work with ESP32 in Bluetooth low energy application?

[davidm]

I want to create a Bluetooth LE application, one peripheral and multiple (2- 5) centrals.For centrals I will use nrf52840 boards, but for peripheral, I was thinking of using ESP32 because I want to use it as a gateway to the cloud.

But my questions are

1. First is it possible for nrf52840 to work with ESP32? (It seems like ESP32 uses Bluetooth V4.2)
2. If yes are there any limitations? can the range be affected,comparing if I would have used nrf52 on both ends?

[Simonr]

Hi David

Depending on the material and number of the walls/barriers, you should be able to communicate at 30 meters between the two devices, but I urge you to test this in the environment before saying anything for certain.

It will not be possible to communicate with a BLE 4.2. device using Coded PHY (long-range) in BLE 5.0. You can transfer data over long-range between two nRF52 devices and then transfer from one of those to the ESP32 by switching to 1MBPS PHY which will make it able to communicate with the ESP32. But the ESP32 will not able to communicate with a BLE long-range device in the Coded PHY.

Best regards,

Simon

[davidm]

Hi Simon

Yes, I definitely will have to test this.

Is nrf52840 by default operates in 1MBPS ?

In order to pair nrf52840 (central) with ESP32(peripheral), besides making sure the peripheral is advertising the right service uid and characteristic uid, what else do I need to modify on Nrf52840 firmware?