nRF52810 : Need help to start the software development to interface the BL651(453-00005) with Host(STM32F2 Microcontroller)

[DineshDinesh]

Hi all, I am beginner to Bluetooth module interface and I am in the stage of implementing the software for Bluetooth module to start and visible to other Bluetooth device(mobile phone). I am using the BL651(built using the nRF52810  Bluetooth module bl651-series manufacturer. I have checked the infocenter for nRF52810 but still unclear about the beginning. Kindly guide me and response is appreciable.

I have few quires as well.

1.  What is state of the BL651 Bluetooth module after power on? (Connection between the Host and the BL651 is UART and I2C interface only)
2. Do I need to load any firmware through SWD interface? If yes, which firmware and tool need to be used.
3. How can I use the SDK nRF5_SDK_16.0.0_98a08e2 to test the custom board?
4. How can I use the  SDK nRF5_SDK_16.0.0_98a08e2 during the software development?

 Kindly share the suggestion.

[DineshDinesh]

Hi all, I am unable to start with the BL651 interface due to lack of understanding. Kindly support to progress...

[bjorn-spockeli]

 What is state of the BL651 Bluetooth module after power on? (Connection between the Host and the BL651 is UART and I2C interface only)

 It does not seem that the BL651 is preprogrammed so it will power on and do nothing as there are no program running on it. All the GPIOs will be configured as input with their input buffers disconnected, i.e. high impedance state, so the nRF51 will neither sink nor source any current through its GPIOs. 

Do I need to load any firmware through SWD interface? If yes, which firmware and tool need to be used.

Yes, you will have to load both the application you want to use and the S112 SoftDevice,i.e. Nordic's Bluetooth Protocol stack for the nRF52810. We recommend using the nRF Programmer application in our nRF Connect for Desktop, you can download it here. 

How can I use the SDK nRF5_SDK_16.0.0_98a08e2 to test the custom board?

 If you just want to test the BL651 as a standalone BLE SoC, then you can flash any example labeled with pca10040e, see Developing for nRF52810. One of these examples is the ble_app_uart example and you'll find it in nRF5_SDK_16.0.0_684aa2c\examples\ble_peripheral\ble_app_uart\pca10040e\s112 folder. 

If you want to run the application on the host MCU, i.e. the STM32F2, then things start to be a bit more complicated. You have the possibility to run a serialized application on the STM32 and then communicate with the nRF52810 over UART or SPI, see Serialization. The nRF52810 would then run a connectivty firmware that receives the serialized API calls and runs them on and then returns the result to the STM32 through the serial interface, see Running a serialized application. Note to get this up and running will require porting of some modules of the serialization libraries, see Porting serialization libraries. 

How can I use the  SDK nRF5_SDK_16.0.0_98a08e2 during the software development?

 My recommendation would be to go through the Getting Started section of the nRF5 SDK documentation. 

Best regards

Bjørn