Thingy:91 related questions

RE: Thingy:91 related questions

bojan — Tue, 21 Jan 2020 12:37:46 GMT

Thank you very much, Sigurd!

I will not bother you anymore on this thread. I am now moving to try some examples with Thingy:91 and nRF9160-DK boards. If I face some difficulties there, I will open new tickets.

Cheers,

Bojan.

RE: Thingy:91 related questions

Sigurd — Tue, 21 Jan 2020 12:34:49 GMT

[quote user="bojan"]Should I use those for Thingy:91?[/quote]

Yes. That is correct.

[quote user="bojan"]can I use Segger Embedded Studio and nRF9160-DK board to debug either nRF9160 or nRF52840 (selected by sw2) on Thingy:91 board?[/quote]

Yes.

[quote user="bojan"]Do I need to enable debugging somehow inside Segger Embedded Studio to be able to see debug messages on the SES terminal (something similar we did within sdk_config.h file in nRF5 SDK)?[/quote]

You need to enable RTT as logging backend. See this link. Try setting something like this in prj.conf:

CONFIG_UART_CONSOLE=n
CONFIG_RTT_CONSOLE=y
CONFIG_HAS_SEGGER_RTT=y
CONFIG_USE_SEGGER_RTT=y

RE: Thingy:91 related questions

bojan — Mon, 20 Jan 2020 15:36:15 GMT

Hello, Sigurd.

After reading your nRF Connect SDK tutorial, the things are clearer.

Few more doubts:

1) I was following Getting Started Assistant from nRF Connect app in order to properly install nRF Connect SDK environment. I decided to work with the latest tagged release (v1.1.0) instead of the latest state of development (master branch). When I try to open some samples project for nRF52840 on the Thingy board, I can not find proper board directory under ncs/zephyr/boards/arm/ . There is no nrf52840_pca20035. Am I missing something here or I should use nrf52840_pca10090?

EDIT:

I can find nrf52840_pca20035 or nrf9160_pca20035 under ncs/nrf/boards/arm/ Should I use those for Thingy:91?

2) If I don't want to use USB-UART bridge for debugging/sending AT commands, can I use Segger Embedded Studio and nRF9160-DK board to debug either nRF9160 or nRF52840 (selected by sw2) on Thingy:91 board? Do I need to enable debugging somehow inside Segger Embedded Studio to be able to see debug messages on the SES terminal (something similar we did within sdk_config.h file in nRF5 SDK)?

Thanks in advance.

Sincerely,

Bojan.

RE: Thingy:91 related questions

Sigurd — Mon, 20 Jan 2020 08:37:48 GMT

[quote userid="76830" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/56588/thingy-91-related-questions/229720"] I communicate with nRF9160 through MCU_IF pins by using one of the communication interfaces available (I2C, SPI, UART, I2S...). Is that correct?[/quote]

Yes, that is correct. In my post here, I used 4 MCU_IF pins to run HCI_UART between nRF52840 and nRF9160, 1 MCU_IF pin to reset the nRF52840 from the nRF9160 and 2 MCU_IF pins for the USB-UART bridge(only UARTE0)

[quote userid="76830" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/56588/thingy-91-related-questions/229720"]Do I need to develop my nRF52840 firmware on the top of this app - use that sample as a starting point for my app development?[/quote]

If you are developing on the Thingy:91 hardware, and want to send/receive UART data(e.g. AT-commands, UART logging, etc) between computer and nRF9160, then yes, you need this USB-UART bridge sample to run on the nRF52840. The USB-UART bridge sample can easily be integrated into other samples. E.g. in my post here, I added/merged the USB-UART bridge into the hci_uart sample.

RE: Thingy:91 related questions

bojan — Sat, 18 Jan 2020 10:44:54 GMT

Hi, Sigurd.

Thanks for your explanations.

I would like you to clarify just a few more little things:

I develop the application for nRF52840 with nRF5 SDK - completely independently from nRF9160 SiP module. Of course, I can benefit from COEX pins that can help me synchronize BLE and LTE/GPS RX/TX activities. nRF9160 SiP can be considered as one more peripheral device from nRF52840 point of view. I communicate with nRF9160 through MCU_IF pins by using one of the communication interfaces available (I2C, SPI, UART, I2S...). Is that correct?
Thingy:91 ships with the Asset tracker application that runs on nRF9160 SiP and USB-UART bridge sample which runs on nRF52840 SoC (link). To the best of my understanding, this USB-UART bridge enables communication with nRF Connect LTE Monitor app. Do I need to develop my nRF52840 firmware on the top of this app - use that sample as a starting point for my app development?

Best regards,

Bojan.

RE: Thingy:91 related questions

Sigurd — Fri, 17 Jan 2020 16:24:27 GMT

Hi,

[quote userid="76830" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/56588/thingy-91-related-questions"] Can we use the same nRF9160-DK board to program/debug nRF52840 BLE SoC that is on the Thingy board?[/quote]

Yes.

[quote userid="76830" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/56588/thingy-91-related-questions"]Do we need to use the switch SW2 on the Thingy:91 board to select which of the two modules we want to debug/program?[/quote]

Yes.

[quote userid="76830" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/56588/thingy-91-related-questions"]How nRF9160 SiP and nRF52840 SoC module can communicate between each other[/quote]

I would recommend to use the MCU_IF pins.

[quote userid="76830" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/56588/thingy-91-related-questions"]Can those modules use I2C link to communicate with each other?[/quote]

If one of them is acting is slave, yes. Might be easier to use MCU_IF pins and UART, so I would recommend that instead.

[quote userid="76830" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/56588/thingy-91-related-questions"]Can I use those pins to establish communication between nRF9160 and nRF52840 modules? [/quote]

Yes.

[quote userid="76830" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/56588/thingy-91-related-questions"]What is the purpose of COEX pins?[/quote]

See this link.

[quote userid="76830" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/56588/thingy-91-related-questions"]I imagine we can connect some more devices on I2C network through the test points TP9 and TP10 on the Thingy:91 board. Is that correct?[/quote]

Yes.

[quote userid="76830" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/56588/thingy-91-related-questions"]nRF52840 GPIOs can be accessed through P6 connector (nRF52_SPARE)?[/quote]

Yes.

[quote userid="76830" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/56588/thingy-91-related-questions"]What about nRF9160 GPIOs that we can use for a connection with external devices?[/quote]

Test-points, I2C bus, route it through the nRF52, N-MOS transistors. Depends on the external device.

[quote userid="76830" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/56588/thingy-91-related-questions"]I don't see any connector (I don't count P7)[/quote]

On P7 you have the N-MOS transistors. See this link.

[quote userid="76830" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/56588/thingy-91-related-questions"]Can we cut the jumpers SB7 - SB11 on the Thingy:91 board, break the connection between nRF9160 and nRF52840 and use those points as nRF9160 GPIOs?[/quote]

No, then you just break the connection between the nRF9160 and nRF52840. These pins are not routed out to a connector.

[quote userid="76830" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/56588/thingy-91-related-questions"]Can you recommend us some appropriate external antennas (for the case we want to have better sensitivity)?[/quote]

We do not have any recommendations for external antennas. For on-board antennas, check out the e.g. Fractus Antennas.