Using nRF SDK with S112 and BitFields only?

RE: Using nRF SDK with S112 and BitFields only?

Einar Thorsrud — Thu, 26 Mar 2020 15:02:01 GMT

Hi,

I saw your later post, and it seems very sensible to me. I will answer the questions in the previous post anyway, in case it is useful for someone.

[quote user="FI"]1) the SD does not have any dependencies on the drivers and data structures/defines in both legacy and nrfx, and sdk_config[/quote]

The SoftDevice can be used stand-alone. It does not have any dependencies on the SDK.

[quote user="FI"]2) BLE functionalities are all inclusive in the SD and[/quote]

The SD is the BLE stack, but important higher-level Bluetooth functionality is implemented by the SDK and not the SoftDevice. This includes implementations of BLE services and handling bonding information.

[quote user="FI"]3) All data structures and macros for SD BLE integration are included in the /component/ble/ directory[/quote]

No. What you find under <SDK>/components/ble/ is SDK Bluetooth stuff. This has dependencies on the SoftDevice, but not the other way around. The SoftDevice is distributed as a .hex file with some header files describing the API. Those are distributed with the SoftDevice, and cand be found in the SDK under <SDK>/components/softdevice/.

[quote user="FI"]4) core and peripheral can be done with Reg and BitField through HAL and MDK and standard interrupt vector tables.[/quote]

Yes.

RE: Using nRF SDK with S112 and BitFields only?

FI — Wed, 25 Mar 2020 23:23:18 GMT

Hello Einar,

I come to the conclusion to follow the drivers strickly and will use legacy layer throughout. The logging module is awesome in the SDK. Will check in often for this dev work. Thanks! ttyl.

RE: Using nRF SDK with S112 and BitFields only?

FI — Wed, 25 Mar 2020 17:22:29 GMT

Hello Einar,

Thanks for your reply. Doing feasibility and evaluating options and want to further confirm,

1) the SD does not have any dependencies on the drivers and data structures/defines in both legacy and nrfx, and sdk_config

2) BLE functionalities are all inclusive in the SD and

3) All data structures and macros for SD BLE integration are included in the /component/ble/ directory

4) core and peripheral can be done with Reg and BitField through HAL and MDK and standard interrupt vector tables.

Currently still exclusively using drivers, though can't help to do something like NRF_ADDR->REG etc in reference to only HW data sheet (it is quick), then I understand this defeat the disciplines governed by the sdk_config and the driver framework, so plan not to mix and stick with a selected approach.

Is there also a consolidated document for SD (or even the drivers/modules, e.g app_timer) on required/reserved HW resource (matrix)? That is super useful for early stage resource and architecture planning, derisking, making sure correct assumptions can be made to speed up a board build while FW is rolling in pipeline.

Thanks

RE: Using nRF SDK with S112 and BitFields only?

Einar Thorsrud — Wed, 25 Mar 2020 14:54:06 GMT

Hi,

I would like to advise against using registers directly since that would essentially mean that you would duplicate work that we have already done for you. In most cases, it will increase the amount of work, and decrease the quality of the end application, since we have put a lot of effort into testing and verifying the SDK drivers and libraries.

That said, there is nothing preventing you from using the SoftDevice API's only, and implementing the rest yourself. In that case, you can use the MDK files from the SDK, or use the MDK distribution separately. This has register definitions, startup file, etc, but no drivers or libraries etc.