How to program custom made nRF52811 PCB? What is bootloader for?

[Jxq]

Hi,

I'm very new to the Nordic BLE chips. Sorry in advance for asking stupid questions, but I'm willing to learn! This is my first project for my current job, I want to do it right ...

I have a customer Bluetooth tracker PCB based on nRF52811. And I would like to program a beacon example to start with.

I have nRF52840 dev kit and I set up 4 pins on my PCB: SWCLK, SWD, VDD, GND. So I just connect those 4 pins to the dev kit accordingly, then program the chip directly from SEGGER? 

I've read a lot of posts and some posts talk about the bootloader. What is the bootloader used for? Do I need it except for software device and application?

BTW, is there any tutorial about programming custom board?

Thanks.

Kind Regards,

Jxq

[Amanda Hsieh]

Hi, 

I have nRF52840 dev kit and I set up 4 pins on my PCB: SWCLK, SWD, VDD, GND. So I just connect those 4 pins to the dev kit accordingly, then program the chip directly from SEGGER? 

You need to connect your external board to the Debug out connector (P19) with a 10-pin cable and power up your external board. The target board must be self-powered by 3V (e.g. by coin.cell battery of 3V). See this link for more information: Debug output connections (P19 and P20) on nRF52840 DK

 

What is the bootloader used for? Do I need it except for software device and application?

Please see the Bootloader documentation.   

-Amanda H. 

[Jxq]

Hi Amanda,

Thanks a lot.