Development for nRF52832: nRF5 SDK +SES or NRF Connect SDK and nRF Connect for Desktop?

[martinspedro]

I am starting the development of a product using the nRF52 DK for the nRF52832 SoC.

The product will use some peripherals (RTC, NVMC, Timers) and communicate using BLE and NFC with a smartphone. It will also feature Firmware updates over BLE. There is no need (at least for this stage of the product), to use any RTOS.

So far, I am unable to understand if the recommend development toolchain is to use Segger Embeded Studio with the NRF5 SDK, as detailed here, or if I should start to use already the nRF Connect SDK with the nRF Connect for Desktop, which features a SEGGER Embedded Studio Nordic Edition.

I am aware of this thread, but I believe my question is broader. What is the recommended toolchain (IDE and other tools) and SDK to use in new nRF52832 products?

Thank you in advance

[Amanda Hsieh]

Hi, 

The product will use some peripherals (RTC, NVMC, Timers) and communicate using BLE and NFC with a smartphone. It will also feature Firmware updates over BLE. There is no need (at least for this stage of the product), to use any RTOS.

For your requirement, I would suggest you use to use Segger Embeded Studio with the NRF5 SDK. This Getting Start guide will help you get started with your nRF52 Series Development Kit (DK) and developing your application with the nRF5 SDK with SEGGER Embedded Studio (SES). You might be also interested with the SDK/BLE Pairing Using NFC - Peripheral Reference Example. 

-Amanda H.  

[martinspedro]

Thank you for your answer Amanda Hsieh and for the links.

So, if I understand correctly, the NRF5 SDK is preferred to the NRF Connect SDK for developing to the nRF52832, at least for the project requirements stated above, correct?

Regarding the nRF Connect for Desktop, it is not necessary because the development is made using the NRF5 SDK instead of the NRF Connect SDK, right?

Also, due to the SDK being used, is "better" to use a standard Segger Embeded Studio installation than the SEGGER Embedded Studio Nordic Edition?

[Amanda Hsieh]

Hi, 

 

martinspedro said:

So, if I understand correctly, the NRF5 SDK is preferred to the NRF Connect SDK for developing to the nRF52832, at least for the project requirements stated above, correct?

Yes,  I think the NRF5 SDK is closed to your requirement. 

martinspedro said:

Regarding the nRF Connect for Desktop, it is not necessary because the development is made using the NRF5 SDK instead of the NRF Connect SDK, right?

 nRF Connect for Desktop is a cross-platform tool that enables testing and development with Nordic’s products for Bluetooth Low energy and cellular IoT. It allows easy setup of connections with other devices and uses these connections to read and write the external nodes. You also could use NRF connect for mobile to test and connect the application. 

 

martinspedro said:

Also, due to the SDK being used, is "better" to use a standard Segger Embeded Studio installation than the SEGGER Embedded Studio Nordic Edition?

 The standard Segger Embeded Studio is enough to support nRF5 SDK. 

 -Amanda H.

[martinspedro]

Thank you for the clarifications Amanda Hsieh. 

Further reading brought me another doubt. The recommend SDK is the NRF5, but here it is stated that "The nRF Connect platform now adds support for Nordic’s popular nRF52 Series SoCs". 

Not to invalidate the previously discussed points and outcomes, but since the project is starting, I have two further questions:

1. How does NRF Connect SDK support for the NRF52 Series SoCs compare to the NRF5 SDK? My main concerns are the number of features and performance.

2. Which SDK is more "future-proof" for development windows of 2/3 years? I.e., will NRF5 SDK lose support and development time in favour of the NRF Connect SDK? 

I really appreciate if you could clarify on those topics.

[Amanda Hsieh]

Hi, 

nRF Connect SDK (NCS) is our new generation SDK, and the new nRF devices and features will be supported in NCS. For nRF52 devices, developers can use nRF5 SDK or NCS. 

Now the latest version of nRF Connect SDK (NCS) is v1.2, nRF5 SDK is v16.0.0. Compare to NCS v1.2, I think nRF5 SDK v16.0 has more example projects which can help you start up quickly. However, if your development needs a new feature, I will suggest NCS. There are some NFC samples in the NCS: 

• NFC: Text Record
• NFC: System OFF
• NFC: Tag Reader
• NFC: TNEP Poller
• NFC: TNEP Tag
• NFC: Writable NDEF Message

 -Amanda H.

[martinspedro]

Hi Amanda Hsieh.

Thank you for the answer with further details and NFC examples on the NRF Connect SDK. I will analyse the examples provided and compare the SDKs.