nRF5340 - IoT application

RE: nRF5340 - IoT application

Einar Thorsrud — Tue, 15 Dec 2020 14:03:12 GMT

Hi,

[quote user="gabrielef@cosmed.it"]I think I have two possibilities
- ignore PTA and turn OFF BLE/WiFi when using WiFi/BLE
- write a custom 3-wire PTA module to be integrated with the BLE Controller application running in the Network Core[/quote]

A third possibility could be to ignore WiFi coexistence and ensure that the BLE connection parameters have some slack. If you do not send long BLE packets nor with a very high frequency, then in many cases you should see an acceptable level of packet loss. This would be application specific, though. I would also expect support for PTA at some point, though I cannot say when that would happen.

The nRF Connect SDK does not have any code specific to WFM200S, so integrating that would be up to you. I would be surprised if you should see memory as a problem with the nRF5340 app core, unless you also have other memory intensive part of your application, as the nRF5340 app core has 1 MB flash and 512 kB RAM.

RE: nRF5340 - IoT application

Gabriele — Tue, 15 Dec 2020 11:22:58 GMT

Thank you Einar for your reply.
The module WFM200S (by Silicon Labs) seems it could fill the gap (see picture).

WFM200S has PTA interface to handle coexistence.
I think I have two possibilities
- ignore PTA and turn OFF BLE/WiFi when using WiFi/BLE
- write a custom 3-wire PTA module to be integrated with the BLE Controller application running in the Network Core

Furthermore, as shown in the picture, WFM200S comes with a limited software stack. The host receives IP packets and must implement all stack layers above it. I don't know if NRF Connect SDK provides any library do this job, nor how much of the Application core memory this layer will drain.

RE: nRF5340 - IoT application

Einar Thorsrud — Thu, 10 Dec 2020 16:38:52 GMT

Hi,

Perhaps awneil or others on this forum can suggest some WiFi chips, Nordic do not recommend any specific. Regarding WiFi coexistence and the nRF5340 I expect there will be some support for that going forward and the BLE stack matures. Currently, the QoS module is part of the nRF Connect SDK. There is currently no Packet Traffic Arbitration (PTA) interface support.

RE: nRF5340 - IoT application

Gabriele — Thu, 10 Dec 2020 08:07:19 GMT

This is a Health Monitoring application for patients to measure their body parameters (airflow) at home.
By "IoT" my boss means a way for the patients to get rid of the Smartphone for making the test - except for initial configuration and some notifications - and automatically sending the result directly to a database on a cloud server. The doctors via Internet (or an automated algorithm) will check the health status of their patients remotely.

The implicit assumptions are:
- making the test without the Smartphone is easier for the patient
- every patient has a always-on Wi-Fi Access Point connected to the Internet

RE: nRF5340 - IoT application

awneil — Wed, 09 Dec 2020 18:26:42 GMT

[quote userid="14101" url="~/f/nordic-q-a/69306/nrf5340---iot-application"]the boss came with a new request: "make it versatile enough to work also as a IoT device"[/quote]

You need to get your boss to clarify exactly what (s)he means by that - as it stands, it's pretty much just a meaningless buzzphrase.