nRF52811 replacement over nRF52832 plug-and-play ?

RE: nRF52811 replacement over nRF52832 plug-and-play ?

Simonr — Thu, 15 Apr 2021 06:17:27 GMT

Depending on what functionalities you need from the SoftDevice I would suggest looking at the S112/S113 SoftDevices for nRF52811, as the S140 will take up a lot of RAM and Flash memory on the nRF52811, which is already rather restricted with its 192 kB flash and 24 kB RAM., so the room for application and bootloader will be limited if you opt for the S140.

As for how to edit the RAM and Flash memory, please check out our guide on the matter here.

Best regards,

Simon

RE: nRF52811 replacement over nRF52832 plug-and-play ?

StephaneJ — Wed, 14 Apr 2021 08:03:22 GMT

Hi Simonr

Yes our current version for nrf52832 use the s132 but I think this version of softdevice it's not available for the nrf52811. So I was planning using the s140.

At this moment, my section placement macros are like this and it's working on the nrf52832 :

FLASH_PH_START=0x0
FLASH_PH_SIZE=0x80000
RAM_PH_START=0x20000000
RAM_PH_SIZE=0x10000
FLASH_START=0x78000
FLASH_SIZE=0x6000
RAM_START=0x200057b8
RAM_SIZE=0xa848

I don't know how to update it since this is something that I have been given as it is.

RE: nRF52811 replacement over nRF52832 plug-and-play ?

Simonr — Wed, 14 Apr 2021 07:57:59 GMT

You can use the same code in general for the two devices, but not the exact same .hex files I'm afraid. That will likely be a problem, as nRF52832 code is typically build by using FPU-instructions, which the nRF52811 does not support. You also need to take into concideration that the size of the Flash and RAM on the two boards will be different, so you might want to store the bootloader in different areas of the memory for instance. And if the two applications use different SoftDevices you need to change that as well.

Best regards,

Simon

RE: nRF52811 replacement over nRF52832 plug-and-play ?

StephaneJ — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 10:12:39 GMT

Can I use the same bootloader for both of them ?

RE: nRF52811 replacement over nRF52832 plug-and-play ?

Simonr — Mon, 01 Mar 2021 14:15:30 GMT

There are a few more steps to take into consideration when switching which board to build an application for. Please check out the developing for nRF52811 guide here on the Infocenter and follow the "Transferring project to nRF52811 hardware guide.

Best regards,

Simon

RE: nRF52811 replacement over nRF52832 plug-and-play ?

StephaneJ — Fri, 26 Feb 2021 13:06:52 GMT

Sorry it has been few years since I compiled the original FW and I am not sure where I should define if it is for nrf52832 or nrf52811.

I am using SES for compiling. Is it on the Project Options --> Common --> Preprocessor --> Preprocessor Definitions ?

Here I see a preprocessor : NRF52832_XXAA

I just need to replace this with NRF52811_XXAA ?

Thanks !

RE: nRF52811 replacement over nRF52832 plug-and-play ?

ketiljo — Fri, 26 Feb 2021 12:41:00 GMT

The nRF52811 have less RAM, hence the placement of the stack will be different. Even if it's equal on the outside, there are differences in the inside. Memory mapping etc.

RE: nRF52811 replacement over nRF52832 plug-and-play ?

StephaneJ — Fri, 26 Feb 2021 11:31:09 GMT

Thanks for your quick answer ketiljo

I'm not sure to understand why I should re-compile the FW if the board is the same and the pinout are the same ?

RE: nRF52811 replacement over nRF52832 plug-and-play ?

ketiljo — Mon, 14 Dec 2020 11:35:31 GMT

The pinout of the two is the same, so you can replace one with the other. But you need to re-compile the FW for the new device. Any radio certifications will have to be done again as well.