SDK support for isosynchronous audio transmission to external BLE speaker with nRF52382

[Protonert]

The new Bluetooth specification 5.2 will support transmission of audio data in a so called isosynchronous burst mode to external, BLE capable speakers, opening up a long asked for venue for BLE devices.

My target application using the nRF52 has the BLE radio, by when does Nordic plan an SDK update to support the new standard, especially the above said transmission mode?

For more info please see:

10 Frequently Asked Questions on LE Isochronous Channels | Bluetooth Technology Website

[Protonert]

Dear Simonr,

Let's focus on the technical details, which you as technical support can also clarify. Can you answer wether the current nRF52832 chipset can support the new BLE standard v5.2 or not? If yes, does enabling the said transmission mode require an SDK update or is there more involved?

[Simonr]

Hi again

Very well. Yes, the nRF52 series (including the nRF52832) support the radio communication for LE Audio, but won't be able to run the LC3 Codec, which you will need a dedicated processor for. We recommend the nRF5340 which, with its dual processors is able to run both the radio and the LC3 Codec. Last year, we (in partnership with Packetcraft) launched an LE Audio Evaluation platform, using the nRF52832 for radio communication, alongside the CS47L35 smart codec to provide an evaluation platform for LE Audio. More details here.

You can also check out this blog post on Bluetooth LE Audio that was posted just before the holidays. An SDK supporting LE Audio is not yet released, so I don't have any details on whether this will be "just an SDK update" or not I'm afraid.

Best regards,

Simon