Using nRF Connect SDK to easily make BlueZ compatible HCI BLE 5 Dongle

[adamsperry]

I am having trouble finding a commercially available BLE 5 dongle that I can be confident will support Linux BlueZ as well as the LE 2M PHY. I would like to know if I can use the nRF Connect SDK to easily turn an nRF-based dongle (e.g. nRF52840 Dongle or third-party programmable dongles such as options from Laird) into an HCI BLE 5 Dongle that is compatible with BlueZ.

My goal is that I want my Linux machine (which currently does not have any Bluetooth capability) to act as the central in a BLE 5 communication at 2 Mbps. My fallback would be to have one of these programmable dongles act as the central itself and then relay the information through the USB peripheral (not UART over USB) to the Linux machine, but if I can cut out that step in the communication I think that would be better. Any advice on this goal is greatly appreciated.

[Edvin]

Hello,

I have not tested this, but I suppose what you are looking for is found here:

https://developer.nordicsemi.com/nRF_Connect_SDK/doc/latest/zephyr/samples/bluetooth/hci_usb/README.html

This is a zephyr project, so it is not written, or directly supported by Nordic, strictly speaking, as our BLE controller is not the same as Zephyrs. That being said, Zephyr has supported the nRF for a long time, and I believe this is well tested.

Best regards,

Edvin

[adamsperry]

So this zephyr project doesn't use the SoftDevice Controller from the Connect SDK? It is using it's own BLE Controller implementation?

[Edvin]

That is correct. It uses Zephyr's BLE controller.