Using serialization with a third party BLE modul

[jyang]

Hi,

If using a serialization connection to a BLE module. The application will run on the host MUC and the BLE module only runs the SoftDevice (BLE stack). I understand that the user only need to program the application side.

When I look at the third party BLE module, such as Laird BL654PA, it has a front end Power Amplifier to control. Does Nordic has a special version of code for this kind of design?

Best regards

[Jørgen Holmefjord]

Hi,

The BLE module needs to run our Serialization/Connectivity firmware in addition to the softdevice. The softdevice have support for PA/LNA, but I do not think it is possible to configure/control this from the serialized application without modifying the connectivity firmware to handle this. See this post for more information.

Note that some module partners provide their own firmwares for their modules. You may check with the module manufacturer if they already has a solution available for this use-case.

Best regards,
Jørgen

[jyang]

I have one more question on this BLE module firmware running the serialization lib and SD. I know I only need to maintain and update the application running on external MCU. However, it is still a possibility that we need to update the BLE Module firmware. What is the best way to update the module firmware in this use-case?

Many thanks

[Jørgen Holmefjord]

Hi,

If you do not have a SWD interface between the host MCU and the connectivity module, you can use our serial DFU solution for updating the firmware/softdevice: Secure DFU Bootloader over Serial Link (UART/USB).

On the host side, you can use the UART DFU Master code found in this blog post as a reference for the master side of the DFU solution.

Alternatively, you can also use the BLE Secure DFU Bootloader, if you want to update the firmware in the BLE module directly over BLE from a phone/PC. 

Best regards,
Jørgen

[jyang]

One additional question: 

Does the SoftDevice image includes NFC functionality? If in future, we want to use the NFC function, could we just do the similar development work as the BLE over the serialization connection? I mean only programming on the application side.

Thank you for your help

[Jørgen Holmefjord]

The softdevice does not include any functionality related to NFC, this is all handled in SDK libraries. If you were referring to the serialization/connectivity firmware, this also does not include any support for NFC, but you could possibly add support for controlling NFC through serialization yourself. As far as I know, there is no plans on our side to add support for that in the SDK.