nRF52833 -based development for newbies

[Pret]

Hi

After trying out nRF5340 step-by-step guide we'd like to learn nRF52833 following similar step-by-step start-up guidance if such exists.

I guess for the basic operation we need the proper environment and SDK installed for 52833.

Is there any step-by-step guidance for learning nRF52833-based development?

Also, we have the nRF Connect/Toolchain installed (and SEGGR Studio that can be invoked from there) from our learning of nRF5340. Do we need a separate environment to get installed for nRF52833 (I guess we'll be willing to use SoftDevice to start with) ?

Thank you

Alex

[Marte Myrvold]

Hi Alex,

The nRF Connect SDK (NCS) is supported on nRF52833 as well. Since nRF52833 only has one core, whereas nRF5340 has two, there will be some differences. However, using nRF52833 is simpler, so if you have gone through a step-by-step guide for the nRF5340, then you should be able to use one of our nRF52 series devices as well. The main differences are that you will not need to take into account a network core, as the single core on nRF52833 is used for both the application and the radio.You also might have seen that you sometimes have to use the build target with ns at the end for nRF5340. This is used when building the application as non-secure. This is not relevant for nRF52833, only for nRF5340 and nRF9160.

I do not know what step-by-step guide you went through, but if you have not checked it out already, then I will recommend looking at the nRF Connect SDK Tutorial series. Some parts of it are board specific for nRF9160 and nRF5340, but most of it teaches you how to use NCS in general, and is relevant for other chips as well, such as the nRF52833. In our documentation for NCS we also have a guide for working with nRF52 series. It does not tell you anything chip specific about building and programming a sample on nRF52, as that will be the same as the general guide for this in NCS, which you can find here. There are already a lot of samples in NCS that are supported on nRF52833. You can see which boards are supported in the Requirements section of the samples documentation. If you find one with support for nRF52833, then you can simply program it as in the Building and programming a sample application guide, and test it out as described in the samples documentation.

For new product development we recommend using NCS, as it will be the platform we continue to develop in the future. However, we also have the nRF5 SDK, which can be used with nRF51 and nRF52 series devices. This is a mature solution and will be supported for a long time, but it will only receive bug fixes and customer support. No new features will be added to this SDK going forward. I will still give you the relevant links to check it out, even if NCS is recommended.

The documentation for the nRF5 SDK can be found here, and the SDK itself can be downloaded from here. The getting started page in the SDK documentation shows how to run precompiled examples, install the SDK, and how to compile and run examples, both with and without a SoftDevice. Since you mention the SoftDevice in your text, I just want to clarify that the SoftDevice is necessary for Bluetooth projects, as it is the BLE protocol stack solution in nRF5 SDK. In NCS the stack is split in the two components: the Bluetooth Host and the Bluetooth LE controller. You can read more about this in the working with nRF52 series link I added above.

The recommended IDE to use with nRF5 SDK is SEGGER Embedded Studio (SES). Please be aware that this is not the same SES as in NCS, as the one in NCS is SES Nordic Edition, and is specifically for NCS, so you will have to install another version of SES. We have a guide for getting started with nRF5 SDK and SES here. Here you will find how to set up your toolchain (what to download and install etc.), how to program applications in SES, and more. If you are planning on using SES, then using this might be a better solution than the getting started page for nRF5 SDK itself.

Best regards,

Marte

[daviddedwin]

Marte Myrvold

NCS is the only option for the nRF91 and the nRF53.However is it really an option for the nRF52 ? NCS for the nRF52 does not seem to have production usage on the nRF52.
It seems more appropriate to suggest nRF5 SDK for the nRF52 series.

Thanks
David

[Pret]

David, this is good question

Certainly, the nRF5 is the mature solution for nRF52 family, this is also what I kearn from all the info around

The question  is whether the nRF Connect has been fully validated lately for nRF52 or there are still things to fix and validate to make it fully commercially approved for that family..