Compatibility issues between zephyr drivers and nordic modules requiring NRFX gpio driver

[moose]

Hello, we are developing a zephyr application on top of nrf52 soc. We can use the built-in zephyr drivers for most modules (ex: I2C, UART, nvm, etc.); however, for some modules (ex: input capture and counters), we had to use the nrfx hal drivers instead. See this link for reference.

Most of these implementations require disabling the zephyr GPIO driver and using the nrfx gpio driver with the PPI hardware. Although it is not ideal, this workaround has been working. The issue we are facing now is some of the zephyr drivers rely on the zephyr GPIO driver, and it won't work if we disable it. For example, many I2C sensors use a GPIO line to trigger an interrupt line. Any idea on how we could address this compatibility issue? Thx!

[Simon]

I'ts not quite ready yet, the implementation is under it's final stages of review. I'll inform you when the Zephyr PR is ready. It shouldn't be too long.

[moose]

That is great to hear. Thank you for the update. 

[Albrecht Markus Schellenberger]

Moose, you can have a look at this draft PR with reference to nrfx with preliminary version of the driver :-)

You can start using the API already (as there only are cosmetic differences compared to the final API), and/or subscribe to this PR to get notification when something happens there, e.g. when it is moving out of draft.

Regards,

Markus

[moose]

Hello, any update on this? The PR is still not accepted. Do we know what is the plan and how can we enable both zephyr GPIO driver and nrfx_gpio in the same project? Thanks!

[Albrecht Markus Schellenberger]

Hello moose,

moose said:

Hello, any update on this? The PR is still not accepted. Do we know what is the plan and how can we enable both zephyr GPIO driver and nrfx_gpio in the same project? Thanks!

I double-checked with our development team, and the feedback I got was that this request is planned to be introduced together with nrfx 2.6.0, which will be released soon. Unfortunately, I can not provide you with any concrete date, but if everything goes off as expected it will happen in approximately 2 weeks.

Regards,

//Markus