nRF9160DK and WINC1500 WiFi Module

[RodWatt]

Hi,

I am trying to get the Atmel WINC1500 module to work with the nRF9160DK.

I have read a similar post,

https://devzone.nordicsemi.com/f/nordic-q-a/76640/spi-issue-using-the-adafruit-winc1500-wifi-on-the-nrf9160dk/317289#317289

and have taken the advice to ensure I use pins that are not assigned to functions on the DK. My overlay file is this

&spi3 {
  compatible = "nordic,nrf-spim";
  status = "okay";
  cs-gpios = <&gpio0 10 GPIO_ACTIVE_LOW>;
  sck-pin = <0>;
  mosi-pin = <19>;
  miso-pin = <1>;

	winc1500@0 {
		status = "okay";
		compatible = "atmel,winc1500";
		reg = <0x0>;
		label = "winc1500";
		spi-max-frequency = <4000000>;
		irq-gpios = <&gpio0 16 GPIO_ACTIVE_LOW>;
		reset-gpios = <&gpio0 13 GPIO_ACTIVE_LOW>;
		enable-gpios = <&gpio0 12 0>;
	};
};

and my conf file is as follows.

CONFIG_GPIO=y

CONFIG_SPI=y

CONFIG_WIFI_WINC1500=y
CONFIG_WIFI_WINC1500_REGION_EUROPE=y

CONFIG_EARLY_CONSOLE=y

CONFIG_NETWORKING=y
#CONFIG_TEST_RANDOM_GENERATOR=y
CONFIG_NET_TX_STACK_SIZE=2048
CONFIG_NET_RX_STACK_SIZE=2048

CONFIG_NET_PKT_RX_COUNT=10
CONFIG_NET_PKT_TX_COUNT=10
CONFIG_NET_BUF_RX_COUNT=20
CONFIG_NET_BUF_TX_COUNT=20
CONFIG_NET_MAX_CONTEXTS=10

CONFIG_NET_IPV4=y
CONFIG_NET_IPV6=n

CONFIG_NET_TCP=y

CONFIG_NET_LOG=y
CONFIG_INIT_STACKS=y

CONFIG_NET_SHELL=y

CONFIG_NET_STATISTICS=y
CONFIG_NET_STATISTICS_PERIODIC_OUTPUT=n

CONFIG_WIFI=y

CONFIG_WIFI_LOG_LEVEL_ERR=y
CONFIG_NET_L2_WIFI_SHELL=y

 when I try to build the code, the is the code I'm using

https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/tree/main/samples/net/wifi

I get an error

Watt@Watt-Macbook-Pro WINC1500 % sh build_app.sh
[1/1] cd /Users/Watt/Documents/ZEPHYR_...ncs/v1.6.1/zephyr/cmake/pristine.cmake
-- Application: /Users/Watt/Documents/ZEPHYR_Code/nRF9160DK/New_Code/WINC1500
-- Using NCS Toolchain 1.6.0 for building. (/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.0-rc2/toolchain/cmake)
-- Zephyr version: 2.6.0-rc1 (/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/zephyr), build: v2.6.0-rc1-ncs1
-- Found Python3: /opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.0-rc2/toolchain/bin/python3 (found suitable exact version "3.8.2") found components: Interpreter 
-- Found west (found suitable version "0.11.0", minimum required is "0.7.1")
-- Board: nrf9160dk_nrf9160, Revision: 0.7.0
-- Cache files will be written to: /Users/Watt/Library/Caches/zephyr
-- Found dtc: /opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.0-rc2/toolchain/bin/dtc (found suitable version "1.4.7", minimum required is "1.4.6")
-- Found toolchain: gnuarmemb (/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.0-rc2/toolchain)
-- Found BOARD.dts: /opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/zephyr/boards/arm/nrf9160dk_nrf9160/nrf9160dk_nrf9160.dts
-- Found devicetree overlay: /Users/Watt/Documents/ZEPHYR_Code/nRF9160DK/New_Code/WINC1500/nrf9160dk_nrf9160.overlay
-- Generated zephyr.dts: /Users/Watt/Documents/ZEPHYR_Code/nRF9160DK/New_Code/WINC1500/build/zephyr/zephyr.dts
-- Generated devicetree_unfixed.h: /Users/Watt/Documents/ZEPHYR_Code/nRF9160DK/New_Code/WINC1500/build/zephyr/include/generated/devicetree_unfixed.h
-- Generated device_extern.h: /Users/Watt/Documents/ZEPHYR_Code/nRF9160DK/New_Code/WINC1500/build/zephyr/include/generated/device_extern.h
Parsing /opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/zephyr/Kconfig
Loaded configuration '/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/zephyr/boards/arm/nrf9160dk_nrf9160/nrf9160dk_nrf9160_defconfig'
Merged configuration 'prj.conf'
Configuration saved to '/Users/Watt/Documents/ZEPHYR_Code/nRF9160DK/New_Code/WINC1500/build/zephyr/.config'
Kconfig header saved to '/Users/Watt/Documents/ZEPHYR_Code/nRF9160DK/New_Code/WINC1500/build/zephyr/include/generated/autoconf.h'
-- The C compiler identification is GNU 9.2.1
-- The CXX compiler identification is GNU 9.2.1
-- The ASM compiler identification is GNU
-- Found assembler: /opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.0-rc2/toolchain/bin/arm-none-eabi-gcc
-- Configuring done
-- Generating done
-- Build files have been written to: /Users/Watt/Documents/ZEPHYR_Code/nRF9160DK/New_Code/WINC1500/build
Make Complete

/Users/Watt/Documents/ZEPHYR_Code/nRF9160DK/New_Code/WINC1500/build
[1/294] Preparing syscall dependency handling

[87/294] Building C object zephyr/CMak...fi/winc1500/wifi_winc1500_nm_bsp.c.obj
FAILED: zephyr/CMakeFiles/zephyr.dir/drivers/wifi/winc1500/wifi_winc1500_nm_bsp.c.obj 
ccache /opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.0-rc2/toolchain/bin/arm-none-eabi-gcc -DBUILD_VERSION=v2.6.0-rc1-ncs1 -DKERNEL -DNRF9160_XXAA -DUSE_PARTITION_MANAGER=0 -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -D__PROGRAM_START -D__ZEPHYR__=1 -I/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/zephyr/kernel/include -I/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/zephyr/arch/arm/include -I/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/zephyr/include -Izephyr/include/generated -I/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/zephyr/soc/arm/nordic_nrf/nrf91 -I/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/zephyr/lib/util/fnmatch/. -I/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/zephyr/drivers/wifi/winc1500/. -I/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/nrf/include -I/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/modules/hal/cmsis/CMSIS/Core/Include -I/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/modules/hal/nordic/nrfx -I/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/modules/hal/nordic/nrfx/drivers/include -I/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/modules/hal/nordic/nrfx/mdk -I/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/zephyr/modules/hal_nordic/nrfx/. -isystem /opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/zephyr/lib/libc/minimal/include -isystem /opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.0-rc2/toolchain/bin/../lib/gcc/arm-none-eabi/9.2.1/include -isystem /opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.0-rc2/toolchain/bin/../lib/gcc/arm-none-eabi/9.2.1/include-fixed -isystem /opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/nrfxlib/crypto/nrf_cc310_platform/include -Os -imacros /Users/Watt/Documents/ZEPHYR_Code/nRF9160DK/New_Code/WINC1500/build/zephyr/include/generated/autoconf.h -ffreestanding -fno-common -g -fdiagnostics-color=always -mcpu=cortex-m33 -mthumb -mabi=aapcs -imacros /opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/zephyr/include/toolchain/zephyr_stdint.h -Wall -Wformat -Wformat-security -Wno-format-zero-length -Wno-main -Wno-pointer-sign -Wpointer-arith -Wexpansion-to-defined -Wno-address-of-packed-member -Wno-unused-but-set-variable -Werror=implicit-int -fno-asynchronous-unwind-tables -fno-pie -fno-pic -fno-strict-overflow -fno-reorder-functions -fno-defer-pop -fmacro-prefix-map=/Users/Watt/Documents/ZEPHYR_Code/nRF9160DK/New_Code/WINC1500=CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR -fmacro-prefix-map=/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/zephyr=ZEPHYR_BASE -fmacro-prefix-map=/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1=WEST_TOPDIR -ffunction-sections -fdata-sections -std=c99 -nostdinc -MD -MT zephyr/CMakeFiles/zephyr.dir/drivers/wifi/winc1500/wifi_winc1500_nm_bsp.c.obj -MF zephyr/CMakeFiles/zephyr.dir/drivers/wifi/winc1500/wifi_winc1500_nm_bsp.c.obj.d -o zephyr/CMakeFiles/zephyr.dir/drivers/wifi/winc1500/wifi_winc1500_nm_bsp.c.obj -c /opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/zephyr/drivers/wifi/winc1500/wifi_winc1500_nm_bsp.c
In file included from /opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/zephyr/drivers/wifi/winc1500/wifi_winc1500_nm_bsp.c:7:
/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/zephyr/drivers/wifi/winc1500/wifi_winc1500_nm_bsp_internal.h:15:10: fatal error: bus_wrapper/include/nm_bus_wrapper.h: No such file or directory
   15 | #include <bus_wrapper/include/nm_bus_wrapper.h>
      |          ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
compilation terminated.
[88/294] Building C object zephyr/CMak...500/wifi_winc1500_nm_bus_wrapper.c.obj
FAILED: zephyr/CMakeFiles/zephyr.dir/drivers/wifi/winc1500/wifi_winc1500_nm_bus_wrapper.c.obj 
ccache /opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.0-rc2/toolchain/bin/arm-none-eabi-gcc -DBUILD_VERSION=v2.6.0-rc1-ncs1 -DKERNEL -DNRF9160_XXAA -DUSE_PARTITION_MANAGER=0 -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -D__PROGRAM_START -D__ZEPHYR__=1 -I/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/zephyr/kernel/include -I/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/zephyr/arch/arm/include -I/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/zephyr/include -Izephyr/include/generated -I/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/zephyr/soc/arm/nordic_nrf/nrf91 -I/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/zephyr/lib/util/fnmatch/. -I/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/zephyr/drivers/wifi/winc1500/. -I/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/nrf/include -I/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/modules/hal/cmsis/CMSIS/Core/Include -I/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/modules/hal/nordic/nrfx -I/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/modules/hal/nordic/nrfx/drivers/include -I/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/modules/hal/nordic/nrfx/mdk -I/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/zephyr/modules/hal_nordic/nrfx/. -isystem /opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/zephyr/lib/libc/minimal/include -isystem /opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.0-rc2/toolchain/bin/../lib/gcc/arm-none-eabi/9.2.1/include -isystem /opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.0-rc2/toolchain/bin/../lib/gcc/arm-none-eabi/9.2.1/include-fixed -isystem /opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/nrfxlib/crypto/nrf_cc310_platform/include -Os -imacros /Users/Watt/Documents/ZEPHYR_Code/nRF9160DK/New_Code/WINC1500/build/zephyr/include/generated/autoconf.h -ffreestanding -fno-common -g -fdiagnostics-color=always -mcpu=cortex-m33 -mthumb -mabi=aapcs -imacros /opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/zephyr/include/toolchain/zephyr_stdint.h -Wall -Wformat -Wformat-security -Wno-format-zero-length -Wno-main -Wno-pointer-sign -Wpointer-arith -Wexpansion-to-defined -Wno-address-of-packed-member -Wno-unused-but-set-variable -Werror=implicit-int -fno-asynchronous-unwind-tables -fno-pie -fno-pic -fno-strict-overflow -fno-reorder-functions -fno-defer-pop -fmacro-prefix-map=/Users/Watt/Documents/ZEPHYR_Code/nRF9160DK/New_Code/WINC1500=CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR -fmacro-prefix-map=/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/zephyr=ZEPHYR_BASE -fmacro-prefix-map=/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1=WEST_TOPDIR -ffunction-sections -fdata-sections -std=c99 -nostdinc -MD -MT zephyr/CMakeFiles/zephyr.dir/drivers/wifi/winc1500/wifi_winc1500_nm_bus_wrapper.c.obj -MF zephyr/CMakeFiles/zephyr.dir/drivers/wifi/winc1500/wifi_winc1500_nm_bus_wrapper.c.obj.d -o zephyr/CMakeFiles/zephyr.dir/drivers/wifi/winc1500/wifi_winc1500_nm_bus_wrapper.c.obj -c /opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/zephyr/drivers/wifi/winc1500/wifi_winc1500_nm_bus_wrapper.c
In file included from /opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/zephyr/drivers/wifi/winc1500/wifi_winc1500_nm_bus_wrapper.c:19:
/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/zephyr/drivers/wifi/winc1500/wifi_winc1500_nm_bsp_internal.h:15:10: fatal error: bus_wrapper/include/nm_bus_wrapper.h: No such file or directory
   15 | #include <bus_wrapper/include/nm_bus_wrapper.h>
      |          ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
compilation terminated.
[95/294] Building C object zephyr/CMak...vers/wifi/winc1500/wifi_winc1500.c.obj
FAILED: zephyr/CMakeFiles/zephyr.dir/drivers/wifi/winc1500/wifi_winc1500.c.obj 
ccache /opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.0-rc2/toolchain/bin/arm-none-eabi-gcc -DBUILD_VERSION=v2.6.0-rc1-ncs1 -DKERNEL -DNRF9160_XXAA -DUSE_PARTITION_MANAGER=0 -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -D__PROGRAM_START -D__ZEPHYR__=1 -I/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/zephyr/kernel/include -I/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/zephyr/arch/arm/include -I/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/zephyr/include -Izephyr/include/generated -I/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/zephyr/soc/arm/nordic_nrf/nrf91 -I/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/zephyr/lib/util/fnmatch/. -I/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/zephyr/drivers/wifi/winc1500/. -I/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/nrf/include -I/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/modules/hal/cmsis/CMSIS/Core/Include -I/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/modules/hal/nordic/nrfx -I/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/modules/hal/nordic/nrfx/drivers/include -I/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/modules/hal/nordic/nrfx/mdk -I/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/zephyr/modules/hal_nordic/nrfx/. -isystem /opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/zephyr/lib/libc/minimal/include -isystem /opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.0-rc2/toolchain/bin/../lib/gcc/arm-none-eabi/9.2.1/include -isystem /opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.0-rc2/toolchain/bin/../lib/gcc/arm-none-eabi/9.2.1/include-fixed -isystem /opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/nrfxlib/crypto/nrf_cc310_platform/include -Os -imacros /Users/Watt/Documents/ZEPHYR_Code/nRF9160DK/New_Code/WINC1500/build/zephyr/include/generated/autoconf.h -ffreestanding -fno-common -g -fdiagnostics-color=always -mcpu=cortex-m33 -mthumb -mabi=aapcs -imacros /opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/zephyr/include/toolchain/zephyr_stdint.h -Wall -Wformat -Wformat-security -Wno-format-zero-length -Wno-main -Wno-pointer-sign -Wpointer-arith -Wexpansion-to-defined -Wno-address-of-packed-member -Wno-unused-but-set-variable -Werror=implicit-int -fno-asynchronous-unwind-tables -fno-pie -fno-pic -fno-strict-overflow -fno-reorder-functions -fno-defer-pop -fmacro-prefix-map=/Users/Watt/Documents/ZEPHYR_Code/nRF9160DK/New_Code/WINC1500=CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR -fmacro-prefix-map=/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/zephyr=ZEPHYR_BASE -fmacro-prefix-map=/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1=WEST_TOPDIR -ffunction-sections -fdata-sections -std=c99 -nostdinc -MD -MT zephyr/CMakeFiles/zephyr.dir/drivers/wifi/winc1500/wifi_winc1500.c.obj -MF zephyr/CMakeFiles/zephyr.dir/drivers/wifi/winc1500/wifi_winc1500.c.obj.d -o zephyr/CMakeFiles/zephyr.dir/drivers/wifi/winc1500/wifi_winc1500.c.obj -c /opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/zephyr/drivers/wifi/winc1500/wifi_winc1500.c
/opt/nordic/ncs/v1.6.1/zephyr/drivers/wifi/winc1500/wifi_winc1500.c:37:10: fatal error: driver/include/m2m_wifi.h: No such file or directory
   37 | #include <driver/include/m2m_wifi.h>
      |          ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
compilation terminated.
[96/294] Building C object zephyr/arch...ore__aarch32__cortex_m.dir/fault.c.obj
ninja: build stopped: subcommand failed.
Parsing hex file.
ERROR: The file specified could not be found.

This error can be avoided if I comment out the line

CONFIG_WIFI=y

This allows the code to build and run but of couse I then get an error saying there is no network.

uart:~$ *** Booting Zephyr OS build v2.6.0-rc1-ncs1  ***


[00:00:00.382,232] <err> net_if: There is no network interface to work with!
uart:~$ wifi scan
[00:00:06.206,115] <err> os: ***** USAGE FAULT *****
[00:00:06.206,115] <err> os:   Unaligned memory access
[00:00:06.206,115] <err> os: r0/a1:  0xaaaaaaaa  r1/a2:  0x00000000  r2/a3:  0x00000000
[00:00:06.206,146] <err> os: r3/a4:  0x20004c48 r12/ip:  0x00000000 r14/lr:  0x0000536d
[00:00:06.206,146] <err> os:  xpsr:  0x61000000
[00:00:06.206,146] <err> os: Faulting instruction address (r15/pc): 0x0000525c
[00:00:06.206,146] <err> os: >>> ZEPHYR FATAL ERROR 0: CPU exception on CPU 0
[00:00:06.206,176] <err> os: Current thread: 0x200005d8 (shell_uart)
*** Booting Zephyr OS build v2.6.0-rc1-ncs1  ***system


[00:00:00.251,525] <err> net_if: There is no network interface to work with!
uart:~$ 

Would appreciate your thoughts

Rod

[helsing]

Hi Rod,

Which board hw revision are you using? Have you tried specifying a specific board revision for nRF9160 DK? This will affect the behaviour and configuration of several pins.

When I check the Board controller firmware documentation it is mentioned that "In nRF9160 DK revisions earlier than v0.14.0, nRF9160 signals routed to other components on the DK are not simultaneously available on the DK connectors."

I can see that P0.00 and P0.01 are also in use by VCOM2. Try swapping these pins with a couple of other free pins. Or, if you have no pins available, you could try to disable routing for the VCOM2 pins by adding the following to the overlay of the board controller firmware. Then build and flash this to nrf9160dk_nrf52840. Make sure that the PROG/DEBUG switch on the DK is set to nRF52.

&vcom2_pins_routing {

        status = "disabled";
};

Frequency

Another thing to try is to lower the SPI frequency to 250000 in your overlay. This could help if you have long wires between the DK and the module.

If you have an oscilloscope available, recording using 250000 could also help clarify a few things.

Håkon

[RodWatt]

Hi Håkon

Thanks for your suggestions. I have a couple of different revision boards; (1.0.0 and 0.8.3) and have compiled the code for them specifically as delayed above. The scan is still failing but it just seems to hang there as opposed to reporting an error.

I also have an nRF52840 dongle and I have connected the module up to this; this works as expected. So, I'm happy that my code and understanding of the connections are correct. BTW, I can leave the WAKE signal unconnected, and it works. There must be a pull up on the module.

So,  I assuming its a "pin allocation" problem where I'm  using a pin on the nRF9160DK that has been allocated to something else on the board. My overlay file is below. Can you see me using any pins I shouldn't?

Rod

&spi3 {
  compatible = "nordic,nrf-spim";
  status = "ok";
  sck-pin = <13>;
  mosi-pin = <11>;
  miso-pin = <12>;
  cs-gpios = <&gpio0 25 GPIO_ACTIVE_LOW>;

	winc1500@0 {
		status = "ok";
		compatible = "atmel,winc1500";
		reg = <0x0>;
		label = "winc1500";
		spi-max-frequency = <250000>;
		irq-gpios = <&gpio0 16 1>;
		reset-gpios = <&gpio0 26 1>;
		enable-gpios = <&gpio0 19 0>;
		
	};
};

[helsing]

Hi Rod,

I see that enable-gpio is configured to P0.19. I am not sure whether I have interpreted things correctly, however, it could be worth a try to swap to another pin.

Have you made any modifications to the FW on nRF52840?

Would you be able to share some of your project code? I do not have the module but I could try to check the signals on my side.

Best regards,

Håkon

[RodWatt]

Hi Håkon,

I am simply using the sample code for the WINC1500. The only thing I have changed is the pinout. I have tried a number of different pin outs, my latest is shown below.

As I said, I did get the same code to work on the nRF52840 dongle; it works as planned so I think its a pin out problem. If you can suggest an alternative pinout, I will give it a go but as I got it to work elsewhere Im happy to close the ticket

Rod

&spi3 {
  compatible = "nordic,nrf-spim";
  status = "ok";
  sck-pin = <13>;
  mosi-pin = <11>;
  miso-pin = <12>;
  cs-gpios = <&gpio0 10 GPIO_ACTIVE_LOW>;

	winc1500@0 {
		status = "ok";
		compatible = "atmel,winc1500";
		reg = <0x0>;
		label = "winc1500";
		spi-max-frequency = <250000>;
		irq-gpios = <&gpio0 20 1>;
		reset-gpios = <&gpio0 24 1>;
		enable-gpios = <&gpio0 25 0>;
		
	};
};

[helsing]

Hi Rod,

Great to hear you got the module working with the nRF52840 Dongle. What IO voltage are did you use between the two?

If you would like to keep trying to get the module working with nRF9160 I suggest the next thing to try is to make sure the two units have a corresponding IO voltage. Either make sure the WIFI dongle is configured to communicate at 3.0V, or make sure the nRF9160 DK is communicating at 3.3V. If you would like to make the nRF9160 DK communicate at 3.3V, supply 3.3V to the VI_REF pin after VDD is applied. This way the IO voltage is automatically set to the same voltage as VI_REF.

Best regards,

Håkon