Certification of product, which contains the nrf24l01 module

[Zhey]

We have designed an electronics product - a PC peripheral and are looking to release it to market. It’s basically a ATSAMD21 microprocessor connected to a battery, which charges through USB-micro from a PC. The microprocessor is connected to an IMU sensor from Bosch and the radio module nrf24l01 from yourselves. No custom modifications have been made to any of these components. I can supply the detailed technical documentation of the device.

As an electronics product, which has a radio it needs to comply with The Radio Equipment Regulations 2017. I had a look at the guidance you have provided here: infocenter.nordicsemi.com/.../nwp_010.pdf. Thank you for making the effort.

I am a solo entrepreneur with very limited resources, so I was wondering if you could potentially help with the certification process. One method of compliance with the radio equipment regulations for release in the UK/Europe is to provide proof the product has been designed against the harmonised standards applicable to the product, e.g. BS EN 50566:2017 OR BS EN 50663:2017 and EN 300 328 V2.2.2 OR EN 300 440 and EN 301 489-17. Or provide proof the product is designed against similar technical requirements.

I wonder if anyone knows where I can find documentation of the radio module itself, the nrf24l01 being tested for RF exposure(safety), and radio compliance. Or against the essential requirements of the radio equipment regulations in any way?

I would be most grateful for any assistance in procuring the relevant technical communication, and any advice in how to approach this problem.

Zhey

[ovrebekk]

Hi 

In general we don't recommend starting any new designs with such an old Nordic part, but that's another discussion. 

We are happy to do a review of your schematic and layout in order to verify that the PCB design looks good, and we can also help out with antenna tuning if you don't have the facilities to do this, but at some point you will need to send your design to a test house to have it qualified. 

By helping out with the hardware review and antenna tuning in advance we are always aiming to ensure that the design is good by the time it reaches the test house, so it won't fail in their tests. 

Best regards
Torbjørn

[Zhey]

Hi Torbjorn, 

Thank you very much for answering. We started the design with this part due to stock considerations. We also wanted a part, which is supported in the arduino IDE. For a future revision of the design which parts would you recommend we should look at. In function our device is similar to a mouse, but using an IMU sensor to capture the data and sending it over the radio to a USB dongle which has the same part as a receiver.

I would appreciate any help in terms of technical review or antenna tuning. We should have most of the design finalized in the next couple weeks and be ready to move into that stage. What kind of documentation would you like me to share, for somebody to take a look? 

Zhey

[Zhey]

Hi Torbjorn,

I'm not sure about the difference between module and chip. The information from the BOM is: "NRF24L01SMD";"QFN20";"2.4GHz Low Power Transceiver" and I have attached the schematics for the dongle, in hopes it clarifies things.

1) Would these tests not be sufficient, due to changes in the legislation? Does that mean the module is not CE certified? If there was anything in terms of documentation that could get us trading for a year that would be all we need.

2) I should have probably asked these questions before getting this far, but is new stock for NRF24L01SMD being produced at all?

3) from the other modules you recommended, I don't suppose there would be a pin compatible/ easy to adopt module to potentially replace the NRF24 in the future (if we have the finances to work on a new design)? And as a follow-up, would these other modules have the relevant test reports?

Please let me know if this information is not sufficient.

Thank you very much.

Best wishes,
Zhey

dongle schematics.pdf

[ovrebekk]

Hi Zhey

When talking about modules we usually refer to something like this. 
A ready to go module, often pre-certified, that includes the nRF chip as well as all required circuitry, like crystals, decoupling caps, matching network and antenna. 

The alternative is a chip down design, which means you just buy the chip and have to design the PCB yourself. 

Based on your schematic files I assume this is a chip down design. 

1) These tests are no longer sufficient, no, since the test criteria have changed in the years since that test was performed. 

We never CE certify our chips, but development kits in the nRF52 family are all CE-certified. 

2) Yes, the nRF24L01SMD is still available to order, and we will produce new devices as needed depending on incoming orders. Unfortunately we are currently facing supply issues, like a lot of the electronics industry, and we are not able to produce as many devices as we need to satisfy demand. 

The full list of parts that we no longer produce can be found here. 

3) We don't have any drop in compatible replacements for the nRF24L01 unfortunately (unless you count the nRF24L01+, but this device won't satisfy the test requirements either). 

All our devices after the nRF24L series are SoC devices that come with ARM Cortex M processors, and will require some software to run. 

You can technically set up the SPI slave interface in an nRF52 device to act like an nRF24L01, but we don't have examples for this so it will require some development work. 

Also, there are a couple of configurations in the nRF24L01 that are not supported in the nRF52 series, such as the 250kbps on air datarate. 

Best regards
Torbjørn

[Zhey]

Hi Torbjorn,

Apologies for the delay in response. Thank you for the information.

I will discuss with our development team. Just to confirm, you do not issue declarations of conformity for any of your SoCs?

Zhey

[ovrebekk]

Hi Zhey

No, this is not something you can provide for a SoC, it is something you provide for a product. 

We have this for some of the DK's in the nRF52 family, as listed here. 

Best regards
Torbjørn

[Zhey]

Thanks for letting me know, Torbjorn. When submitting the technical files for review in a new ticket, should we be including the CAD files or Gerber files for the layout of the PCB?

[ovrebekk]

Hi Zhey

Gerber files are preferred for the PCB layout. 

PDF files are preferred for the schematics. 

Best regards
Torbjørn

[Zhey]

thank you :))