Bluetooth Mesh migration nRF5 SDK to nRF Connect

[AAtpa]

Hi, 

I am currently working on a project that uses the nRF52840 MCU implemented with the nRF5 SDK and nRF Bluetooth mesh. In our future plans, we want to use direction finding and as per our understanding, we need to move on to the nRF5340 MCU. However, nRF5 SDK does not support the new MCU, so we will have to migrate to the nRF Connect SDK. At the moment we are in the process of moving our development into Zephyr, but we have some questions with regard to Bluetooth mesh. 

1) Does the SoftDevice that comes with the nRF Connect SDK 1.6 supports Mesh? If not, do we need to use Zephyr's own BLE stack?

2) Are there any migration guides from nRF5 mesh SDK to Zephyr Mesh?

[Mttrinh]

Hi,

1) Does the SoftDevice that comes with the nRF Connect SDK 1.6 supports Mesh? If not, do we need to use Zephyr's own BLE stack?

The softdevice controller is not suitable for mesh in nRF Connect SDK v1.6, the Zephyr Bluetooth LE controller is used by default. I suggest you use nRF Connect SDK v1.7 instead. In v1.7 the softdevice controller is supported with mesh and the default BLE controller is changed from zephyr to softdevice controller.

2) Are there any migration guides from nRF5 mesh SDK to Zephyr Mesh?

Unfortunately, we don't have any migration guides for that. It is complicated as libraries, drivers, protocols, examples are different between the two SDKs, so we don't recommend trying.

[markopa]

Hi. Thanks for the answer.

As for your answer #2 is my understanding correct that you don't recommend using nRFConnectSDK 1.7 with Zephyr for mesh development? If the answer is yes, can you disclose details why is that, what alternatives we have considering our target goal is to use nRF53 series where Zephyr (and thus ConectSDK) is mandatory and if you have an estimated roadmap for mesh support?

In case we still decide to go with nRF Connect 1.7 can we expect (prompt) support for mesh in case of issues?

Thanks for you answers in advance. This information is critical for our project.

[Mttrinh]

Hi,

You might have misunderstood my answer, what I meant it that is hard to migrate from nRF5 Mesh SDK to nRF Connect SDK/Zephyr Mesh so we don't recommend trying. The nRF Connect SDK/Zephyr is the only SDK we offer for the nRF5340 and it does supports Mesh. You can use nRF Connect SDK v1.7 for mesh development.

It shouldn't be any problem using the Zephyr controller, but we can't guarantee bluetooth certification on each release. The Softdevice controller is the main focus for future development.