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From nRF52 DK to 3rd party module in custom PCB

pgonzaleztrucorp

Hi,

First of all, I'm new in the field of BLE development. I have a custom PCB and some sensors. I want to send the data from these sensors to an app via BLE. These sensors use I2C and SPI protocols and digital and analog inputs.

I got myself an nRF52 DK and try a few things. The next step is using a 3rd party BLE module in my custom PCB.

I guess I have 2 options:

Working with my Atmega328p and a module with an nRF52832 or an nRF51822 as I could work with some Arduino libraries for creating a GATT profile with services and characteristics.

Use only the 3rd module and its digital inputs as the microcontroller and program it with Segger, Keil or similar. I believe this option would be more difficult for me at this stage (libraries, code, etc)

My doubts:

How to connect the BLE module to my microcontroller. 

Do I have to program the module separately with the nRF52 DK? How can I do it?

I would like to have something similar to the nRF8001 Bluefruit LE module from adafruit. (https://learn.adafruit.com/getting-started-with-the-nrf8001-bluefruit-le-breakout)

Kind Regards,

Pablo

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  • +1

    Hi Pablo,

    Is there a particular reason you want a two chip solution? That will typically complicate things, and you will need to do integration yourself. If a single MCU is enough for your project, then I would suggest using only a module with a nRF.

    How to connect the BLE module to my microcontroller. 

    If you want to do this, then you would have to use a serial interface of some sort (typically UART or SPI). If you use the nRF5 SDK you can use SoftDevice serialization. If you use the nRF Connect SDK and has a host MCU that implements the Bluetooth host, you can use HCI over UART or SPI. In both cases this will typically complicate things a bit and require more work so I would try to avoid a two chip solution if possible (at least if the idea is that it would make things simpler, which it will normally not).

    Do I have to program the module separately with the nRF52 DK? How can I do it?

    Yes, modules typically ship with an empty flash. You can use the debug out port on the DK to program external ICs, such as the module.

    I would like to have something similar to the nRF8001 Bluefruit LE module from adafruit. (https://learn.adafruit.com/getting-started-with-the-nrf8001-bluefruit-le-breakout)

    This use the nRF8001 which is quite old and can only be used as a connectivity device for a host MCU. If you want something more modern I suggest looking at a nRF52 variant. Also, as stated, I suggest you consider if a two chip solution is really what you need. You can find a list of modules here.

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  • +1

    Hi Pablo,

    Is there a particular reason you want a two chip solution? That will typically complicate things, and you will need to do integration yourself. If a single MCU is enough for your project, then I would suggest using only a module with a nRF.

    How to connect the BLE module to my microcontroller. 

    If you want to do this, then you would have to use a serial interface of some sort (typically UART or SPI). If you use the nRF5 SDK you can use SoftDevice serialization. If you use the nRF Connect SDK and has a host MCU that implements the Bluetooth host, you can use HCI over UART or SPI. In both cases this will typically complicate things a bit and require more work so I would try to avoid a two chip solution if possible (at least if the idea is that it would make things simpler, which it will normally not).

    Do I have to program the module separately with the nRF52 DK? How can I do it?

    Yes, modules typically ship with an empty flash. You can use the debug out port on the DK to program external ICs, such as the module.

    I would like to have something similar to the nRF8001 Bluefruit LE module from adafruit. (https://learn.adafruit.com/getting-started-with-the-nrf8001-bluefruit-le-breakout)

    This use the nRF8001 which is quite old and can only be used as a connectivity device for a host MCU. If you want something more modern I suggest looking at a nRF52 variant. Also, as stated, I suggest you consider if a two chip solution is really what you need. You can find a list of modules here.

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