nrf7002DK RF switch ctrl pin for BLE and Wi-Fi

[Phuoc K. Ly]

Hi,

I am making custom hardware based on the design of the nRF7002DK.

I see on the reference design schematic of the DK PCA10143, the U50 RF switch control pin is connected to an N-channel MOSFET driven from a digital pin from the nRF70.

Wouldn't it be easier and cheaper to just directly connect the SW_CTRL0 pin to the control pin on the switch (with a pull-up/pull-down if needed)? Or there is a reason for power consumption or software implementation that makes it not possible to do that?

Best regard,

Phuoc

[Kazi Afroza Sultana]

Hello,

This MOSFET switch is to invert the logical input to the switch. This is to share the 2.4 GHz antenna between nRF7002 and nRF5340. Without this, the two input from the 7002 and 5340 must be swapped and that makes the routing of the RF traces impossible.

I would like to give you more input tomorrow. 

Thanks.

BR

Kazi

[Kazi Afroza Sultana]

Hello, 

Switch is controlled by the nRF7002 and if the nRF7002 is powered down, the switch would default go to the RF1 input without the inverter, and it would not be possible to use the antenna for BLE.