can I use simultaneously Bluetooth Smart and Gazell on the RF51422 and on nRF51822?

[Antonio]

Hello I was wondering if I can use both the proprietary protocol 2.4 Ghz ( I understood the one to use for the new projects is Gazell ) and the Blueotooth smart on the nRF51422 ? and on the nRF51822 ? I suppose the appropriate Softdevice is the s130, is it right? Does the RF51422 support simultaneous use of the two protocols ? and does the nRF51822 also support the two protocols simultanously ?

Thank you

[Asbjørn Sæbø]

Hi, Antonio!

Yes, it is possible to run both BLE (Bluetooth Smart) and Gazell simultaneously on the nRF51 chips. How you choose to do this depends upon how simultaneous they need to be - there are two options. (See the SoftDevice Specification - SDS, e.g. S110 nRF51 SoftDevice Specification v2.0, section 2.2, "Multiprotocol support".)

Concurrent multiprotocol operation can be achieved by using the "Concurrent Multiprotocol Timeslot API" (see section 9 in the S110 SDS mentioned above). This lets you schedule timeslots where your application gets control of the radio and certain other peripherals in between the radio activities of the BLE stack. You may then use these timeslots to run Gazell in your application, interleaved with BLE activity like BLE connections. (The SDK has examples for using the timeslot API, and examples for Gazell, I believe, that should give you starting points.) Beware that in the timeslots, code in your application will run at the highest priority, giving you ample opportunity to shoot yourself in the foot. If your application misbehaves and does not follow the requirements of the Timeslot API, you are likely to make the SoftDevice and the BLE protocol misbehave.

There is also the option on non-concurrent multiprotocol. That requires shutting down the SoftDevice and running Gazell from the application. That will not allow you to interleave Gazell with ongoing BLE acticities - BLE activities will end when you shut down the SoftDevice.

The Concurrent Multiprotocol Timeslot API is available in the S110 SoftDevice and the S120 SoftDevice, and is also planned for the S130 SoftDevice.

With kind regards Asbjørn S.

[Asbjørn]

Example on usage of the timeslot API available here.