Using NRF51822 for connectivity with Arduino

[Zerphed]

Hey,

Is it possible to use the NRF51822 for connectivity together with Arduino, and if so are there any easy instructions as to how to do so? I am looking something on the level of how to connect the Arduino with a NRF51822 module and which interface to use: UART or SPI? I am quite new to this world.

I am aware that the NRF51822 is a SoC and has an MCU built-in. However, I have an Arduino project working with the NRF24L01+ chips and I would desperately need to get some RSSI readings out of the system. As I understand it NRF51822 is on air compatible with the NRF24 series chips and thus could provide the RSSI reading for packets sent by the NRF24 series chips?

If it is completely out of the question to connect the NRF51822 module with an Arduino is there another chip that I could do to achieve this task? Or is there a simple way to make a program for the NRF51822 SoC that would listen to packets and output the packets along with the RSSI value to an interface that I could tap into with Arduino?

[Asbjørn]

You can connect the nRF51822 to an Arduino. You can use either UART or SPI, it depends on what you prefer, I guess the most common is to use UART. You have to implement the UART application on the nRF51822 to handle the communication with the Arduino, but if it's just to test RF functionality you could re-use the ESB example available in the nRF51 SDK and add the UART to receive commands.