Bluetooth Low Energy BLE113

[alin_im]

Hey guys,

I have just purchased some BLE113 bluetooth low energy. But I have a question about it.

Do i need to program it to interface it with another microcontroller ? or just make the connections using the spi mode and that's all (like the HC-05 module) ?

Anyone worked with this module ? What is your opinion ?

DATASHEET: http://www.mouser.com/catalog/specsheets/Bluegiga_Technologies_BLE113_Datasheet.pdf

[Wilksey]

Whilst I haven't used that particular module, I have used similar modules with build in MCU's, and there has been a command based interface into the stack.

My advice would be to read the documentation and just try it, I would have looked further at it but it was asking for login etc.

[alin_im]

Whilst I haven't used that particular module, I have used similar modules with build in MCU's, and there has been a command based interface into the stack.

My advice would be to read the documentation and just try it, I would have looked further at it but it was asking for login etc.

Do you think I need to program the Bluetooth module itself or I can just wire the SPI bus with another micro and configure only the micro ?

[Wilksey]

I can't see why you would need to program the internal 8051 but without reading the documentation I can't be sure.

Have you read through the documentation to find out what level of control they give you "out of the box"?

[rs20]

I have the BLE112 dev kit, which is basically similar, and it's very much centered around the idea that you program the BLE11x with whatever software you want, "no separate microcontroller required".

The documentation is very much centered around the idea of programming the BLE11x with your own custom software. Now a new BLE113 might come pre-programmed in such a way that you can interact with it using a separate uC. But if it comes blank, or with just a silly little demo app on it, then obviously it's not going to be much use to you without re-programming it. So your question boils down to what they come pre-programmed with out of the factory. I doubt it comes pre-programmed with anything useful to you.

On the plus-side, it is trivially easy to program using the Bluegiga SDK, and they handle all the BLE magic for you through configuration XMLs and the like. The programming language itself is rather childish, but it gets the job done. Certainly much easier than trying to load all that configuration over from some separate micro.

Funnily enough, I just started playing with the DKBLE112 kit last night...

[alin_im]

I have the BLE112 dev kit, which is basically similar, and it's very much centered around the idea that you program the BLE11x with whatever software you want, "no separate microcontroller required".

The documentation is very much centered around the idea of programming the BLE11x with your own custom software. Now a new BLE113 might come pre-programmed in such a way that you can interact with it using a separate uC. But if it comes blank, or with just a silly little demo app on it, then obviously it's not going to be much use to you without re-programming it. So your question boils down to what they come pre-programmed with out of the factory. I doubt it comes pre-programmed with anything useful to you.

On the plus-side, it is trivially easy to program using the Bluegiga SDK, and they handle all the BLE magic for you through configuration XMLs and the like. The programming language itself is rather childish, but it gets the job done. Certainly much easier than trying to load all that configuration over from some separate micro.

Funnily enough, I just started playing with the DKBLE112 kit last night...

How can I program it ? Using a JTAG ? I do not have one at the moment can you recommend me one because they are tons on the ebay and I do not know exactly which one is good.

[rs20]

How can I program it ? Using a JTAG ? I do not have one at the moment can you recommend me one because they are tons on the ebay and I do not know exactly which one is good.

Ah, I'm not the one to ask -- I have the fancy dev kit that comes with a BLE112 soldered on, and micro-usb connectors for the on-board programmer/debugger. So I just plug in the micro-usb cable, and I'm good to go, blissfully unaware of what's actually going on. (Fwiw, there's a switch on the board that controls whether the debugging connection is routed to the soldered-on module, or two a 2x5 fine pitch header which allows standalone modules to be programmed/debugged.

Having said that though, the debugger port on the DKBLE112 reports itself as a "CC debugger" (e.g., this), and the Bluegiga BLE SW Update Tool complains "CC debugger not found" if nothing is plugged in, so I'd bet my money that's what you want. I have no idea how generic these things are; I'm one of these fools who only uses Atmel programmers with Atmel MCUs and TI programmers with TI MCUs... As for how to wire the ribbon cable into the BLE112, refer to the DK schematics. You might need to get a Bluegiga account, looks annoying but I managed to get one.

Everything above is for the BLE112, differences (if any) between the BLE112 and BLE113 are your own responsibility to figure out :-)

[Wilksey]

I looked at a TI chip for LE, and to program the onboard 8051 you needed the code composer or IAR compiler, which costs a fortune to be able to do anything with, I ended up using the NRF8001.

I thought you could interface with the chip directly rather than have to go through the micro, but perhaps not, maybe you need to reflash the host controller firmware.

I think they usually have programming pins, not sure if it is JTAG or some form of ICSP,the manual should tell you.