This repository is a starting point and shared code for Nordic nRF5x BLE platforms. This repo is a collection of libraries, SDKs, Softdevices, and Makefiles to be included within other projects using the Nordic platfroms. Pull requests welcome.

The currently supported SDK versions are: 9.0.0

The currently supported Softdevice versions are: s110_7.3.0, s110_8.0.0, s120_2.1.0, and s130_1.0.0

First, add this project as a submodule inside of your repo with your nRF5x code.

git submodule add https://github.com/lab11/nrf5x-base

Then write an application for the nRF5x SoC you are using and include a Makefile that looks like this:

PROJECT_NAME = $(shell basename "$(realpath ./)")

APPLICATION_SRCS = $(notdir $(wildcard ./*.c))
# Various C libraries that need to be included
APPLICATION_SRCS += softdevice_handler.c
APPLICATION_SRCS += ble_advdata.c
APPLICATION_SRCS += ble_conn_params.c
APPLICATION_SRCS += app_timer.c
APPLICATION_SRCS += ble_srv_common.c
APPLICATION_SRCS += app_util_platform.c
APPLICATION_SRCS += nrf_drv_common.c
APPLICATION_SRCS += nrf_delay.c
APPLICATION_SRCS += led.c
APPLICATION_SRCS += simple_ble.c
APPLICATION_SRCS += simple_adv.c
# Add other libraries here!

# platform-level headers and source files
LIBRARY_PATHS += ../../include
SOURCE_PATHS += ../../src

# Set the softdevice needed for the application
SOFTDEVICE_MODEL = s110

# Include the main Makefile
NRF_BASE_PATH ?= ../../nrf5x-base
include $(NRF_BASE_PATH)/make/Makefile

An example Makefile is included in this repo as Makefile.example. Copy to your own application directory and modify as desired.

Generally, the expected directory structure for your project is:

    /apps
        /<my app name>
            Various .c and .h files for your application
            Makefile (copy from Makefile.example and modify as needed)
        /<my other app name>
        ...
    /src
        various platform-level code (e.g. functions shared between applications)
    /include
        various platform-level headers (e.g. platform pin mappings)
    /nrf5x-base (submodule)

An example of this project in use can be found here.

If you're using submodules in your project, you may want to use this to make git automatically update them: https://gist.github.com/brghena/fc4483a2df83c47660a5

When developing a BLE application, several tools exist to make your life easier. The easiest option, if you have access to an android phone, is nRF Master Control Panel. On iOS, LightBlue Explorer has similar or better functionality. Alternatively, noble is a NodeJS library for interacting with BLE that can run from a Linux or Mac computer.