BL654 USB Dongle
Quick Start Guide
https://www.lairdconnect.com/
4
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1
I
NTRODUCTION
1.1
Scope
The purpose of this document is to give an overview for programming application code to the Laird Connectivity 451-00004
–
BL654 based USB dongle supporting Nordic / Zephyr based application deployment.
Note:
Laird Connectivity also makes a variant of this product which supports
smart
development (Laird part # 451-
different hardware
and are dedicated to their specific development environments.
1.2
Background
The Laird Connectivity 451-00004 USB dongle is a self-contained Bluetooth product which contains a Bluetooth v5 radio and
Cortex M4 processor using Nordic’s nRF52840 silicon. It comes pre-programmed with the Nordic open bootloader to allow for
flashing applications to the dongle. The USB pins are directly connected to the nRF52840, unlike the 451-00003 on which the
USB pins are connected to an FTDI USB to UART transceiver. This allows for the use of custom USB profiles. It comes in a
sealed plastic case and is production-ready. Please note that this dongle does
not
run
smart
BASIC, use the 451-00003
dongle for
smart
BASIC.
2
H
ARDWARE
D
ESCRIPTION
The Laird Connectivity BL654 USB dongle contains an nRF52840 Bluetooth SoC and the following supporting components:
▪
32-kHz crystal (20 ppm accuracy)
▪
Blue LED connected to P0.13 (active high)
▪
USB data lines connected directly to nRF52840
▪
GPIO voltage set to 3.3v by default bootloader
▪
Readback and CPU debug protection enabled by default bootloader
The bootloader supports updating the following:
▪
The Nordic soft-device (optional)
▪
User application
▪
Bootloader (requires a signed update)
The bootloader on the dongle can be updated to the Nordic secure bootloader which forces signed application updates and
prevents loading of unauthorised code to the product. Laird will generate subsequent documentation to detail how to enable
this functionality.
3
P
ROGRAMMING
S
ETUP
This section describes how to program the dongle. There is a simple interactive GUI-based programming system and a more
complex CLI programming system. The CLI system is required to generate DFU packages which can be use with the secure
bootloader. If the bootloader remains unchanged with the open bootloader, then signing firmware upgrades is not required.
3.1
GUI Setup
Nordic’s nRF connect application (available for Windows/Linux/Mac) can be used to interact with the module via the use of an
interactive graphical user interface. This software can be downloaded from the
Nordic nRF Connect for Desktop
To set up the GUI, follow these steps:
1. Install and open the application.
2. Click the Add/Remove apps tab.
