Nordic nRF52820 Module By Raytac

Raytac released MDBT50 series module which deployed Nordic latest nRF52 member, nRF52820 solution. nRF52820’s specification looks similar to nRF51822, but offer superior features than ever.

MDBT40 (nRF51822) VS. MDBT50 (nRF52820)

The nRF52820 features an Arm Cortex-M4 processor, 256 KB Flash and 32 KB RAM and offer I2C/SPI/UART but also full speed USB 2.0 interface which provide the maximum flexibility for commercial and industrial applications.

MDBT50 employed nRF52820 can be supplied with a voltage from 1.7 to 5.5 V, -40°C~105 industrial operation temperature. Features Upto +8 dBm output power and supports BT5.2 Direction Finding, high-throughput 2 Mbps, Long Range. Multiprotocol radio provides, Thread and Zigbee and Bluetooth mesh protocols. 

MDBT50 series modules covers both nRF52833 and nRF52820 solutions and provide both chip and PCB antenna for customer’s selection. Developers are encouraged to visit Raytac website for more information.

Nordic nRF52 Module Family by Raytac

Raytac Corporation 勁達國際電子有限公司
A BT5.2 & BT5.1 & BT5 module maker based on Nordic nRF53 & nRF52 solution 
(nRF5340 & nRF52840 & nRF52833 & nRF52832 & nRF52820 & nRF52811 & nRF52810 & nRF52805)
www.raytac.com email: service@raytac.com Tel: +886.2.3234.0208

CE RED & Safety Directives Update

CE has announced new Safety and Radio Equipment Directive (aka RED) and plans to put in practice since end of 2020 and 2021.

* Safety Directive:

IEC-60950-1 will be replaced by EN 62368-1, effected by 2020/12/20

* RED: 

EN 300 328 V2.1.1 will be replaced by Directive EN 300 328 V2.2.2 , effected by 2021/8/6.

CE logo

To fulfill the CE compliance, Raytac has decided to proceed the updating work for all module series according to the latest directives. The work is scheduled to be completed in middle of 2020.

Customers who are currently proceeding CE testing is encouraged to adapt the latest directives to save extra task for latter regulation updating.

Raytac Module Line

Raytac Corporation 勁達國際電子有限公司

A BT5.2 & BT5.1 & BT5 & BT 4.2 module maker based on Nordic nRF52 & nRF51 solution 

(nRF52840 & nRF52833 & nRF52832 & nRF52820 & nRF52810 & nRF52811 & nRF51822)

www.raytac.com          email: cs@raytac.com          Tel: +886.2.3234.0208

Nordic nRF52820 solution, MDBT50 series Module by Raytac

Nordic announced their 6th multi-protocol solution of nRF52 series with nRF52820, which supports Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Bluetooth mesh, Thread, Zigbee and 2.4GHz proprietary wireless connectivity.

Like other nRF52 siblings, nRF52820 highlights a powerful  64MHz 32bit Arm Cortex-M4 processor, includes 256Kb Flash Memory and 32Kb RAM, features of Bluetooth 5.2, 5.1 and 5 including long range and high-throughput of 2Mbits per second, as well as direction finding, low energy power control and low energy isochronous channels.

A full speed (12Mbits per second) USB 2.0 interface and 1.7~5.5V operation voltage bring a wide range of commercial and industrial wireless applications to nRF52820. To support nRF52820’s development, Nordic released SoftDevice S112, a new memory-optimized central stack. S112 now released as a alpha and will have full SDK (SDK V16.0.0) support coming in Q2 2020.

Raytac nRF52820 Module, MDBT50 Series
Nordic nRF52820 Modules by Raytac, MDBT50 Series

Firmware Coding & DFU onto MDBT50Q-RX

Hi there, 

Here introduce the firmware perspective about how to program your code onto MDBT50Q-RX dongle.

Believed all readers have done the hardware setting and now has well prepared to load the code onto the dongle. (If not yet done the hardware setting, pls find it here)

In this blog, we will introduce the procedure based on below 2 scenarios

  • First time to load the code
  • DFU Firmware update by USB or OTA (through Bluetooth over the air)

Raytac nRF52833 Series Module MDBT50Q & Demo Board Now Are Available

Just right at the start of 2020, we are happy to announce nRF52833 modules are now available!

Raytac’s nRF52833 series modules are introduced in 3 kinds of antenna options (Chip Ceramic / PCB / u.FL connector for external antenna) brings the best usability to meet different implements.

Chip Antenna Version: MDBT50Q-512K

PCB Antenna Version: MDBT50Q-P512K

u.FL Connector Version: MDBT50Q-U512K

Nordic nRF52833 Module Series.jpg

Raytac Released nRF52833 Module / MDBT50Q Series

Nordic’s nRF52833 is an advanced mulitiprotocol SoC solution which supporting not only Bluetooth mesh, Thread, Zigbee but also latest BT5.1 direction finding capable radio. The solution is built around 64MHz Arm Cortex-M4 FPU, 512KB flash memory, and 128KB RAM memory with an extended industrial standard working temperature range of -40 °C to 105°C which is an ideal solution for commercial and industrial applications.

Raytac Corporation, a Taiwan based Bluetooth module maker, has selected Nordic nRF52833 solution building up MDBT50Q series modules. MDBT50Q series modules provide 3 kinds of antenna options (Chip Ceramic / PCB / u.FL connector for external antenna) brings the best usability to meet different implements. The modules have BT5.1 certification and FCC/IC/CE/RCM/Telec/KC/SRRC/NCC/WPC pre-certified, which are the optimized solution that makes it attractive in a very wide range of applications from a performance, time-to-market efficiency, and minimal Bill of Material (BOM) perspective.

MDBT50Q /nRF52833 modules is expected to have mass production by 2019/11, customer who are interested in nRF52833 series module may visit Raytac website for more information.

nRF52833 series module

Chip Antenna Version: MDBT50Q-512K

PCB Antenna Version: MDBT50Q-P512K

u.FL Connector Version: MDBT50Q-U512K

Raytac BLE Module-MDBT50Q-nRF52833

Raytac Corporation 勁達國際電子有限公司

A BT5.1 & BT5 & BT 4.2 module maker based on Nordic nRF52 & nRF51 solution 

(nRF52840 & nRF52833 & nRF52832 & nRF52810 & nRF52811 & nRF51822)

www.raytac.com          email: cs@raytac.com          Tel: +886.2.3234.0208

Regulations, Certifications and Raytac’s Modules – What do we make more convenient for our customers?

Raytac’s pre-certified module for your convenience – but how?So, in this post, we would like to take you on a little journey through most of the important certifications that Raytac has pre-certified their modules with.
The exact topic is actually what you need to know and what that means to you as a Raytac customer.

Obviously, each and every certification has their own rules, so that’s how we’re going to do this – one by one.

  1. FCC – (U.S.A.)

Most people in the industry have heard of FCC, but for you who really don’t know what it is, it’s the Federal Communications Commission in the United States of America. Although considered as a center for these regulations, you will soon realize that they’re not really the center of these regulations and laws at all.
So for the FCC certification, you can as a Raytac customer:

    1. Use Raytac’s certification ID directly on your finished product’s label

But you need to:

  1. Test FCC Part 15B EMC for your finished products
  1. IC – (Canada)

When it comes to the Industry Canada (yes, that’s what IC stands for), the regulations and procedures are much like their sibling FCC.

    1. Use Raytac’s certification ID on your finished product’s label (same as FCC)

But, just like FCC, you need to:

  1. Test IC ES003 (EMC)
    • This can be combined together with the FCC Part 15B test
  1. TELEC – (Japan)

TELEC, sometimes referred to as MIC, is surprisingly simple.
What you will need to do is:

  1. Use Raytac’s certification ID on your finished product’s label

Yes – you can actually just go right ahead and implement and/or commercialize your product after its parts are all proven TELEC certified which is pretty neat. However, there is another test that you as a customer can do if you wish, and that is VCCI which is just like the EMC tests mentioned above with the only difference (in terms of regulation) is that it’s NOT mandatory. Thus, you can choose not to do it as well.

  1. KC – (South Korea)

As for the Korean regulation, these are the things you will have to do:

  1. Test EMC for wireless (KN301489 – same as CE’s EN301489)
  2. Test EMC for wire (IO port) (KN3235)
    • If, and only if, your final product is equipped with IO ports, that is.

These two tests needs to be done locally (Korean test lab) and depending on which test it is, you’ll have to deal with them differently.
Firstly, for the wireless test, you can refer to Raytac’s own certification report so that the lab knows the module itself has passed although it still needs to be tested.
Secondly, the for wire (IO port) test, you will have to do from scratch essentially.
Thus, even though we have applied for KC for our modules, you will still have to test them locally.

  1. CE (Radio Equipment Directive 2014/53/EU (RED)) – (EEA, Europe)

Although CE is considered as strict regulation, the procedure is pretty simple. Simply put, you will have to conduct tests on a few different samples, and the procedure goes:

  1. Test on Conducted engineering sample (EN300328)
    • You can refer to Raytac’s test report, if the test lab accepts it, that is.
      To ensure that they do, you can choose to conduct your tests at the same lab as Raytac – SGS.
  2. Test on Radiated engineering sample (EN300328)
  3. Test EMC (EN301489)
  4. Test Safety (EN60950)
    • Subject to change to EN62368 in 2021
  1. SRRC

Simply put, you will have 2 scenarios:

  1. Your end product can either be defined as a “Home Appliances” or an “Office Utilities” product
    • Then you can simply refer Raytac’s SRRC ID (module policy just like FCC/IC/TELEC)
  2. Your end product is neither of the above
    • You have to apply for your own SRRC ID by testing everything required by the regulation
  1. NCC

They go by a “Platform policy” which basically means that as long as you are just adding functionality onto an already existing feature, then you can leverage Raytac’s NCC ID on your product’s label directly (module policy just like FCC/IC/TELEC/SRRC). Otherwise, you will have to apply for a new one.
Thus, the procedure becomes:

  1. Adding functionality of an already existing feature (a.k.a. platform)?
    • Then you can simply refer Raytac’s NCC ID on your product (module policy just like FCC/IC/TELEC/SRRC)
  2. New ideas/features?
    • Sorry, you have to apply for your own NCC ID by conducting all tests necessary
  1. RCM

Australia’s RCM (Regulatory Compliance Mark) is a lot like CE, much like IC is similar to FCC.
When applying to this certification, you will be in either of these two circumstances:

  1. CE already done.
    • You can refer to your own CE certification and ask your test lab to copy the report to your RCM application.
  2. CE NOT done.
    • You must conduct the test from scratch. But it is a whole lot like CE, meaning:
    • Test on Conducted engineering sample
    • Test on Radiated engineering sample
    • Test EMC
    • Test Safety
  1. Bluetooth Certification

Last, but definitely not least, is the Bluetooth Certification. For this one, choosing Raytac’s modules will bring you great benefits. But first, you need to:

  1. Apply for Bluetooth SIG’s “Adopter Membership” (free)
    • You can apply for the membership here
  2. Purchase your DID
  3. Leverage Raytac’s QDID
    • To activate your newly purchased DID

For your first product, that is all you will have to do. But what if you come up with a new model of the product? Before you ask, I will answer “No – you don’t necessarily have to purchase another DID.” In order for this to be true though, your new product cannot have either of these things changed:

  1. Hardware
    • Unless you are still using Raytac’s module
  2. Feature
    • Unless you are still using Raytac’s module
  3. Brand Name
    • Brand name remains unchanged.

Although you might be able to apply for these certifications all on your own without trouble whatsoever, we always encourage customers using Raytac’s BLE modules to contact us before hand so that we can provide you valuable information. This way, you will get unbiased guidance which will save you time and money.

As always – Happy tinkering everybody 🙂

Raytac Corporation 勁達國際電子有限公司 A BT 5.1 & BT 5 & BT 4.2 module maker based on Nordic nRF51 & nRF52 solution (nRF52840 & nRF52832 & nRF52811 & nRF52810 & nRF51822)

www.raytac.com email: cs@raytac.com Tel: +886.2.3234.0208

MDBT50Q-RX, a nRF52840 USB Dongle, delivers an easy implement for M2M IoT application

Raytac's MDBT50Q-RX, a Nordic nRF52840 USB Dongle

Raytac’s BT5 certified nRF52840 USB dongle, MDBT50Q-RX, eliminating the need for RF design expertise, and speeding time to market for complex M2M IoT applications. The Dongle built by Raytac’s MDBT50Q-P1M module with FCC/IC/CE/Telec/KC/SRRC/NCC/RCM/WPC certification.

Raytac's MDBT50Q-RX, a Nordic nRF52840 USB Dongle
Raytac’s MDBT50Q-RX, a Nordic nRF52840 USB Dongle

Bluetooth Project: How to program your firmware to module

After setup been done, here comes the next question: How to program the firmware in to the module. We are using some simple instruction in below for reader’s quick reference.

Hardware

You will need a Nordic nRF5X DK or a Segger J-link as programmer to load the firmware. To use Nordic nRF5X DK to debug the SoC as well, you will need to order corresponding nRF5X DK to match the SoC number. For example, order nRF52840 DK to debug nRF52840 SoC or order nRF52 DK to debug nRF52832/52810 SoC. But if you are only using it as programmer, any version of nRF5X DK will work as we only use the J-link on this board.

Software

Please download Nordic nRFGo Studio for programming. Remember to install nRF5X Command Line Tools if the board was not detected by nRFGo Studio. Once they are all connected, you can then start programming. Please make sure to “erase all” every time before programming.

For more tutorials and demo of sample code, please visit Nordic’s DevZone and Infocenter where have ample resources to utilize.

Programing 

SoftDevice + Application

  1. Erase all first. Then program Softdevice and follow by Application code.
  2. Or you may combine code as stated in above. Erase all and follow by programing the combined code.

SoftDevice + Bootloader+ Application

  1. Either Erase all first.  Program the Softdevice and follow by Bootloader. and then use DFU to update the application code.
  2. Or suggested having a combined code (SofDevice+Application+Bootloader) for program. Simply erase all and follow by programming the combined code.
*Remark
Bootloader is needed for DFU (OTA) Function.
SDK 11 (included) and before – a legacy DFU method, which is simple but less security
SDK 12 (Included) and after – a latest DFU method, which has higher security.

 

To easy customer’s IoT device mass production, Raytac provide code pre-program service into module before shipment.  There are requirements listed in below for customers who need the service!

  1. A single, combined hex file is required. Please combine softdevice and application or/and bootloader (depending on your firmware design) together before programming. This will shorten programming time and help to manage your code easier. If you are not familiar with merging firmware, please download the instruction from the link:     https://mega.nz/#!Qg5UBJTQ!POWmmNNdapGqefHpB10YjpcuExLWwXnxDfBzcVrsTOw
  2.  Need a simple method to check programming status. The easiest way is to check the device name if device will broadcast device name after programming is done; or use I/O to trigger LED and its behavior. This does not aim to test any or full function of your device, only a simple method for the operator to know programming status.

nRF52840 MDBT50Q Module
nRF52840 MDBT50Q Module

 

Raytac Corporation
A BT4.1 & BT4.2 & BT5 module maker based on Nordic nRF51 & nRF52 solution 
(nRF51822 & nRF51422 & nRF52832 & nR52810 & nRF52840)
www.raytac.com          email: cs@raytac.com          Tel: +886.2.3234.0208

nRF52832 Module MDBT42Q Reel Package Now Is Available!

Raytac Corporation, a recommended 3rd-party module maker by Nordic Semiconductor, announced that MDBT42Q series module now provide a Reel Package option for customers’ selection.

nRF52832 module-Raytac MDBT42Q Package .JPG