If you ever worked with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) chips like the nRF52xxx series from Nordic, then you are likely familiar with the challenge of deciding where and how to deploy your application code. The most logical and commonly used approach is to use the nRF Connect SDK and Zephyr RTOS for the BLE stack running directly on the controller, adding your application code on top. This is an excellent setup when you are building a peripheral BLE device.
However, if you are building a central/master device that needs to initiate connections and manage multiple slave devices, you might find it is better to have your application logic running separately from the BLE chip. This is especially true if you already have a large application code base, that only partially depends on the BLE chip and is designed to run on a different microcontroller unit (MCU).
If you tried to control a BLE chip from another MCU, you may be unpleasantly surprised to discover that there is often no standardized command interface to achieve this. While the chips support UART and maybe other embedded communication protocols, you are typically required to develop your own custom command interface from scratch. This is both time-consuming, error-prone, and unfortunately – not universal.
Some manufacturers provide simple AT interfaces for their chips, but they are usually limited in scope and surely not standardized. This can make it challenging for developers to create interoperable solutions. In contrast, cellular modems benefit from the 3GPP standardized AT command set, which provides a uniform interface and ensures a degree of compatibility between modems from different manufacturers.
The lack of a standardized (AT) command interface for Bluetooth Low Energy chips like the nRF52xxx series presents a significant hurdle for developers trying to integrate BLE functionality into existing systems. This leads to overhead and delayed project timelines, often also to suboptimal solutions or even influences the decision for choosing a suitable BLE chip.
At IoT Nearshoring, we have recognized this challenge and are actively working on implementing an AT command interface starting with the Nordic nRFxxx series. Our goal is to simplify BLE integration and accelerate development timelines. We will be releasing our solution soon.