Consumer Device with BLE

In this project, CORESIGHT was commissioned to take over and optimise a consumer product that was still in development. The product was partially developed, however the customer required changes that were intended on the one hand to lead to cost optimisation, and on the other hand to extend the functionality with a smartphone app. This resulted in a discrete design being used instead of the originally employed nRF52840 SoM. This required that the Bluetooth antenna also had to be implemented, which had previously been integrated on the SoM. Through the antenna tuning carried out by CORESIGHT, the BLE range could be significantly increased. Costs could be reduced through the direct integration of the nRF52840. This made the product ready for cost-efficient manufacturing in high unit volumes. On the firmware side, the outdated BLE framework was removed and replaced with the latest BLE framework from Nordic Semiconductor together with the Zephyr operating system. The BLE characteristics specified by the smartphone app were integrated by CORESIGHT, so that the product could ultimately be operated professionally via the smartphone app.

Overview of commissioned services:

• Consultation on electronics optimisation
• Antenna tuning 2.4GHz BLE
• Firmware with Nordic SDK and Zephyr

Tasks in the area of hardware:

• Consultation on electronics optimisation
• Electronics optimisation
• Replacement of nRF52840 SoM with a discrete design using nRF52840 with PCB antenna
• PCB antenna tuning 2.4GHz with VNA
• PCB routing optimisation

Tasks in the area of firmware:

• Porting firmware from an outdated framework to the Nordic framework with Zephyr operating system
• Integration of BLE characteristics according to app developer specifications
• Low power modes implemented
• Implementation of 1-wire protocol for Hall sensor calibration
• Installation and testing of workarounds for controlling a non-datasheet-compliant electric motor
• Takeover and integration of key algorithm from the original project