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I am involved working on new hardware LED products where we are selecting a Bluetooth chipset to use in multiple products controlled by iOS and Android apps, for at minimum the next 3-4 years. Also I am not the developer, a third party will be contracted for this project.

As part of background research, I wanted to ask for feedback from Stack Overflow communities' experience with programming for Bluetooth, more specifically with custom firmware and GPIO PWM for LED?

  • What kind of challenges did you come across?
  • Are there any granular details or features to look out for with the hardware?

**Edit: based on first answer- Requirements: BLE 5 I do need OTA update capability Chip size not big constraint, plastic enclosure can accommodate up to 1 inch/25mm or bit more easily. Not high temp application Single-chip solution, that will be programmed with our firmware, controlling 4x PWM Channels is ideal for our LED strips, avoiding separate MCU Cost per unit (lowest average cost/unit)- important factor at volume, TBD

**Qualities I can not gauge well myself, being a designer and not an experienced programmer: Ease of integration/support (lowest cost of development) Quality of the chip manufacturer's software tools Quality of the chips documentation

I have found some questions related with Raspberry Pi that seem generally helpful, but those questions don't help me with features or the support and documentation as related to BT SOCs.

**Edit: Yes I we are only considering BLE, and the NORDIC Semiconductor link I have included below are BLE and BT 5.

NORDIC chips are on my short list, they seem well supported and capable of 3x or 4x PWM channels for example nRF52832 Nordic nRF52832 Spec info. or the newer model RF5340. Does anyone have experience with them?

I really appreciate any answers regarding development considerations with Bluetooth. I will edit & clarify if needed.

Axmk
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  • What does "GPIO PWM for LED" mean? Do you just need to turn LEDs on and off or change brightness? Or do you need to send entire patterns and sequences by Bluetooth? If you need high data rates, it's important to focus on BLE 5 and ensure all the extension related to high data rates are supported. – Codo Aug 16 '20 at 20:37
  • thanks, as I am not a programmer, I am looking for insights. Yes it would be BLE 5, and I am looking for letting user control sequencing and various patterns. I will edit – Axmk Aug 17 '20 at 07:41

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If you wish to support iOS Apps, a BLE device is necessary, BT classic requires a special apple license (for your product) to be able to connect with iOS Apps.

But other than that, your specifications dont really help to rule out ANY chip.

  1. The first question that comes to mind is what other features do you have already on your specification list that could be satisfied with a common solution. I.e. if you also need WiFi, don't choose two separate BLE/WiFi Chips, buy a chip that can do both (it's both 2.4GHz RF). If you need OTA updates for your firmware, choose a chip manufacturer with extensive and well documented tooling.

  2. Consider special requirements:

    • Do you need a very small chip?
    • Does it need to be run at high temperatures (i.e. inside a light bulb)?
    • Do you need to run at ultra-low-power?
    • Does it need a high performance RF transceiver?

  3. Decide whether you need a single-chip solution, that will be programmed with your firmware, or if your firmware will run on a dedicated microcontroller which is connected to the BLE chip.

Unless you have absolutely no special requirements to narrow down the selection, I'd base my decision along these criteria (not ordered):

  • Ease of integration (lowest cost of development)
  • Cost per unit (lowest average cost/unit)
  • Quality of the chip manufacturer's software tools
  • Quality of the chips documentation

GPIO-PWM Output should be possible with almost any programmable BLE chip.

markus-nm
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  • your right, I didn't really describe a spec, so based on a few of your points I will add. I did think writing my question this way I would hear about member's preferences for chips and/or their tools. I'll narrow down, appreciate your response – Axmk Aug 17 '20 at 07:44