Host Test
Table of Contents
Introduction
The host_test project implements a pure Bluetooth low energy network processor for use with an external microcontroller or a PC software application such as BTool. Host Test supports all GAP roles: Central, Peripheral, Broadcaster and Observer in addition to multi-role combinations of these roles. A network processor incorporates the TI BLE Host and Controller components of the protocol stack on the wireless MCU with the Bluetooth application residing on the external microcontroller. Communication with the network processor occurs through a serial interface (UART or SPI) using the Host Controller Interface (HCI) protocol. The external application uses TI Vendor Specific HCI commands and a limited subset of Bluetooth LE HCI commands/events to implement a Bluetooth application. By placing the Host and Controller on the wireless MCU, the memory requirements on the application processor are reduced since only the application is required.
Note: It is not possible to use an external Bluetooth Host stack, such as BlueZ, with Host Test since the network processor implements the Host component. External applications must use the TI Vendor Specific HCI commands for implementing GAP, GATT, Pairing/Bonding, etc., functionality.
This document discusses the procedure for using the Host Test application when the FlashROM_StackLibrary configuration is used. The FlashROM_StackLibrary_RCOSC configuration is discussed in the RCOSC section of the BLE5-Stack User’s Guide. The FlashROM_StackLibrary-CacheAsRAM configuration is discussed in the Using the Cache as RAM section of the BLE5-Stack User’s Guide.
The Simple NP (Simple Network Processor) sample application is another project that acts as a network processor. SimpleNP allows the application processor to be responsible for maintaining fewer aspects of the BLE stack. Note, though, that SimpleNP can only function as a peripheral or broadcaster device.
Hardware Prerequisites
The default Host Test configuration uses the LAUNCHXL-CC2640R2. This hardware configuration is shown in the below image:
For custom hardware, see the Running the SDK on Custom Boards section of the BLE5-Stack User’s Guide.
Software Prerequisites
For information on what versions of Code Composer Studio and IAR Embedded Workbench to use, see the Release Notes located in the docs/ble5stack folder. For information on how to import this project into your IDE workspace and build/run, please refer to The CC2640R2F Platform section in the BLE5-Stack User’s Guide.
Usage
This application uses the UART peripheral without POWER_SAVING by default to communicate with the host processor. The project also supports UART and SPI interfaces with power management enabled.
If POWER_SAVING is not defined and UART is being used, the MRDY and SRDY pins are defined by default as in the table below. MRDY and SRDY are configurable GPIO pins. They can be changed and set by the application. They are set in np_config.h. Note that MRDY and SRDY are required to use SPI to allow for full duplex communication, regardless of whether power management is enabled.
The following table includes the default pins for serial communication in this project:
| PIN | CC2640R2F Pins |
|---|---|
| MRDY | IOID_13 |
| SRDY | IOID_14 |
| UART_RX | IOID_2 |
| UART_TX | IOID_3 |
| SPI_MISO | IOID_8 |
| SPI_MOSI | IOID_9 |
| SPI_CLK | IOID_10 |
| SPI_FLASH_CS | IOID_20 |
See the NPI wiki for more information on power management and setting the necessary pins.
Host Test can be used with an external microcontroller or a PC application such as BTool (provided with the SimpleLink CC2640R2 SDK) or HCI Tester.
Information on HCI and details and descriptions of available HCI commands can be found in the TI BLE Vendor Specific HCI Guide.