SimpleLink SDK BLE Plugin Release Notes
Table of Contents
Introduction
The SimpleLink™ SDK BLE Plugin is a companion software package that enables the use of a Bluetooth radio on any standard MSP432P4 platform, MSP432E4 or CC32XX platform, and enables this two-chip solution to act as either a GAP Peripheral role or a GAP Central role. By having the ability to seamlessly and modularly add Bluetooth functionality (more specifically Bluetooth Low Energy/BLE) to an embedded system, a programmer can enable their embedded device to become a gateway to various IOT infrastructures.
For examples demonstrating the two-chip solution in a peripheral role, the plugin leverages the use of the TI Simple Application Processor (SAP) driver connected to a CC26xx Simple Network Processor (SNP) to provide a highly customizable hardware configuration. For software connectivity between the SAP and the SNP, an architecture agnostic HAL/Drivers layer is used to promote software portability and maximize collateral reuse.
For examples demonstrating the two-chip solution in a central role, communication between the NWP and the Host occurs through a UART serial interface using the Host Controller Interface (HCI) protocol. TI Vendor Specific HCI commands and a limited subset of Bluetooth LE HCI commands/events to implement a Bluetooth application. By using TI Vendor Specific commands and events, the application can communicate with and access the BLE stack.
This is version 3.20.00.xx of the SimpleLink SDK BLE Plugin.
This plugin was verified against v3_20_00_xx of the MSP432P4, MSP432E4, and CC32XX SDKs.
Documentation
Please refer to the User’s Guide for in-depth documentation on the SimpleLink SDK BLE Plugin
What’s New (3.20.00.xx) - 7/31/2019
- This version of the SimpleLink Bluetooth Plugin now enables a BLE two-chip solution to act as a GAP Central role. Previous versions of this plugin only included support for GAP Peripheral role. This new functionality is showcased through the addition of the new
simple_central
example, which uses the MSP432E401Y as the Host device and the CC26x2R1 as the NWP. The source code can be found at<PLUGIN_DIR>/source/ti/ble5stack/central
. Thesimple_central
example demonstrates the following features:- Host: MSP432E401Y
- NWP: CC26X2R1
- GAP Central role support
- Host Controller Interface (HCI) protocol used for communication with the NWP
- BLE5 support
- Power management
- Low Energy Secure Connection (LESC) Pairing
- Tested with up to 4 peripherals connected simultaneously (but can support more than 4 connections)
- Supports a subset of TI Vendor Specific HCI commands and Bluetooth LE HCI commands/events. More information on these APIs can be found BLE Vendor Specific API Guide.
- Works out-of-box with the Sensors BoosterPack and Project Zero examples that are also in the SimpleLink SDK Bluetooth Plugin.
- The GAP Central source code is also showcased in a separate downloadable: the SimpleLink BLE Plugin Azure Gateway Example Pack. This example pack demonstrates enabling a user’s BLE two-chip solution to become a gateway to the Azure IoT cloud. The SimpleLink BLE Plugin Azure Gateway Example Pack can be found on www.ti.com.
- Updated and verified against 3.20.00.xx SDKs
- References to the SimpleLink SDK Explorer mobile app have been removed from the application README documents. The applications have been tested against generic “BLE” mobile applications on Android 9 and iOS 12.
- Removed Motor Condition Monitoring Demo from this release of the plugin. Users are encouraged to use previous versions of the SimpleLink SDK Bluetooth Plugin (with compatible SDK versions) if they want to use this example.
Upgrade and Compatibility Information
This is a maintenance release and upgrading from the previous version of the SDK plugin is as easy as installing the new instance of the plugin.
Host Support
- Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10
- Ubuntu 14.04 64-bit
- macOS Sierra
Dependencies
This release requires the following other software components and tools.
- CCS 9.1
- TI Code Generation Tools
- ARM version 18.12.2.LTS or later
- IAR Code Generation Tools
- ARM 8.32.2
- GNU C Compiler
- gcc-arm-none-eabi-7-2017-q4-major
Device Support
- MSP432P401
- MSP432P4111
- MSP432E401
- CC3220S/SF
- CC3235S/SF
- CC2640R2
- CC2650
- CC26x2
Known Issues
- TI OAD Programmer tool only supports TI-TXT for SAP image and Intel Hex for SNP image
- Sensors BoosterPack example will currently only work with CC2650 BoosterPack due to limitations on memory for CC2640R2
Versioning
This product’s version follows a version format, M.mm.pp.bb, where M is a single digit Major number, mm is 2 digit minor number, pp is a 2 digit patch number, and b is an unrestricted set of digits used as an incrementing build counter.
Prior Release Changes
v2.20.01.xx - 6/12/2018
- Added BLE Wi-Fi Coexistence code example that demonstrates concurrent use of a BLE and Wi-Fi radio with the CC3235’s coexistence module
- Updated version number to match that of latest validated SDK (instead of 1.50.00.xx this release is 2.20.00.xx as we are testing against the 2.20.00.xx versions of the SDK)
- Fixed a few logic issues with the BLE Wi-Fi Provisioning code examples
- Added peripheral support for MSP432E4 and CC3235 devices
v1.40.00.42 - 4/2/2018
- Added BLE Wi-Fi provisioning code example (along with support for CC3220 as an application processor)
- Updated and verified against v2.10.00.xx versions of the CC32XX and MSP432P4 SDKs
- Added Motor Condition Monitoring TI-Design code example (TIDA-01575)
- Fixed several memory and clean-up bugs in the SAP/NPI libraries
- Added a Makefile and build scripts to enable easy rebuilds of SAP/NPI libraries
- Cleanup on documentation and fixing of broken links
- Updated documentation to match new SimpleLink SDK Explorer method for downloading firmware on iOS devices
v1.30.01.42 - 2/6/2018
- Fixed broken link for Sensors BoosterPack code example in documentation
- Added documentation for Android version of SimpleLink SDK Explorer
v1.30.00.42 - 1/31/2018
- Added support for MSP432P4111 (2MB variant) as a host processor
- Refactored various parts of the code examples to optimize/report unexpected events
- Fixed a few benign compiler warnings with code examples
- Added TI-Designs for eLock and motor condition monitor to mobile application
- OAD code example now works with FreeRTOS, TI-RTOS, GCC, and CCS
v1.25.00.42 - 12/15/2017
- Updated and validated against v1.60.00.xx of the MSP432P4 SDK
- Fixed issue where correct startup/system files were not being imported with OAD bootloader source project
- Fixed a few benign compiler warnings with code examples
v1.20.00.42 - 8/1/2017
- Converted all TI-RTOS calls to RTOS agnostic POSIX calls
- Added support for FreeRTOS
- Added support for GCC
- Support for CCS 7.2
- Support for IAR EWARM 8.11.1
- Refactored OAD code example to match CC26xx implementation of OAD firmware updates
- First release to compliment the SimpleLink SDK Explorer iOS application
- Fixed Sensors BoosterPack issue which limited baud rate to 9600
- Refactored Sensors BoosterPack code example to use SAIL plugin
- Created two new SimpleLink Academy labs for plugins
- Updated and validated against v1.40.01.00 of the MSP432 SDK
v1.10.00.42 - 1/12/2017
- Updated to new mode of importing/running IAR code examples (kernel now builds automatically as a dependency)
- Various documentation/code beautification improvements
- Re-validated using simplelink_msp432_sdk_1_30_00_40
- Support for CCS 7.1
- Support for IAR EWARM 7.80.3
v1.00.00.84 - 1/12/2017
- Reorganized plugin structure to subfolder on TI-REX
- Fixed issue where SBL invocation on ProjectZero did not turn on correct LED
- Fixed capitalization issue that caused device not to build in Linux/Mac/Cloud for ProjectZero
v1.00.00.81 - 1/3/2017
- Updated metadata to work with TI Resource Explorer
v1.00.00.80 - 12/30/2016 - General Availability Release
- Initial general availability release
- Added LCD Text code example for displaying text on Kentec QVGA BoosterPack
- Added Over-the-Air-Download (OAD) profile as well as preliminary code example
- Added Over-the-Air_Download command line application (TI OAD Downloader)
- Various documentation and code beautification efforts
- TI Resource Explorer Support
- Updated to new metadata model for Code Composer Studio v7
v1.00.00.48 - 10/17/2016 - Beta Release
- Initial public release for plugin converted from MSP Connectivity Library
- Switched over to SimpleLink MSP432 SDK as basis for RTOS support and core library requirements
- Added complete Sensors BoosterPack code example
- Completely rewrote documentation and code example guides
- Sanitized and made coding standard consistent across collateral
- Fixed Project Zero bug where incorrect length was being returned for data stream
- Fixed Project Zero bug that was causing notifications not to happen on iOS