Simple Mesh Node With Simple Peripheral OAD Off-chip

Table of Contents

Introduction

The simple_mesh_node_oad_offchip project demonstrates off-chip OAD functionality with the simple_mesh_node application. The application behavior is the same as the stock simple_mesh_node, with the exception that simple_peripheral and OAD are added (by syscfg as 'Mesh and Peripheral OAD Offchip') For guidance on this out of the box demo for OAD refer to the Off-chip OAD section of the BLE5-Stack User's Guide. For guidance on mesh functionality, please refer to simple_mesh_node readme file.

Note: The device's BIM project included in the workspace must also be flashed to the device when using off-chip OAD or the device will not function correctly. Please refer to the information on BIM build configuration for more details

This project has the following app configurations available:

App Build Configuration Description
FlashROM_Release (default) All TI-RTOS debug features disabled but application-logging to UART remains enabled.
The application uses the config file ble_release.cfg and the defines are in <app name>_FlashROM_Release.opt.
FlashROM_Debug All TI-RTOS debug features enabled.
The application uses the config file ble_debug.cfg and the defines are in <app name>_FlashROM_Debug.opt.
FlashROM_Release_unsecure All TI-RTOS debug features disabled but application-logging to UART remains enabled.
The application uses the config file ble_release.cfg and the defines are in <app name>_FlashROM_Release_unsecure.opt.
FlashROM_Debug_unsecure All TI-RTOS debug features enabled.
The application uses the config file ble_debug.cfg and the defines are in <app name>_FlashROM_Debug_unsecure.opt.

The debug configuration of the application additionally enables the OAD debug mode. The OAD debug mode can be entered via the two button menu and offers the following functionality:

The difference between the secure (Release/Debug) and the unsecure variant is the addition of security related features in the OAD process i.e. authentication of the OAD image and authentication of the some of the OAD commands from the distributor.

All application configurations use the stack library configuration, FlashROM_Library. This build configuration will yield additional flash footprint optimizations by the linker since the application and stack can share contiguous flash pages. This configuration is further discussed in the Stack Library Configuration section of the BLE5-Stack User's Guide provided in the SDK.

This document seeks to extend the simple_mesh_node and simple_peripheral project readme documentation that is already in place, and explain how simple_peripheral can be used to demonstrate off-chip OAD. For an advanced discussion of OAD, and an in-depth explanation of this project, please see the Off-chip OAD User's Guide section in the BLE5-Stack User's Guide.

The BIM project (included in the workspace) has following build configuartions available:

BIM project Build Configuration Description
Release (default) OAD security related features enabled and debug features disabled.
This configuration uses the pre-defined symbols from cc26x2r1lp_bim_offchip_Release.opt
Debug OAD security related features enabled and debug features disabled.
This configuration uses the pre-defined symbols from cc26x2r1lp_bim_offchip_Debug.opt
Release_unsecure OAD security related features disabled and debug features disabled.
This configuration uses the pre-defined symbols from cc26x2r1lp_bim_offchip_Release_unsecure.opt
Debug_unsecure OAD security related features disabled and debug features enabled.
This configuration uses the pre-defined symbols from cc26x2r1lp_bim_offchip_Debug_unsecure.opt

Debug features in BIM module include LED on/off indications and also provisions for downloading the .hex image of the aaplication and debugging through JTAG. Always use the same combination of features in the BIM with that of the application. For example, if the application uses "FlashROM_Debug_unsecure", the BIM must be built with "Debug_unsecure" configuration.

Below table captures the description of MACROS used in BIM project

BIM pre-defined symbols Description
SECURITY Enable OAD security related features i.e. Image authentication and
authentication of certain OAD related commands from distributor
FLASH_DEVICE_ERASE Enable this macro and build BIM to get an image that can clear all the content in the external flash.

This macro should never be enabled in the BIM project when OAD needs to be done. |LED_DEBUG | Enable visual indication when errors occur in the BIM module. This also enables the toggling of LED when external flash is being erased by the special BIM image generated by enabling the FLASH_DEVICE_ERASE macro. |JTAG_DEBUG | Enables the JTAG debug of the OAD process in the BIM context. When the .hex file of the application is downloaded into the internal flash using the debugger, it does not have the length of the image and the CRC computed. When this macro is enabled, for the image in the internal flash, the length of the image is calculated and populated by BIM code. Also, the CRC check is skipped on this image. Similarly, the BIM also calculates and updates the length of the image in the external flash (if present) when this macro is enabled.|

Hardware Prerequisites

Hardware Prerequisites

The default Simple Mesh Node and Peripheral OAD-offchip board configuration uses the device's LaunchPad development kit.

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 file provided in the SDK. For information on how to import this project into your IDE workspace and build/run, please refer to the device's Platform section in the BLE5-Stack User's Guide.

Service/Profile Table

This project contains the simple service, which has 5 characteristics.

Note that BLE Scanner may report 128 bit UUIDs, but the project is generating 16 bit UUIDs.

Characterisitic UUID Format Properties Profile Source
1 FFF1 1 Byte Integer Read/Write simple_gatt_profile.c
2 FFF2 1 Byte Integer Read simple_gatt_profile.c
3 FFF3 1 Byte Integer Write simple_gatt_profile.c
4 FFF4 1 Byte Integer Notify simple_gatt_profile.c
5 FFF5 5 Byte Integer Read simple_gatt_profile.c

Additionally, this project contains the OAD profile, which has 5 characteristics.

See OAD Service Description in the BLE5-Stack User's Guide for more information on the OAD service

Usage

This application uses the UART peripheral to provide an interface for the application. The UART is only used for display messages.

This document will use a terminal program (Tera Term, PuTTY, etc.) to serve as the display for the output of the LaunchPad, and it will use a BLE phone app, such as BLE Scanner (Android) or LightBlue Explorer (iOS), that will act as the central device that will connect to the Simple Peripheral device. This document will be using Tera Term and BLE Scanner. Note that any other serial terminal and smart-phone BLE application can be used. The following default parameters are used for the UART peripheral for display:

UART Param Default Values
Baud Rate 115200
Data length 8 bits
Parity None
Stop bits 1 bit
Flow Control None

Download order off-chip

  1. Flash application - binary file
  2. Flash bim offchip - hex file