Golioth on nRF52840 and nRF9151

Community
1

Hey everyone!

We’ve been trying out the basics of Golioth recently with the Thingy91 and are impressed with how it works. The Thingy91 was built with LTE-M first, so the nRF9160 is the main application processor.

We currently have a custom PCBA running the nRF52840 and are interested in adding the nRF9151 for LTE-M connectivity. This would be the opposite of the Thingy91.

I have a couple of questions about this:

  1. How easy is it to add Golioth if the nRF52 is the main MCU?
  2. Should Golioth be running on the nRF91 or nRF52?
  3. Can the nRF52 easily control Golioth when it’s running on the nRF91?

Thanks in advance!

Kind regards,
Jack

2 Likes
2

Hi Jack,

I’m in a very similar boat (i.e. my preference is to use the nRF52840 as the main application processor), so I thought I’d chime in with my two cents and experiences so far.

How easy is it to add Golioth if the nRF52 is the main MCU?

Very easy. In my case, I used the nRF52840 + Quectel BG95 combo - found on the RAK5010 for example (Track Real-Time Changes in Your Environment with RAK5010 NB-IoT Trackers from RAKwireless - IoT Made Easy) - and it is one of Golioth’s ‘continuously verified boards’ (RAK5010-NRF52840 | Golioth).

The Quectel BG95 is a LTE-M/NB-IoT module, much like Nordic’s nRF91. More info can be found here on how recent Zephyr updates effectively streamlined the process of adding support for the BG95: Golioth Firmware SDK Latest Release Adds Support for Zephyr's New Modem Subsystem and Qualcomm - The Golioth Developer Blog

Should Golioth be running on the nRF91 or nRF52?

It’s down to personal preference as far as I can tell, but I certainly like the idea of only needing to develop and maintain firmware for the nRF52840 - not having to worry about OTA-ing the nRF52840 via the nRF91, and not having to worry about inter-processor communications between the nRF52 and the nRF91.

Can the nRF52 easily control Golioth when it’s running on the nRF91?

I look forward to Golioth adding a ‘continuously verified board’ for using the nRF91 in the same way the Quectel BG95 is being used (i.e. leveraging Zephyr’s modem subsystem and controlling the nRF91 with AT commands, with the nRF52840 as the main processor). My gut tells me it is all theoretically possible, but I’ve not looked into the specifics of how to pull it off. For now, I’ll be using the nRF52840 + BG95 combo, but let me know if you have any success with using the nRF91 in the same way.

Cheers,
Mathew

3 Likes
3

Thanks for the reply! The RAK5010 looks like a good example to take inspiration for for the project! And good point about the firmware on the nRF91, all though the option to upgrade things like the SLM when future upgrades come out seems nice to have but that could be a problem for future me :smile:

2 Likes