nRF9160 Feather - Suggestions for next version

zpm1066 · 2023-05-17T02:51:26+00:00

Hi Jared, Any chance you can share what new changes you have in mind for the next iteration of nRF9160 Feather? Although I do understand that board space i...

jaredwolff

Lots going on here! I’m working on updating my test fixtures as an all-in-one. The first step is to transition the 1-up fixture and then the 9 up fixture.

I’m also just about ready to send boards over for RF testing. I will also have more boards for more beta/field testing. 😃 So for those who reached out to me, I haven’t forgotten about you.

More very soon.

jaredwolff

Things are coming together with the all-in-one 1-up tester.

It looks like what I designed which is a plus 😃. It will do all testing that I was previously doing across 3 test stations.

I also have some other news regarding the new board. Since the nRF9151 is fresh off the production line I decided to modify the nRF9161 Design to accommodate the new SiP.

It has the same features and functionality of the original design plus some room to grow as Nordic continues to develop on the platform. A few should be going out for FCC/CE next week if all goes well. The rest will be up for grabs once the tester is 100%.

zpm1066

jaredwolff
Fantastic! I was going to suggest the same, i.e. replace nRF9161 with a nRF9151. The latter now being Nordic Semi’s preferred recommendation for all new nRF91 designs. More real estate for you to add components , for example - accelerometers and microphone for Edge AI or a 10-pin mini-SWD connecter.

The new test fixture looks impressive. A significant boost to your testing.

btw - I’ve been field testing nRF9131-EK for DECT NR+ and LTE-M/NB-IoT with GNSS. A very neat board, slightly longer than a Sparkfun Thing+ board, with nPM1300, nPM600, 256Mb external flash memory, and a Segger J-link OB. There are a few more enhancements coming down the line to make it even better.

jaredwolff

zpm1066 btw - I’ve been field testing nRF9131-EK for DECT NR+ and LTE-M/NB-IoT with GNSS. A very neat board, slightly longer than a Sparkfun Thing+ board, with nPM1300, nPM600, 256Mb external flash memory, and a Segger J-link OB. There are a few more enhancements coming down the line to make it even better.

I believe the 9131 does require more certification testing in order to legal deploy devices that use it. Versus the 9160, 9161 and 9151.

AchimKraus Is there an update on the pyocd issue?

I have not made progress. I’ve been focusing elsewhere. I have been playing with using probe-rs instead as it has been added as a target recently for Zephyr. I ported the pyocd code that updates the modem firmware also to use probe-rs (and using it in production). So I’m leaning to use that.

Just to mention: the nRF9161 prototype does a pretty well job on my side. Works since August without issues.
That’s amazing to hear. Thank you for testing it @AchimKraus !

AchimKraus The pin VUSB is power input from USB? So it’s possible to power the device via that pin, if no USB is connected?

VUSB is connected direct to the headers so you could power the device through the pin:

I have not tested if it plays well with USB. (it may work just fine) I typically recommend using VBAT pin for external power and turning the charger off. It depends on your application though.

AchimKraus

Is there an update on the pyocd issue?

AchimKraus

Just to mention: the nRF9161 prototype does a pretty well job on my side. Works since August without issues.

AchimKraus

The pin VUSB is power input from USB? So it’s possible to power the device via that pin, if no USB is connected?

zpm1066

jaredwolff I believe the 9131 does require more certification testing in order to legal deploy devices that use it. Versus the 9160, 9161 and 9151.

Agreed. The nRF9151 is the sanction proof nRF91 and what Nordic Semi recommends for all new cellular designs.

The nRF9131-EK is a very goodcompact reference design for DECT NR+ and LTE with J-Link OB that can be used as a dev board if the additional expansion offered by nRF9151-DK is not required.

jaredwolff

zpm1066 The nRF9131-EK is a very goodcompact reference design for DECT NR+ and LTE with J-Link OB that can be used as a dev board if the additional expansion offered by nRF9151-DK is not required.

Oh yea. Feather-ish formfactor. Didn’t realize they had something this small. Good on them.

jaredwolff

AchimKraus Great news. How can it be ordered?

Btw @AchimKraus , the Recovery Fixture is available on the store now. The documentation is also updated: https://docs.circuitdojo.com/nrf91xx-feather-recovery-fixture/overview.html

AchimKraus

Great! Do you currently have a schedule for the nRF9151 feather (beta-boards)?

jaredwolff

AchimKraus Great! Do you currently have a schedule for the nRF9151 feather (beta-boards)?

Pre-order is now available. I have a few in stock I can ration between you and @zpm1066. Full availability Q1 2025. 😃 (I’m aiming for sooner though)

AchimKraus

Great!

AchimKraus

Any discount code possible? Mainly to compensate the shipping costs ;-).

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