• State TI Thinks Resolved
  • Locked Locked
  • Replies 4 replies
  • Answers 2 answers
  • Subscribers 51 subscribers
  • Views 381 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Support feedback
Options
Options
Related

This thread has been locked.

If you have a related question, please click the "Ask a related question" button in the top right corner. The newly created question will be automatically linked to this question.

CC2652R: Automate OAD with a PC

Ruben Jönsson
Prodigy 220 points
Part Number: CC2652R

Tool/software:

We have made a CC2652R application on-chip OAD enabled by adding the appropriate OAD image header. Restart after boot is handled with the on-chip BIM and the actual downloading is handled with the BLE app persistent_app. I can successfully perform the update by invalidating the OAD image header for our app which after a reset starts the persistent_app allowing me to upgrade the firmware over the air, using either BTool together with another CC26 launchpad dev board or the SimpleLink Starter android app.

Our app does not by itself use BLE communication but instead uses IEEE 802.15.4 custom radio communication. With this communication I can tell the app to perform an update by starting the persistent_app which then performs the actual update.

This works fine but I am now looking for a way to automate this for our product since it will only be done in a controlled environment. OAD would preferably not be done with a phone but from a PC. It is fine to do it via another launchpad as the BTool does but the best would be to use the Bluetooth device in the PC.

By automating I mean to do the OAD firmware download using a script (or with e.g. python). What are my options here? Does TI have any OAD tool or example code that I can run from a command prompt on a PC or do I need to make my own software implementation of the OAD BLE profile that can be controlled from python (or some other scripting tool)? 

I would automatically like to scan for BLE devices and select which one to start the OAD for. The device address could be obtained with our proprietary IEEE 802.15.4 protocol before control is switched over to the persistent_app.

Is the Btool available as source code?

Thanks /Ruben

  • 0
    TI__Genius 15535 points

    Hello Ruben,

    Thanks for reaching out.

    To my knowledge, we don't have a tool that uses directly the Bluetooth mechanism of the PC. What I would suggest is the following to develop you own application:

    1. Use the SimpleLink Connect app source code as reference: https://www.ti.com/tool/SIMPLELINK-CONNECT-SW-MOBILE-APP
    2. Follow the BTool RX/TX dump (right window) to see what commands and exact payload that is transmitted while doing an OAD process.

    Hope this helps.

    David.

  • 0 in reply to David
    Prodigy 220 points

    Hello David and thank you for your response.

    Instead of using the Bluetooth mechanism in the PC it would even be ok for us to use a launchpad that handles the BLE communication as an OAD Downloader to our OAD Target (running the BLE persisten_app in our device). Would that give us more options in finding an already existing tool/solution that could be used to automate the OAD process?

    The OAD downloader (the launchpad) could even be prepared with the OAD image of the firmware to be downloaded beforehand (off-chip or on-chip).

    The intention here is to handle firmware update of a lot of units at a service station in the field with as little intervention by the operator as possible in order to minimize errors.

    We can already automate the switch to the BLE persistent_app, using native radio commands, and are now looking for ways to also automate the OAD procedure, with as many shortcuts as possible.

    Would the above added information perhaps give us more options to find an already existing tool or a tool that we more easily can adopt for our needs?

    Thanks /Ruben

  • 0 in reply to Ruben Jönsson
    TI__Genius 15535 points

    Hello Ruben,

    Sadly we don not have such an example or reference code. I would still refer to the first two sources I pointed to before and also consider taking a look at this repository: https://github.com/TexasInstruments/simplelink-connect.

    Hope it is helpful.

    BR,

    David.

  • 0 in reply to David
    Prodigy 220 points

    Hi David and thank you,

    I will take a closer look at the links that you have provided and further assess our options.

    I hoped that with the upcoming mandatory cybersecurity requirements for radio devices in the European market by August 2025, more radio equipment manufacturers would be in my situation that already had addressed this. I expected that there would be tools available to help automate the BLE firmware update process for a larger volume of devices in the field.

    Thanks /Ruben