CC2650 - Over the Air Download

Michael J Schultis

Other Parts Discussed in Thread: CC2650, CC2640, CC2650STK

Hello Team,

Do we have any reference code for over-the-air downloads on the CC2650? The interest is to have source code that can communicate over BLE, with the CC2650 SensorTag to download new firmware as a hex file to the device.

Thank You,
Michael Schultis
Centralized Applications

over 9 years ago

0 Tim C over 9 years ago

TI__Mastermind 34660 points

Hello Michael. I assume you're looking for an external OAD solution here? The sensor tag firmware likely won't fit in the internal OAD solution (see the guide included with the installer).

0 Michael J Schultis over 9 years ago in reply to Tim C

TI__Mastermind 24915 points

Hello Tim,

Thank you for the response.

The firmware on the new SensorTag has the ability to handle the OAD over bluetooth, is that not correct?
To clarify, do we have any example code that takes a firmware hex file and sends it over BLE to the sensortag where it will be loaded and run?
Ideally, this could would be for iOS or Android.

Best,
Michael Schultis

0 Michael J Schultis over 9 years ago in reply to Michael J Schultis

TI__Mastermind 24915 points

Hello Tim,

The code I am looking for is actually for an embedded CC2640, so it does not specifically have to work with the sensortag.
Would we have any example code for the CC2650DK?

Best,
Michael Schultis

0 Tim C over 9 years ago in reply to Michael J Schultis

TI__Mastermind 34660 points

Hello Michael. The installer ships with an Over-the-air Download Guide: $INSTALL$/Documents/OAD for cc26xx.pdf

However, this guide contains some errors:

--------

Step 7 should be changed to:

7. Switch the RTOS in Flash configuration. In the Application Workspace, under the “TOOLS” folder, open appBLE.cfg. Remove all lines in the file and add the following:

utils.importFile("../../../../../../../Components/ti-rtos/kernel/cc2650/config/CC2650.cfg");
Power.calibrateRCOSC = false;

The above two lines should be the only lines in the appBLE.cfg file.

----------------------

Also, there are additional steps besides what was stated in the guide to get the OAD Image to compile:
- exclude IAR-Boundary.bdeg and IAR-boundary.xcl from the project
- under linker options, in the extra options tab, remove "-f $PROJ_DIR$\..\..\Config\IAR-Boundary.xcl"
- under linker options, in the config tab under configuration file symbol definitions. replace RTOS_ROM=1 with FLASH_ONLY_BUILD=1

--------------------------

Also note that this guide only considers OAD using the internal flash so the flash space will be severely limited.

We are currently updating this guide and plan to combine it with a guide using external flash for the release of the Sensor Tag. This should be ready by early May.

0 Harald Ilg over 9 years ago in reply to Tim C

Genius 3060 points

And it might (hopefully) also contain CCS support ;)

Regards

Harald

0 Hunter Downs over 9 years ago in reply to Tim C

Prodigy 60 points

Tim,

Any update on the availability of the new version of the OAD guide that includes more info on using the external flash? Could really use this!

Thanks!

0 pixbroker over 9 years ago in reply to Hunter Downs

Genius 5820 points

we would also be interested in an example showing how to do external flash OAD

0 Tim C over 9 years ago in reply to pixbroker

TI__Mastermind 34660 points

Hello all. This is now planned to be part of the 2.1 installer release in July so that it can be thoroughly tested.

0 Harald Ilg over 9 years ago in reply to Tim C

Genius 3060 points

Cool. Will CCS support be included? What kind of external ROM do you use for this? I have a 1MBit I2C EEPROM in my hardware.WillthisbeOK?

0 Tim C over 9 years ago in reply to Harald Ilg

TI__Mastermind 34660 points

Yes, CCS support will be included (for external OAD only). The external memory will really be up to you. As long as it fits your image and you can write a driver for the cc2640 to talk to it (I2C would work fine), you can use whatever you desire.

The example will be on the sensor tag so it will be using the sensor tag's external flash with SPI.

0 Trevor Burtzos over 9 years ago in reply to Tim C

Prodigy 195 points

What feature of IAR allows it to support internal OAD that CCS does not(and it sounds like will not) have?

I am trying to evaluate the two, and OAD is a must have feature for me.

0 Tim C over 9 years ago in reply to Trevor Burtzos

TI__Mastermind 34660 points

In CCS, the linker file can't be used to place an image checksum at a specific flash location. This is needed in order to verify the image in the BIM after an OAD occurs.

Theoretically, it is possible to add this checksum manually but this is not something we will support.

0 JXS over 9 years ago in reply to Trevor Burtzos

TI__Guru** 105180 points

It's very likely that you will need to use external OAD, where the OAD image is stored off-chip similar to how it's handled with SensorTag. I suggest procuring a CC2650STK + DevPack Debugger, and use the free CCS license to do your evaluation.

Best wishes

0 Heng Pan over 9 years ago in reply to Trevor Burtzos

Prodigy 10 points

I agree with Trevor in that OAD is a must have feature for BLE applications. Could TI add this feature into CCS?

0 Tim C over 9 years ago in reply to Heng Pan

TI__Mastermind 34660 points

Yes, this will be in the 2.1.0 release.

0 pixbroker over 9 years ago in reply to Tim C

Genius 5820 points

Tim C said:
Yes, this will be in the 2.1.0 release.

Tim, what's the ETA for 2.1.0?

Thank you.

0 Evan Davey over 9 years ago in reply to Tim C

Intellectual 915 points

Hi Tim,

Is there an updated ETA on a version with CCS / external memory support?

Cheers,

Evan

0 Tim C over 9 years ago in reply to Evan Davey

TI__Mastermind 34660 points

2.1.0, releasing at the end of July, will include external OAD support for both IAR and CCS. It will also still have interal OAD support for IAR (not CCS).

0 Harald Ilg over 9 years ago in reply to Tim C

Genius 3060 points

End of July sounds good, last thing I heard was July 17th (e2e.ti.com/.../1516460)
Is there already a list of features that will be implemented in the new version?
- watchdog?
- improved power management?
- BLE stack 2.1?
- new RTOS version?
- OAD with CCS and external memory support (and encrypted?)
- Code Composer Studio update?
Looking forward to this release!
Regards Harald

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CC2650 - Over the Air Download