nRF52 DK

Board Overview

nRF52 DK

Name:

nrf52dk

Vendor:

Nordic Semiconductor

Architecture:

arm

SoC:

nrf52805, nrf52810, nrf52832

Browse board sources

Overview

The nRF52 Development Kit (PCA10040) hardware provides support for the Nordic Semiconductor nRF52832 ARM Cortex-M4F CPU and the following devices:

• ADC

• CLOCK

• FLASH

• GPIO

• I2C

• MPU

• NVIC

• PWM

• RADIO (Bluetooth Low Energy)

• RTC

• Segger RTT (RTT Console)

• SPI

• UART

• WDT

More information about the board can be found at the nRF52 DK website [1]. nRF52832 Product Specification [2] contains the processor’s information and the datasheet.

Hardware

nRF52 DK has two external oscillators. The frequency of the slow clock is 32.768 kHz. The frequency of the main clock is 32 MHz.

Supported Features

The nrf52dk board supports the hardware features listed below.

on-chip / on-board

Feature integrated in the SoC / present on the board.

2 / 2

Number of instances that are enabled / disabled.
Click on the label to see the first instance of this feature in the board/SoC DTS files.

vnd,foo

Compatible string for the Devicetree binding matching the feature.
Click on the link to view the binding documentation.

nrf52dk

/

nrf52805nrf52810nrf52832

nrf52dk/nrf52805 target

Type	Location	Description	Compatible
CPU	on-chip	ARM Cortex-M4 CPU1	arm,cortex-m4
ADC	on-chip	Nordic Semiconductor nRF family SAADC node1	nordic,nrf-saadc
ARM architecture	on-chip	Nordic UICR (User Information Configuration Registers)1	nordic,nrf-uicr
	on-chip	Nordic nRF family BPROT (Block Protection)1	nordic,nrf-bprot
	on-chip	Nordic EGU (Event Generator Unit)2	nordic,nrf-egu
	on-chip	Nordic nRF family SWI (Software Interrupt)4	nordic,nrf-swi
Clock control	on-chip	Nordic nRF clock control node1	nordic,nrf-clock
Counter	on-chip	Nordic nRF timer node3	nordic,nrf-timer
Cryptographic accelerator	on-chip	Nordic ECB (AES electronic codebook mode encryption)1	nordic,nrf-ecb
	on-chip	Nordic nRF family CCM (AES CCM mode encryption)1	nordic,nrf-ccm
Flash controller	on-chip	Nordic NVMC (Non-Volatile Memory Controller)1	nordic,nrf52-flash-controller
GPIO & Headers	on-chip	NRF5 GPIOTE1	nordic,nrf-gpiote
	on-chip	NRF5 GPIO1	nordic,nrf-gpio
I2C	on-chip	Nordic nRF family TWI (TWI master)1	nordic,nrf-twi
Input	on-board	Group of GPIO-bound input keys1	gpio-keys
Interrupt controller	on-chip	ARMv7-M NVIC (Nested Vectored Interrupt Controller)1	arm,v7m-nvic
LED	on-board	Group of GPIO-controlled LEDs1	gpio-leds
Miscellaneous	on-chip	Nordic FICR (Factory Information Configuration Registers)1	nordic,nrf-ficr
	on-chip	Nordic nRF family PPI (Programmable Peripheral Interconnect)1	nordic,nrf-ppi
MTD	on-chip	Flash node1	soc-nv-flash
	on-board	Fixed partitions of a flash (or other non-volatile storage) memory1	fixed-partitions
Networking	on-chip	Nordic nRF family RADIO peripheral1	nordic,nrf-radio
Pin control	on-chip	The nRF pin controller is a singleton node responsible for controlling pin function selection and pin properties1	nordic,nrf-pinctrl
Power management	on-chip	Nordic nRF power control node1	nordic,nrf-power
PWM	on-chip	nRFx S/W PWM1	nordic,nrf-sw-pwm
Regulator	on-chip	Nordic nRF5X regulator (fixed stage of the core supply)1	nordic,nrf5x-regulator
Retained memory	on-chip	Nordic GPREGRET (General Purpose Register Retention) device2	nordic,nrf-gpregret
RNG	on-chip	Nordic nRF family RNG (Random Number Generator)1	nordic,nrf-rng
RTC	on-chip	Nordic nRF RTC (Real-Time Counter)2	nordic,nrf-rtc
Sensors	on-chip	Nordic nRF family TEMP node1	nordic,nrf-temp
	on-chip	Nordic nRF quadrature decoder (QDEC) node1	nordic,nrf-qdec
Serial controller	on-chip	Nordic nRF family UARTE (UART with EasyDMA)1	nordic,nrf-uarte
SPI	on-chip	Nordic nRF family SPI (SPI master)1	nordic,nrf-spi
SRAM	on-chip	Generic on-chip SRAM1	mmio-sram
Timer	on-chip	ARMv7-M System Tick1	arm,armv7m-systick
Watchdog	on-chip	Nordic nRF family WDT (Watchdog Timer)1	nordic,nrf-wdt

nrf52dk/nrf52810 target

Type	Location	Description	Compatible
CPU	on-chip	ARM Cortex-M4 CPU1	arm,cortex-m4
ADC	on-chip	Nordic Semiconductor nRF family SAADC node1	nordic,nrf-saadc
ARM architecture	on-chip	Nordic UICR (User Information Configuration Registers)1	nordic,nrf-uicr
	on-chip	Nordic nRF family BPROT (Block Protection)1	nordic,nrf-bprot
	on-chip	Nordic EGU (Event Generator Unit)2	nordic,nrf-egu
	on-chip	Nordic nRF family SWI (Software Interrupt)4	nordic,nrf-swi
Audio	on-chip	Nordic PDM (Pulse Density Modulation interface)1	nordic,nrf-pdm
Clock control	on-chip	Nordic nRF clock control node1	nordic,nrf-clock
Comparator	on-chip	Nordic nRF COMP (analog COMParator)1	nordic,nrf-comp
Counter	on-chip	Nordic nRF timer node3	nordic,nrf-timer
Cryptographic accelerator	on-chip	Nordic ECB (AES electronic codebook mode encryption)1	nordic,nrf-ecb
	on-chip	Nordic nRF family CCM (AES CCM mode encryption)1	nordic,nrf-ccm
Debug	on-chip	ARMv7 instrumentation trace macrocell1	arm,armv7m-itm
Flash controller	on-chip	Nordic NVMC (Non-Volatile Memory Controller)1	nordic,nrf52-flash-controller
GPIO & Headers	on-chip	NRF5 GPIOTE1	nordic,nrf-gpiote
	on-chip	NRF5 GPIO1	nordic,nrf-gpio
I2C	on-chip	Nordic nRF family TWI (TWI master)1	nordic,nrf-twi
Input	on-board	Group of GPIO-bound input keys1	gpio-keys
Interrupt controller	on-chip	ARMv7-M NVIC (Nested Vectored Interrupt Controller)1	arm,v7m-nvic
LED	on-board	Group of GPIO-controlled LEDs1	gpio-leds
Miscellaneous	on-chip	Nordic FICR (Factory Information Configuration Registers)1	nordic,nrf-ficr
	on-chip	Nordic nRF family PPI (Programmable Peripheral Interconnect)1	nordic,nrf-ppi
MTD	on-chip	Flash node1	soc-nv-flash
	on-board	Fixed partitions of a flash (or other non-volatile storage) memory1	fixed-partitions
Networking	on-chip	Nordic nRF family RADIO peripheral1	nordic,nrf-radio
Pin control	on-chip	The nRF pin controller is a singleton node responsible for controlling pin function selection and pin properties1	nordic,nrf-pinctrl
Power management	on-chip	Nordic nRF power control node1	nordic,nrf-power
PWM	on-chip	nRF PWM1	nordic,nrf-pwm
	on-chip	nRFx S/W PWM1	nordic,nrf-sw-pwm
Regulator	on-chip	Nordic nRF5X regulator (fixed stage of the core supply)1	nordic,nrf5x-regulator
Retained memory	on-chip	Nordic GPREGRET (General Purpose Register Retention) device2	nordic,nrf-gpregret
RNG	on-chip	Nordic nRF family RNG (Random Number Generator)1	nordic,nrf-rng
RTC	on-chip	Nordic nRF RTC (Real-Time Counter)2	nordic,nrf-rtc
Sensors	on-chip	Nordic nRF family TEMP node1	nordic,nrf-temp
	on-chip	Nordic nRF quadrature decoder (QDEC) node1	nordic,nrf-qdec
Serial controller	on-chip	Nordic nRF family UARTE (UART with EasyDMA)1	nordic,nrf-uarte
SPI	on-chip	Nordic nRF family SPI (SPI master)1	nordic,nrf-spi
SRAM	on-chip	Generic on-chip SRAM1	mmio-sram
Timer	on-chip	ARMv7-M System Tick1	arm,armv7m-systick
Watchdog	on-chip	Nordic nRF family WDT (Watchdog Timer)1	nordic,nrf-wdt

nrf52dk/nrf52832 target

Type	Location	Description	Compatible
CPU	on-chip	ARM Cortex-M4F CPU1	arm,cortex-m4f
ADC	on-chip	Nordic Semiconductor nRF family SAADC node1	nordic,nrf-saadc
	on-board	ADC channels exposed on Arduino Uno (R3) headers1	arduino,uno-adc
ARM architecture	on-chip	Nordic UICR (User Information Configuration Registers)1	nordic,nrf-uicr
	on-chip	Nordic nRF family BPROT (Block Protection)1	nordic,nrf-bprot
	on-chip	Nordic EGU (Event Generator Unit)6	nordic,nrf-egu
	on-chip	Nordic nRF family MWU (Memory Watch Unit)1	nordic,nrf-mwu
Audio	on-chip	Nordic PDM (Pulse Density Modulation interface)1	nordic,nrf-pdm
Clock control	on-chip	Nordic nRF clock control node1	nordic,nrf-clock
Comparator	on-chip	Nordic nRF COMP (analog COMParator)1	nordic,nrf-comp
Counter	on-chip	Nordic nRF timer node5	nordic,nrf-timer
Cryptographic accelerator	on-chip	Nordic ECB (AES electronic codebook mode encryption)1	nordic,nrf-ecb
	on-chip	Nordic nRF family CCM (AES CCM mode encryption)1	nordic,nrf-ccm
Debug	on-chip	ARMv7 instrumentation trace macrocell1	arm,armv7m-itm
Flash controller	on-chip	Nordic NVMC (Non-Volatile Memory Controller)1	nordic,nrf52-flash-controller
GPIO & Headers	on-chip	NRF5 GPIOTE1	nordic,nrf-gpiote
	on-chip	NRF5 GPIO1	nordic,nrf-gpio
	on-board	GPIO pins exposed on Arduino Uno (R3) headers1	arduino-header-r3
I2C	on-chip	Nordic nRF family TWI (TWI master)1 1	nordic,nrf-twi
I2S	on-chip	Nordic I2S (Inter-IC sound interface)1	nordic,nrf-i2s
Input	on-board	Group of GPIO-bound input keys1	gpio-keys
Interrupt controller	on-chip	ARMv7-M NVIC (Nested Vectored Interrupt Controller)1	arm,v7m-nvic
LED	on-board	Group of GPIO-controlled LEDs1	gpio-leds
	on-board	Group of PWM-controlled LEDs1	pwm-leds
Miscellaneous	on-chip	Nordic FICR (Factory Information Configuration Registers)1	nordic,nrf-ficr
	on-chip	Nordic nRF family PPI (Programmable Peripheral Interconnect)1	nordic,nrf-ppi
MTD	on-chip	Flash node1	soc-nv-flash
	on-board	Fixed partitions of a flash (or other non-volatile storage) memory1	fixed-partitions
Networking	on-chip	Nordic nRF family RADIO peripheral1	nordic,nrf-radio
	on-chip	Nordic nRF family NFCT (Near Field Communication Tag)1	nordic,nrf-nfct
Pin control	on-chip	The nRF pin controller is a singleton node responsible for controlling pin function selection and pin properties1	nordic,nrf-pinctrl
Power management	on-chip	Nordic nRF power control node1	nordic,nrf-power
PWM	on-chip	nRF PWM1 2	nordic,nrf-pwm
	on-chip	nRFx S/W PWM1	nordic,nrf-sw-pwm
Regulator	on-chip	Nordic nRF5X regulator (fixed stage of the core supply)1	nordic,nrf5x-regulator
Retained memory	on-chip	Nordic GPREGRET (General Purpose Register Retention) device2	nordic,nrf-gpregret
RNG	on-chip	Nordic nRF family RNG (Random Number Generator)1	nordic,nrf-rng
RTC	on-chip	Nordic nRF RTC (Real-Time Counter)3	nordic,nrf-rtc
Sensors	on-chip	Nordic nRF family TEMP node1	nordic,nrf-temp
	on-chip	Nordic nRF quadrature decoder (QDEC) node1	nordic,nrf-qdec
Serial controller	on-chip	Nordic nRF family UARTE (UART with EasyDMA)1	nordic,nrf-uarte
SPI	on-chip	Nordic nRF family SPI (SPI master)2 1	nordic,nrf-spi
SRAM	on-chip	Generic on-chip SRAM1	mmio-sram
Timer	on-chip	ARMv7-M System Tick1	arm,armv7m-systick
Watchdog	on-chip	Nordic nRF family WDT (Watchdog Timer)1	nordic,nrf-wdt

See nRF52 DK website [1] and nRF52832 Product Specification [2] for a complete list of nRF52 Development Kit board hardware features.

Connections and IOs

LED

• LED1 (green) = P0.17

• LED2 (green) = P0.18

• LED3 (green) = P0.19

• LED4 (green) = P0.20

• LD5 (red/green) = OB LED 1/2

Push buttons

• BUTTON1 = SW1 = P0.13

• BUTTON2 = SW2 = P0.14

• BUTTON3 = SW3 = P0.15

• BUTTON4 = SW4 = P0.16

• BOOT = SW5 = boot/reset

External Connectors

J-Link Prog Connector

PIN #	Signal Name
1	VDD
2	IMCU_TMSS
3	GND
4	IMCU_TCKS
5	V5V
6	IMCU_TDOS
7	Cut off
8	IMCU_TDIS
9	Cut off
10	IMCU_RESET

Debug IN

PIN #	Signal Name	NRF52832 Functions
1	VDD	N/A
2	SWDIO	SWDIO
3	GND	N/A
4	SWDCLK	SWDCLK
5	GND	N/A
6	P0.18	P0.18 / TRACEDATA[0] / SWO
7	Cut off	N/A
8	Cut off	N/A
9	GND	N/A
10	P0.21	P0.21 / RESET

Debug OUT

PIN #	Signal Name
1	EXT_VTG
2	EXT_SWDIO
3	GND
4	EXT_SWDCLK
5	GND
6	EXT_SWO
7	Cut off
8	Cut off
9	EXT_GND_DETECT
10	EXT_RESET

Shield Debug and Current measurement

PIN #	Signal Name
1	VDD_nRF
2	VDD
3	SH_VTG
4	SH_SWDIO
5	SH_SWDCLK
6	SH_SWO
7	SH_RESET
8	SH_GND_DETECT

Auxiliary

PIN #	Signal Name	NRF52832 Functions
1	P0.00	P0.00 / XL1
2	P0.01	P0.01 / XL2
3	P0.21	P0.21 / RESET
4	P0.05_C	P0.05 / AIN3
5	P0.06_C	P0.06
6	P0.07_C	P0.07
7	P0.08_C	P0.08
8	P0.09	P0.09 / NFC1
9	P0.10	P0.10 / NFC2

Arduino Headers

P1/P7 Power

PIN #	Signal Name	NRF52832 Functions
1	VDD	N/A
2	VDD	N/A
3	RESET	P0.21 / RESET
4	VDD	N/A
5	V5V	N/A
6	GND	N/A
7	GND	N/A
8	VIN	N/A

P2/P8 Analog in

PIN #	Signal Name	NRF52832 Functions
1	A0	P0.03 / AIN1
2	A1	P0.04 / AIN2
3	A2	P0.28 / AIN4
4	A3	P0.29 / AIN5
5	A4	P0.30 / AIN6
6	A5	P0.31 / AIN7

P3/P9 Digital I/O

PIN #	Signal Name	NRF52832 Functions
1	D0 (RX)	P0.11
2	D1 (TX)	P0.12
3	D2	P0.13
4	D3	P0.14 / TRACEDATA[3]
5	D4	P0.15 / TRACEDATA[2]
6	D5	P0.16 / TRACEDATA[1]
7	D6	P0.17
8	D7	P0.18 / TRACEDATA[3] / SWO

P4/P10 Digital I/O

PIN #	Signal Name	NRF52832 Functions
1	D8	P0.19
2	D9	P0.20 / TRACECLK
3	D10 (SS)	P0.22
4	D11 (MOSI)	P0.23
5	D12 (MISO)	P0.24
6	D13 (SCK)	P0.25
7	GND	N/A
8	AREF	P0.02 / AIN0
9	SDA	P0.26
10	SCL	P0.27

P5/P11

PIN #	Signal Name	NRF52832 Functions
1	D12 (MISO)	P0.24
2	V5V	N/A
3	D13 (SCK)	P0.25
4	D11 (MOSI)	P0.23
5	RESET	N/A
6	N/A	N/A

Programming and Debugging

The nrf52dk board supports the runners and associated west commands listed below.

	flash	debug	rtt	debugserver	attach
jlink	✅	✅ (default)	✅	✅	✅
nrfjprog	✅
nrfutil	✅ (default)
openocd	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
pyocd	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅

Flashing

Follow the instructions in the Nordic nRF5x Segger J-Link page to install and configure all the necessary software. Further information can be found in Flashing. Then build and flash applications as usual (see Building an Application and Run an Application for more details).

Here is an example for the Hello World application.

First, run your favorite terminal program to listen for output.

$ minicom -D <tty_device> -b 115200

Replace <tty_device> with the port where the board nRF52 DK can be found. For example, under Linux, /dev/ttyACM0.

Then build and flash the application in the usual way.

# From the root of the zephyr repository
west build -b nrf52dk/nrf52832 samples/hello_world
west flash

Debugging

Refer to the Nordic nRF5x Segger J-Link page to learn about debugging Nordic boards with a Segger IC.

Testing the LEDs and buttons in the nRF52 DK

There are 2 samples that allow you to test that the buttons (switches) and LEDs on the board are working properly with Zephyr:

samples/basic/blinky
samples/basic/button

You can build and flash the examples to make sure Zephyr is running correctly on your board. The button and LED definitions can be found in boards/nordic/nrf52dk/nrf52dk_nrf52832.dts.

nRF52805 emulation on nRF52 DK

The nrf52dk/nrf52805 board is a modified version of the nRF52 DK that enforces the limitations imposed by the nRF52805 IC, which is a cost-reduced variant of the original nRF52832. Since Nordic does not offer a development kit for the nRF52805, you can use this board to develop for this IC while using the nRF52 Development Kit (PCA10040).

See nRF52805 website [3] for the official reference on the IC itself.

nRF52810 emulation on nRF52 DK

The nrf52dk/nrf52810 board variant is a modified version of the nRF52 DK that enforces the limitations imposed by the nRF52810 IC, which is a cost-reduced variant of the original nRF52832. Since Nordic does not offer a development kit for the nRF52810 you can use this board to develop for this IC while using the nRF52 Development Kit (PCA10040).

See nRF52810 website [4] for the official reference on the IC itself.

References

[1] (1,2)

https://www.nordicsemi.com/Software-and-Tools/Development-Kits/nRF52-DK

[2] (1,2)

https://docs.nordicsemi.com/bundle/ps_nrf52832/page/nrf52832_ps.html

[3]

https://www.nordicsemi.com/Products/Low-power-short-range-wireless/nRF52805

[4]

https://www.nordicsemi.com/Products/Low-power-short-range-wireless/nRF52810