EVK-NINA-B3

u-blox EVK-NINA-B3

Overview

The u-blox EVK-NINA-B30 Development Kit hardware provides support for the u-blox NINA-B30x Bluetooth 5.0 module, based on the Nordic Semiconductor nRF52840 ARM Cortex-M4F CPU and the following devices:

ADC
CLOCK
FLASH
GPIO
I2C
MPU
NVIC
PWM
RADIO (Bluetooth Low Energy and 802.15.4)
RTC
Segger RTT (RTT Console)
SPI
UART
USB
WDT

More information about the EVK-NINA-B3 and the NINA-B30x modules can be found at the u-blox website [1].

Hardware

The NINA-B30x on the EVK-NINA-B30x contains an internal high-frequency oscillator at 32MHz as well as a low frequency (slow) oscillator of 32.768kHz.

Supported Features

The ubx_evkninab3 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.

`ubx_evkninab3/nrf52840` 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`
ADC	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 EGU (Event Generator Unit)6	`nordic,nrf-egu`
	on-chip	Nordic nRF family ACL (Access Control List)1	`nordic,nrf-acl`
	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`
Clock control	on-chip	Nordic nRF high-frequency crystal oscillator (nRF52 series)1	`nordic,nrf52-hfxo`
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`
	on-chip	ARM TrustZone CryptoCell 3101	`arm,cryptocell-310`
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`
Flash controller	on-chip	Properties defining the interface for the Nordic QSPI peripheral1	`nordic,nrf-qspi`
GPIO & Headers	on-chip	NRF5 GPIOTE1	`nordic,nrf-gpiote`
	on-chip	NRF5 GPIO2	`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	`nordic,nrf-twi`
I2C	on-chip	Nordic nRF family TWIM (TWI master with EasyDMA)1	`nordic,nrf-twim`
I2S	on-chip	Nordic I2S (Inter-IC sound interface)1	`nordic,nrf-i2s`
IEEE 802.15.4	on-chip	Nordic nRF IEEE 802.15.4 node1	`nordic,nrf-ieee802154`
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`
LED	on-board	Group of PWM-controlled LEDs1	`pwm-leds`
Miscellaneous	on-chip	Nordic FICR (Factory Information Configuration Registers)1	`nordic,nrf-ficr`
Miscellaneous	on-chip	Nordic nRF family PPI (Programmable Peripheral Interconnect)1	`nordic,nrf-ppi`
MTD	on-chip	Flash node1	`soc-nv-flash`
MTD	on-chip	Fixed partitions of a flash (or other non-volatile storage) memory1	`fixed-partitions`
Networking	on-chip	Nordic nRF family RADIO peripheral1	`nordic,nrf-radio`
Networking	on-chip	Nordic nRF family NFCT (Near Field Communication Tag)1	`nordic,nrf-nfct`
Pin control	on-chip	Nordic nRF family Pin Controller1	`nordic,nrf-pinctrl`
Power management	on-chip	Nordic nRF power control node1	`nordic,nrf-power`
PWM	on-chip	nRF PWM1 3	`nordic,nrf-pwm`
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`
Regulator	on-chip	Nordic nRF52X regulator (high voltage stage of the main supply)1	`nordic,nrf52x-regulator-hv`
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`
Sensors	on-chip	Nordic nRF quadrature decoder (QDEC) node1	`nordic,nrf-qdec`
Serial controller	on-chip	Nordic nRF family UARTE (UART with EasyDMA)1 1	`nordic,nrf-uarte`
SPI	on-chip	Nordic nRF family SPI (SPI master)1 1	`nordic,nrf-spi`
SPI	on-chip	Nordic nRF family SPIM (SPI master with EasyDMA)2	`nordic,nrf-spim`
SRAM	on-chip	Generic on-chip SRAM1	`mmio-sram`
Timer	on-chip	ARMv7-M System Tick1	`arm,armv7m-systick`
USB	on-chip	Nordic nRF52 USB device controller1	`nordic,nrf-usbd`
Watchdog	on-chip	Nordic nRF family WDT (Watchdog Timer)1	`nordic,nrf-wdt`

Connections and IOs

LED

LED0 (red) = P0.13
LED1 (green) = P0.25
LED2 (blue) = P1.00

Push buttons

BUTTON1 = SW1 = P0.25
BUTTON2 = SW2 = P0.2
BOOT = SW0 = boot/reset

External Connectors

Note

The pin numbers noted below are referenced to the pin 1 markings on the EVK-NINA-B30x for each header

Arduino Headers

Power (J1)

PIN #	Signal Name	NINA-B30x Functions
1	N/C	N/A
2	VDD_IO	N/A
3	RESET	P0.18 / RESET
4	3V3	N/A
5	5V0	N/A
6	GND	N/A
7	GND	N/A
8	VIN	N/A

Analog in (J2)

PIN #	Signal Name	NINA-B30x Functions
1	A0	P0.04 / AIN2
2	A1	P0.30 / AIN6
3	A2	P0.05 / AIN3
4	A3	P0.02 / AIN0
5	A4	P0.28 / AIN4
6	A5	P0.03 / AIN1

Digital I/O (J3)

PIN #	Signal Name	NINA-B30x Functions
8	D7	P0.10
7	D6	P0.09
6	D5	P0.11
5	D4	P0.13
4	D3	P0.31
3	D2	P1.12
2	D1 (TX)	P1.13
1	D0 (RX)	P0.29

Digital I/O (J4)

PIN #	Signal Name	NINA-B30x Functions
10	SCL	P0.24
9	SDA	P0.16
8	N/C	N/A
7	GND	N/A
6	D13 (SCK)	P0.07
5	D12 (MISO)	P1.00
4	D11 (MOSI)	P0.15
3	D10 (SS)	P0.14
2	D9	P0.12
1	D8	P1.09

Programming and Debugging

Applications for the ubx_evkninab3/nrf52840 board configuration can be built and flashed in the usual way (see Building an Application and Run an Application for more details); however, the standard debugging targets are not currently available.

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 EVK-NINA-B30x 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 ubx_evkninab3/nrf52840 samples/hello_world
west flash

Debugging

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

Testing the LEDs and buttons in the EVK-NINA-B30x

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/u-blox/ubx_evkninab3/ubx_evkninab3_nrf52840.dts.

Using UART1

The following approach can be used when an application needs to use more than one UART for connecting peripheral devices:

Add device tree overlay file to the main directory of your application:

&pinctrl {
   uart1_default: uart1_default {
      group1 {
         psels = <NRF_PSEL(UART_TX, 0, 14)>,
                 <NRF_PSEL(UART_RX, 0, 16)>;
      };
   };
   /* required if CONFIG_PM_DEVICE=y */
   uart1_sleep: uart1_sleep {
      group1 {
         psels = <NRF_PSEL(UART_TX, 0, 14)>,
                 <NRF_PSEL(UART_RX, 0, 16)>;
         low-power-enable;
      };
   };
};

&uart1 {
  compatible = "nordic,nrf-uarte";
  current-speed = <115200>;
  status = "okay";
  pinctrl-0 = <&uart1_default>;
  pinctrl-1 = <&uart1_sleep>;
  pinctrl-names = "default", "sleep";
};

In the overlay file above, pin P0.16 is used for RX and P0.14 is used for TX

Use the UART1 as DEVICE_DT_GET(DT_NODELABEL(uart1))

Overlay file naming

The file has to be named <board>.overlay and placed in the app main directory to be picked up automatically by the device tree compiler.

Selecting the pins

Pins can be configured in the board pinctrl file. To see the available mappings, open the data sheet for the NINA-B3 at u-blox website [1], Section 3 ‘Pin definition’. In the table 7 select the pins marked ‘GPIO_xx’. Note that pins marked as ‘Radio sensitive pin’ can only be used in under-10KHz applications. They are not suitable for 115200 speed of UART.