User's Guide

Page 5 of 19
nBlue Bluetooth 5.0 Module User’s Guide
Copyright © 2002-2019 BlueRadios, Inc.
8310 S. Valley Highway, Suite 275 • Englewood, CO 80112 • USA • 303-957-1003 • [e-mail]
www.BlueRadios.com
Important Notes – Please Read Prior To Continuing
1.3 Pin Voltage Levels
▪ The maximum voltage level on any pin should not exceed 3.9V. The I/O is NOT 5V tolerant.
▪ Applying VDD to a PIO set to an output may permanently damage the module.
1.4 Firmware Updates, nBoot Bootloader and IEEE Address
All nBlue modules come programmed with a bootloader (nBoot), to enable firmware updates via nBlue Programmer
(nBP), and a BlueRadios IEEE address. These elements are stored in flash and can be accidentally erased using a
debugger. Once they have been erased they cannot be reprogrammed by a client, it is a factory process only. When
the BlueRadios IEEE address is erased, the Nordic IEEE address stored in ROM will be used.
To protect BlueRadios IP, any firmware distributed by BlueRadios or firmware built using libraries distributed
by BlueRadios will not run without the presence of the nBoot bootloader. This means BlueRadios firmware
will no longer run once the bootloader has been erased. At this point the module can only be programmed
with custom firmware.
For security purposes, after the bootloader is programmed into BR-LE5.0-S1A modules during production the debug
interface is locked. In order to program a module using a J-Link Debugger it will then need to be unlocked, which will
erase the entire flash including the module’s bootloader and IEEE address, making it incapable of performing
firmware updates using nBP. For this reason, single mode BR-LE5.0-S1A firmware updates should only be
performed using nBP, not a J-Link Debugger. Custom software can still be flashed using nBP, see the nBlue
Programmer User’s Guide for more information.
1.5 Related Documents
▪ nBlue AT.s Command Set
▪ nBlue BR-EVAL-5.0-S1A Quick Start Guide
▪ nBlue Programmer User’s Guide