Arduino has introduced a neat little improve for many of its u-blox NINA-W102 boards, together with the Arduino MKR WiFi 1010 and Arduino Nano RP2040 Join: the power to make use of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Low Power (BLE) concurrently, slightly than having to decide on betwixt the 2.
“Till just lately, on boards utilizing the NINA-W102 module, you had to decide on between Wi-Fi or Bluetooth LE for connectivity,” Arduino explains of the change, introduced throughout Cellular World Congress in Barcelona this week. “This was as a result of {hardware} limitations that required shared communication interfaces for each functionalities, and the firmware implementation couldn’t assist concurrent utilization. With the most recent updates, this limitation is gone – every thing now works seamlessly collectively.”
Arduino has introduced a firmware replace for many, however not all, of its NINA-W102-equipped boards to allow simultaneous Wi-Fi and BLE. (📷: Arduino)
The change is software-only, making use of to all revisions of u-blox NINA-W102 boards with no {hardware} modifications in any respect. All customers need to do is be certain that they’re operating the NINA-W102 firmware model 3.0.1 or newer, and that they are utilizing the WiFiNINA and ArduinoBLE libraries model 2.0.0 of their applications.
The brand new firmware is appropriate with the Arduino MKR WiFi 1010, Arduino Nano RP2040 Join, and Arduino Nano 33 IoT — however, sadly, doesn’t lengthen to the Arduino UNO Wi-Fi Rev2, which makes use of the identical NINA-W102 module. “[The Arduino UNO Wi-Fi Rev 2] can not run Wi-Fi and Bluetooth LE collectively in the identical sketch as a result of restricted reminiscence,” the Arduino crew explains. “You possibly can nonetheless use each options, simply not on the identical time. Be certain that to put in the most recent updates for this board too, to make sure full compatibility and keep away from points.”
The brand new firmware and library variations are actually reside within the Arduino IDE; the Arduino weblog has extra particulars, alongside a pattern sketch demonstrating simultaneous Wi-Fi and BLE use.