Serialization makes it possible to place a Bluetooth or ANT application on an application chip and connect it to a connectivity chip that runs the SoftDevice.
See Running a serialized application for a general overview of how to start with serialization and how to wire an application board with a connectivity board.
The serialization libraries and the connectivity example simplify the serialization of an existing application, because only limited modifications are needed in the application itself. See Porting serialization libraries for more information about how to port the serialization application code to a different MCU.
The following picture gives an overview of the serialization architecture:
Application chip
The application chip runs a serialized application, where the SoftDevice is replaced by a commands encoder and events decoder (see Serialization codecs). The nRF5 IC is used here merely as a demonstration device. After porting the hardware driver to the selected PHY layer (see Serialization PHY), you can use a different microcontroller than the nRF5 IC.
The application chip does not need a SoftDevice. It is replaced by a codec that implements the SoftDevice API.
All function calls to the codec are serialized and transmitted to the connectivity chip using the transport layer drivers. This design makes it possible to substitute an existing PHY layer, such as UART or SPI, without affecting the codec.
Connectivity chip
The connectivity chip is an nRF5 IC that is programmed with a SoftDevice. It decodes serialized SoftDevice commands from the application chip and issues the corresponding call to the SoftDevice using the hardware delivered in the nRF5 IC.
Any event from the SoftDevice is encoded by the codec that implements the SoftDevice API. Through the transport layer, it is then transmitted to the application chip, where it is decoded and passed to the application.
In addition to the SoftDevice, the connectivity chip must be programmed with the connectivity software. You can find the source code and the project file of the example in the following folder: <InstallFolder>\examples\connectivity (select the project for the protocol that you want to use).