A SoftDevice is a wireless protocol stack that complements an nRF5 Series System on Chip (SoC). Nordic Semiconductor provides them as qualified, precompiled binary files. While it is possible to build applications without using a SoftDevice, all nRF5 SDK example applications that use Bluetooth® Low Energy or ANT™ require a SoftDevice.
See the compatibility matrices for detailed information about which SoftDevice versions are supported for each chip. The following table summarizes the usage scenarios for each SoftDevice.
Protocol | Role | Chip | SoftDevice |
---|---|---|---|
Bluetooth Low Energy | Peripheral |
|
S110 |
|
S112 | ||
|
S113 | ||
Central or Peripheral |
|
S120 | |
Central and Peripheral |
|
S130 | |
|
S132 | ||
|
S140 | ||
ANT |
|
S210 | |
|
S212 | ||
Bluetooth Low Energy and ANT | Peripheral |
|
S310 |
Peripheral and Broadcaster |
|
S312 | |
All roles |
|
S332 | |
|
S340 |