CC256x Forum Guidelines and FAQs

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Forum Guidelines

Hello Bluetooth Enthusiasts,

You have come to the right place to discuss about the CC256x Bluetooth solutions from TI. This forum is open for everyone to post their comments, feedback, and questions about our CC256x+MSP43x platform. We would love to hear about your experiences using CC256x devices or modules. You could also let us know your thoughts and suggestions on making our devices, tools, software or support better.

When submitting your question to the forum, be sure to take these steps first:

1) Use the "Search" option on the forum to see if a similar issue or question has been answered already by the experts.

2) Please visit our CC256x Bluetooth Wiki page. We have a lot of useful resources and links on this page about the devices, applications, development tools and software.

3) You can download test code for the CC256x+MSP43x on this TI website.

4) Please read the FAQs below which contains a list of some commonly asked questions.

While submitting your question, please be sure to include as much detail about the issue as possible in order for us to help you in a timely fashion.

All the best developing your cool CC256x Bluetooth applications!

Thanks & Regards,

BT Applications Moderators

P.S. Don't forget to verify answers to your forum questions by using the green "Verify Answer" button. It lets us know that you could proceed successfully.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What are the key market drivers for customers to use the CC256x Bluetooth solution?

The CC256x Bluetooth solution eliminates wires for customers employing embedded applications which need to connect with devices such as mobile phones, tablets, and laptops with Bluetooth Connectivity.

Where do we go for CC256x support?

Visit the CC256x main wiki page. Then if you still need help, post in the forums

Which devices do we support?

We support the CC256x device which include the CC2560 and CC2564 and CC2564C. The CC2560 is BT 4.1 without BLE support. The CC2564 is BT 4.1 + BLE (BT 4.2 + BLE for CC2564C), which means it can do both Classic Bluetooth and BLE at the same time. In addition, the CC256x can do ANT+ as well but not at the same time as BLE. Thus our device supports Bluetooth + Bluetooth Low Energy or ANT.

What if I don’t want a module?

Here are some advantages of using modules:

1.Lower risk and faster time to market
2.RF is pre-integrated and tested
3.Modules remove RF complexity (faster design cycle)

1.System cost savings

2.No RF engineering development costs

3.No RF testing or production automation equipment costs

4.Modules are FCC/IC/ETSI pre-certified

5.Improved yield for main PCB (modules are 100% pre-tested)

What’s the difference between the CC2560A and the CC2540?

The main difference is that the CC256x is a dual mode Bluetooth 4.1 solution (BT+BLE) while the CC2540 is a single mode BLE solution.

How many devices can be connected by CC256x?

As per the datasheet, up to 7 BT and 6 BLE slaves can be connected at the same time.

Do I have to pay for the software?

No, the TI’s Bluetooth Stack is provided royalty free by TI.

Who are the main competitors and why are we better?

We have several Bluetooth only competitors such as CSR and Broadcom, however these competitors do not have TI’s broad MCU portfolio. The competition offering of Bluetooth is with limited or no external MCUs, while TI is offering a solution on various platforms TI MCU/MPUs as well as non TI MCUs. The TI Bluetooth functionality is pre-integrated and enables customer to get started quickly. The platform allows you to use MSP43x, Tiva , AM335x and STM32 MCUs to do embedded applications along with the dual mode Bluetooth stack.

TI’s Bluetooth strengths include:

• Best-in-class receive sensitivity and highest transmit power without external power amplifier
• Enables better performance and supports longer range
• Support for different low power modes for battery operated applications
• Flexible to run on different host platforms and support for various classic and LE profiles and services.

What host platforms are supported by the TI Bluetooth Stack?

The TI Bluetooth stack works with any MSP430 MCU with Flash >= 128KB and RAM >= 8KB (CC256XMSPBTBLESW), any TM4C MCU with Flash >= 128KB (CC256XM4BTBLESW), MSP432 (CC256XMS432BTBLESW), AM335x (TI-BT-STACK-LINUX-ADDON) and other MCUs (CC256XSTBTBLESW)

What about other MCU support?

You could use the libraries in other MCUs as long as the libs are compatible and you do the respective porting. However, you should note that we only provide support on the provided MCU platforms including bug fixes, porting guidelines, etc. You could also contact our partners and they can help you integrate the TI Bluetooth stack with the other MCUs

Josh Toole
Cloud2GND Consulting
ti_support@cloud2gnd.com
1.502.821.0613

Jen Sarto
LS Research
Sales@lsr.com
262.228.7868

Gustavo Litovsky
Argenox Technologies
gustavo@argenox.com
www.argenox.com
Phone: (972) 382-9905 Ext. 501

Kevin Eichhorst
Digi Wireless Design Services Inc
www.digi.com/wds
612.524.7179

What OS does this support?

The TI’s Bluetooth stack uses a simple scheduler instead of an full blown RTOS for our MCU platforms.

How do I add support for the ez430?

Please go to CC256x MSP430 TI’s Bluetooth Stack Hardware Porting Guide for the software modifications to work with EZ430.

Is MindTree's stack supported?

No. We are not supporting MindTree's stack anymore. Instead we use TI’s Bluetooth stack.

Where can I download the latest TI’s Bluetooth stack?

Please go to TI’s Bluetooth Stack

Where can I find HCI commands specification?

It can be found in the latest Core Specification Version 4.1, Volume 2, Part E: https://bluetooth.org/Technical/Specifications/adopted.htm

Where can I find Vendor Specific (VS) HCI commands specification?

It can be found on this wiki (Beta version).

Where can I find tools for RF testing?

It can be found on this CC256x Bluetooth Hardware Evaluation Tool wiki.

Where do I go for MFi support?

MFi is required if you want to use the CC256x device to communicate with iOS devices using nonstandard classic BT profiles not supported by iOS on this Page. For any questions related to the MFi add-on support, please send an email to ti-bt-stack-mfi@list.ti.com