Will there be a Spark Core II

I know you all are, and I’m incredibly grateful for your efforts. I’m looking forward to building some good stuff with the Spark!

I think WiFi control and user messages are the last thing I need before I can try to deploy my toy :smile:

My vote is BLE. It can easily opens up many possibilities. I mean, look at others including Apple. They recognize and are starting to leverage BLE big time. With BLE, Spark Core will be much closer to being the Internet of Things. Exciting Times!

I'm a little ignorant of BLE in particular, but wouldn't making a Bluetooth Spark actually be one step farther away from the Internet of Things? If it only had BT/BLE, it would need something like a phone to be able to access the internet instead of directly through a wifi connection. :wink:

However, I won't argue against a BLE version. It definitely has its merits, and I could easily come up with a project or two off the top of my head for it!

BLE shield is next on my priority after the uSD/Fram shield.

I just wonder what’s the interest level like :wink:

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Bluetooth is going to suffer because there is no co-existence interface on the CC3000 in the :spark:.

I didn’t get you Andy. What’s the co existence about? The 2.4Ghz?

Ohh… I’m looking at adding the CC2540 to the :spark:

When you have multiple radios that all share the same band, you need to coordinate their operation.

This interface is often called a co-existence interface, and is quite common on WiFi chips that expect to be integrated with BT, BLE, ZigBee, 802.15.4 etc etc

The problem isn’t both transmitting at the same time, or both receiving at the same time, it is when one is expecting to receive data when the other is transmitting.

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Something new I learnt as a total noob for all the RF stuff. Thanks Andy! I should read up more as I progress on this :smiley:

@AndyW, I didn’t managed to find more information about chips supporting coexistence.

Can you give me more leads? :slight_smile:

It will be great to use a new cc3200 or cc3100 :slight_smile:
This will reduce the cost of sparkcore.
It would be nice to have a solution with 3G or GPRS connection, thus the possibilities are unlimited :smile:

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Thanks @AndyW for the insight!

Sadly most of the datasheets are NDA material, but WLAN_ACTIVE and BT_PRIORITY may be fruitful search terms.

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That’s kinda Sad… I was hoping to at least prototype the CC2540 on the Light Blue Bean which i backed months ago and is being shipped to me right now…

Maybe a Wired Ethernet :spark: core + BLE shield makes more sense for now…

My idea is to make the :spark: core an internet gateway for the BLE devices at home :smiley:


WOW the new CC3XXXX has onboard Embedded hardware crypto engine for TLS/SSL internet security :open_mouth:

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I’m using a BT device (RN42) in master mode via USART2 in parallel with a permanent TCP client connection to a nodejs server and don’t have any interference issues. Both connections are constantly busy, reliable and trouble free

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Excellent.
Both protocols will work to hide any problems, and increasing antenna/module separation by as much as possible will help too.

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+1 on TI CC3100 or CC3200 support. I’d really love AP support and Yun is a bit much for my application. I’m looking forward to a CC3100/CC3200 version. WiFi Direct is a great plus.

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I got my Beans a couple of weeks ago. But between work and a week’s vacation where I never looked at any computer/electronics stuff other than my phone, I haven’t had a chance to dive into figuring out how to effectively use BLE the proper way. There’s a virtual serial interface you can use, but that somewhat defeats the low-energy possibilities of BLE.

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It’s a pity that the CC3100 is a QFN packaging which differs from the CC3000.

How nice if we could simply swap them and change some code!

Shall see it i can find the CC3100 in the SZ electronics market and attempt to interface it :smile:

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One of the best features of the Arduino IMO is that I can simply rip the chip out of it (2009/UNO) to use it in a permanent project. While a Spark is “the chip” OTA reprogramming more than makes up for this. Well done Spark.

The second thing I like about the Arduino is the number of different chips supported by the IDE. If I need more pins and program space or RAM then there is a 40pin atmega. But more often, I only need a few pins in which case I have the option of using an ATTiny85. Smaller and cheaper is usually a better option. in the case of an '85, you can do an awfull lot with just 5 or 6 pins especially if they support I2C, Serial, PWM etc.
For a larger? option a WIFI access point or router would be fantastic.

I dunno, I think I like the fact that it’s QFN 64… should make it cheaper and also much easier to solder by hand :smile:

http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/CC3100BOOST/296-37769-ND/4862810

https://estore.ti.com/cc3100boost.aspx

CC3100 –$6.70 per 1,000 units
CC3200 –Starting at $7.99 per 1,000 units (so freaking cheap, this is the one WITH the M4 ARM core)

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Heh, there were 3 of those CC3100 boost shields in digikey this morning… damn, I was going to get one too…

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