The RISC-V BL602 Book

📝 8 Nov 2022

PineCone BL602 RISC-V Board with Grove E-Ink Display

Is there a book about the BL602 / BL604 SoC (RISC-V, WiFi and Bluetooth LE) that…

1. Explains in depth the features of BL602 and BL604

2. Has plenty of annotated sample code, with real use cases

3. Is open source, free to browse and reproduce?

You’re reading the book right now!

Use this book to navigate the numerous BL602 / BL604 articles that have been published on this site. (59 articles and still growing!)

The programs in these articles have been tested on PineDio Stack BL604 and PineCone BL602, but they should work on other BL602 and BL604 Boards: Ai-Thinker Ai-WB2, Pinenut BL602, DT-BL10, MagicHome BL602.

Many thanks to Pine64 for supporting my work on BL602 Open Source Education! Thanks also to Bouffalo Lab for the encouraging notes.

If you find this book useful… please sponsor me a coffee. Thank you! 🙏 😀

§1 Introduction to BL602

Find out what’s inside the BL602 / BL604 System-on-a-Chip (SoC)… And why it’s unique among the microcontrollers we’ve seen.

• “Quick Peek of PineCone BL602 RISC-V Evaluation Board”

§2 NuttX on BL602

Apache NuttX is a portable, embedded operating system that’s officially supported on BL602 and BL604. (Alternative to FreeRTOS and BL602 IoT SDK)

• “PineDio Stack BL604 runs Apache NuttX RTOS”

• “Apache NuttX OS on RISC-V BL602 and BL604”

More NuttX articles in the following sections…

§3 Projects and Libraries on BL602

How to create a simple Blinky Project for BL602 / BL604 and build the project.

For Apache NuttX RTOS

• “How To Create NuttX Apps”

• “How To Create NuttX Device Drivers”

• “How To Create NuttX Libraries”

For BL602 IoT SDK

• “BL602 Blinky in C”

• “How To Create BL602 Projects”

• “How To Create BL602 Libraries”

• “How To Create Rust Projects”

• “How To Build Rust Projects”

§4 Flashing Firmware to BL602

How we flash firmware to BL602 and BL604 with command-line tools on Linux, macOS and Windows.

• “Flashing Firmware to BL602”

• “Auto Flash and Test NuttX on RISC-V BL602”

• “(Mostly) Automated Testing of Apache NuttX RTOS on PineDio Stack BL604 RISC-V Board”

• “BL602 EFlash Loader: Reverse Engineered with Ghidra”

For BL602 IoT SDK

• “Flashing Rust Firmware to BL602”

§5 GPIO on BL602

Learn to call the BL602 / BL604 GPIO Functions to blink an LED.

For Apache NuttX RTOS

• “GPIO on NuttX”

• “GPIO Interrupts on NuttX”

• “NuttX GPIO Expander for PineDio Stack BL604”

• “NuttX Touch Panel Driver for PineDio Stack BL604”

For BL602 IoT SDK

• “Control PineCone BL602 RGB LED with GPIO and PWM”

• “Porting LoRa Driver from Mynewt to BL602: GPIO”

• “BL602 GPIO Interrupts”

§6 SPI on BL602

How we call the BL602 / BL604 SPI Functions to access SPI Sensors, Displays and Network Transceivers.

For Apache NuttX RTOS

• “SPI on Apache NuttX OS”

• “SPI Interface on NuttX”

• “ST7789 Display with LVGL Graphics on Apache NuttX RTOS”

• “PineDio Stack BL604 runs Apache NuttX RTOS”

For BL602 IoT SDK

• “PineCone BL602 talks SPI too!”

• “PineCone BL602 Blasting Pixels to ST7789 Display with LVGL Library”

• “Porting LoRa Driver from Mynewt to BL602: SPI”

§7 I2C on BL602

Read an I2C Sensor by calling the BL602 / BL604 I2C Functions.

For Apache NuttX RTOS

• “Apache NuttX Driver for BME280 Sensor: Ported from Zephyr OS”

• “Read NuttX Sensor Data with Zig”

• “Visual Programming with Zig and NuttX Sensors”

• “NuttX Touch Panel Driver for PineDio Stack BL604”

• “Read I2C Register in C (NuttX App)”

• “Rust talks I2C on Apache NuttX RTOS”

For BL602 IoT SDK

• “PineCone BL602 talks to I2C Sensors”

§8 UART on BL602

UART is used by Air Quality Sensors, E-Ink Displays, GPS Receivers and LoRa Transceivers. To talk to these peripherals, we call the BL602 / BL604 UART Functions.

For Apache NuttX RTOS

• “Connect IKEA Air Quality Sensor to Apache NuttX OS”

For BL602 IoT SDK

• “PineCone BL602 Talks UART to Grove E-Ink Display”

§9 ADC on BL602

How we read Analog Inputs with ADC on BL602 and BL604.

For Apache NuttX RTOS

• “ADC and Internal Temperature Sensor Library”

For BL602 IoT SDK

• “BL602 ADC in C”

• “Internal Temperature Sensor on BL602”

• “Encode Sensor Data with CBOR on BL602”

§10 DMA on BL602

How we accelerate data transfers with DMA on BL602 and BL604.

For Apache NuttX RTOS

• “SPI DMA on BL602 NuttX”

For BL602 IoT SDK

• “SPI with Direct Memory Access”

• Read LED via ADC DMA

§11 PWM on BL602

Duty Cycle, Frequency and everything else about the BL602 / BL604 PWM Functions.

For BL602 IoT SDK

• “From GPIO to Pulse Width Modulation (PWM)”

§12 WiFi on BL602

What happens inside the WiFi Driver on BL602 and BL604.

For BL602 IoT SDK

• “Reverse Engineering WiFi on RISC-V BL602”

§13 Graphics on BL602

Render text and graphics with the open-source LVGL Library.

For Apache NuttX RTOS

• “ST7789 Display with LVGL Graphics on Apache NuttX RTOS”

• “PineDio Stack BL604 runs Apache NuttX RTOS”

• “NuttX Touch Panel Driver for PineDio Stack BL604”

• “Build an LVGL Touchscreen App with Zig”

• “Simpler, safer LVGL Touchscreen Apps with Zig and NuttX” (Presentation)

For BL602 IoT SDK

• “PineCone BL602 Blasting Pixels to ST7789 Display with LVGL Library”

• “PineCone BL602 Talks UART to Grove E-Ink Display”

§14 Multitasking BL602

Multitasking the easy way with NimBLE Porting Layer.

For Apache NuttX RTOS

• “Multithreading with NimBLE Porting Layer”

For BL602 IoT SDK

• “Multitask with NimBLE Porting Layer”

§15 LoRa on BL602

Let’s turn BL602 and BL604 into a real IoT gadget that transmits long range, low power LoRa packets…

For Apache NuttX RTOS

• “LoRa SX1262 on Apache NuttX OS”

• “LoRaWAN on Apache NuttX OS”

• “Transmit LoRa Message (in Rust)”

• “Encode Sensor Data with CBOR on Apache NuttX OS”

• “PineDio Stack BL604 runs Apache NuttX RTOS”

• “Build an IoT App with Zig and LoRaWAN”

• “Read NuttX Sensor Data with Zig”

• “Visual Programming with Zig and NuttX Sensors”

For BL602 IoT SDK

• “PineCone BL602 Talks LoRaWAN”

• “LoRaWAN on PineDio Stack BL604 RISC-V Board”

• “The Things Network on PineDio Stack BL604 RISC-V Board”

Connecting BL602 and BL604 to a LoRa Gateway

• “PineDio LoRa Gateway: Testing The Prototype”

• “Build a LoRaWAN Network with RAKwireless WisGate Developer Gateway”

Transmitting Sensor Data on BL602 and BL604

• “Internal Temperature Sensor on BL602”

• “Encode Sensor Data with CBOR on BL602”

• “CBOR Payload Formatter for The Things Network”

Monitoring BL602 and BL604 with Prometheus, Grafana and Roblox

• “Monitor IoT Devices in The Things Network with Prometheus and Grafana”

• “IoT Digital Twin with Roblox and The Things Network”

• “Grafana Data Source for The Things Network”

PineDio USB uses the same LoRa SX1262 Driver as BL602 and BL604

• “Build a Linux Driver for PineDio LoRa SX1262 USB Adapter”

Below are the older articles for LoRa SX1276 Transceiver

• “Connect PineCone BL602 to LoRa Transceiver (SX1276)”

• “RAKwireless WisBlock talks LoRa with PineCone BL602 RISC-V Board”

• “PineCone BL602 RISC-V Board Receives LoRa Packets (SX1276)”

§16 Zig on BL602

How we code BL602 and BL604 firmware with Zig programming language.

For Apache NuttX RTOS

• “Zig on RISC-V BL602: Quick Peek with Apache NuttX RTOS”

• “Build an IoT App with Zig and LoRaWAN”

• “Read NuttX Sensor Data with Zig”

• “Zig Visual Programming with Blockly”

• “Visual Programming with Zig and NuttX Sensors”

• “Visual Programming with Zig and NuttX Sensors” (Presentation)

• “Build an LVGL Touchscreen App with Zig”

• “Simpler, safer LVGL Touchscreen Apps with Zig and NuttX” (Presentation)

§17 Rust on BL602

How we code BL602 and BL604 firmware the safer, simpler way with Rust.

For Apache NuttX RTOS

• “Rust on Apache NuttX OS”

• “Rust talks I2C on Apache NuttX RTOS”

For BL602 IoT SDK

• “Rust on RISC-V BL602: Is It Sunny?”

• “Rust on RISC-V BL602: Simulated with WebAssembly”

• “Rust on RISC-V BL602: Rhai Scripting”

• “Run Rust RISC-V Firmware with BL602 IoT SDK”

• “Debug Rust on PineCone BL602 with VSCode and GDB”

• “Rust in XIP Flash Memory by 9names”

§18 BASIC on BL602

Running the NuttX BASIC Interpreter for BL602 and BL604.

For Apache NuttX RTOS

• “BASIC Interpreter on NuttX”

§19 Lisp on BL602

Porting the uLisp Interpreter to BL602 / BL604… And writing graphical programs with Blockly (Scratch).

For BL602 IoT SDK

• “uLisp and Blockly on PineCone BL602 RISC-V Board”

• “Simulate RISC-V BL602 with WebAssembly, uLisp and Blockly”

§20 Visual Programming on BL602

Let’s code BL602 and BL604 the drag-and-drop way, with Blockly.

For Apache NuttX RTOS

• “Zig Visual Programming with Blockly”

• “Visual Programming with Zig and NuttX Sensors”

• “Visual Programming with Zig and NuttX Sensors” (Presentation)

For BL602 IoT SDK

• “Rust on RISC-V BL602: Rhai Scripting”

• “uLisp and Blockly on PineCone BL602 RISC-V Board”

§21 Machine Learning on BL602

How we run TensorFlow Lite on BL602 and BL604 to create a Glowing LED.

For BL602 IoT SDK

• “Machine Learning on RISC-V BL602 with TensorFlow Lite”

§22 Troubleshooting BL602

Tips for troubleshooting BL602 and BL604 firmware.

For Apache NuttX RTOS

• “NuttX Logging”

• “NuttX Crash Analysis”

For BL602 IoT SDK

• “How to Troubleshoot RISC-V Exceptions”

• “BL602 Assertion Failures”

• “BL602 Stack Trace”

• “BL602 Stack Dump”

§23 Bootloader for BL602

All about the BL602 / BL604 Bootloader… And how it loads the Application Firmware into XIP Flash Memory.

• “BL602 Bootloader”

§24 OpenOCD on BL602

Before debugging BL602 / BL604, we install OpenOCD to connect a JTAG Debugger.

For BL602 IoT SDK

• “Connect PineCone BL602 to OpenOCD”

• “Debug Rust on PineCone BL602 with VSCode and GDB”

§25 GDB and VSCode on BL602

How we debug BL602 / BL604 firmware with GDB and VSCode.

For BL602 IoT SDK

• “Debug Rust on PineCone BL602 with VSCode and GDB”

• “Debug Mynewt with VSCode”

§26 PineDio Stack BL604

Sneak preview of the new PineDio Stack BL604 with ST7789 Display and onboard LoRa SX1262 Transceiver.

For Apache NuttX RTOS

• “PineDio Stack BL604 runs Apache NuttX RTOS”

• “NuttX on a RISC-V IoT Gadget: PineDio Stack BL604” (Presentation)

• “NuttX Touch Panel Driver for PineDio Stack BL604”

• “NuttX GPIO Expander for PineDio Stack BL604”

• “Build an IoT App with Zig and LoRaWAN”

• “Build an LVGL Touchscreen App with Zig”

• “(Mostly) Automated Testing of Apache NuttX RTOS on PineDio Stack BL604 RISC-V Board”

• “Apache NuttX OS on RISC-V BL602 and BL604”

• “SPI on Apache NuttX OS”

• “LoRa SX1262 on Apache NuttX OS”

• “LoRaWAN on Apache NuttX OS”

• “Rust on Apache NuttX OS”

• “Connect IKEA Air Quality Sensor to Apache NuttX OS”

For BL602 IoT SDK

• “PineDio Stack BL604 RISC-V Board: Testing The Prototype”

• “PineDio Stack BL604 Version 2 (15 Sep 2021)”

• “LoRaWAN on PineDio Stack BL604 RISC-V Board”

• “The Things Network on PineDio Stack BL604 RISC-V Board”

• “Monitor IoT Devices in The Things Network with Prometheus and Grafana”

• “Internal Temperature Sensor on BL602”

• “IoT Digital Twin with Roblox and The Things Network”

• “Grafana Data Source for The Things Network”

• “PineDio LoRa Gateway: Testing The Prototype”

§27 BL706 Audio Video Board

What’s inside the Bouffalo Lab RISC-V BL706 Audio Video Board… And how it differs from BL602 / BL604.

• “RISC-V BL706 Audio Video Board”

§28 Mynewt on BL602

Incomplete port of Apache Mynewt operating system…

• “Porting Mynewt to PineCone BL602”

• “Mynewt GPIO ported to PineCone BL602 RISC-V Board”

§29 What’s Next

Check this book again for future updates…

• Apache NuttX RTOS on PinePhone

• Zig on PinePhone

• IoT Education with BL602 and BL604

• The Things Network on NuttX

• LoRaWAN ChirpStack with Prometheus and Grafana

• Visual Zig with VSCode

• Zig Type Reflection: Visualise the Call Flow in a C Library

• Inside LoRaMAC: The LoRaWAN Stack

§30 About the Author

• “Better Open Source Advocate”

• Sponsor me a coffee

• Discuss this book on Reddit

• Check out my articles

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lupyuen.github.io/src/book.md

PineCone BL602 RISC-V Board with Grove E-Ink Display