NimBLE-Arduino: Overview - GitHub Pages

This is a C++ BLE library for Espressif ESP32 and Nordic nRF51/nRF52 devices that uses the NimBLE BLE stack. The aim is to maintain, as much as reasonable, the original ESP32 Arduino BLE API by while adding new features and making improvements in performance, resource use, and stability.

What is NimBLE?

NimBLE is a completely open source Bluetooth Low Energy stack produced by Apache.

Arduino installation

NOTE: Nordic devices require using n-able arduino core

Arduino Library manager: Go to sketch -> Include Library -> Manage Libraries and search for NimBLE and install.

Alternatively: Download as .zip and extract to Arduino/libraries folder, or in Arduino IDE from Sketch menu -> Include library -> Add .Zip library.

#include "NimBLEDevice.h" at the beginning of your sketch.

Call NimBLEDevice::init in setup.

Platformio installation

• Open platformio.ini, a project configuration file located in the root of PlatformIO project.
• Add the following line to the lib_deps option of [env:] section: h2zero/NimBLE-Arduino@^2.1.0
• Build a project, PlatformIO will automatically install dependencies.

Using

This library is intended to be compatible with the original ESP32 BLE library functions and types with minor changes.

If you have not used the original BLE library please refer to the New user guide.

If you are familiar with the original library, see: The migration guide for details.

If you already use this library and need to migrate your code to version 2.x see the 1.x to 2.x Migration Guide.

For more advanced usage see Usage tips for more performance and optimization.

Examples

Examples highlighting many available features are in examples/NimBLE_Server, NimBLE_Client.

Beacon examples provided by beegee-tokyo are in examples/BLE_Beacon_Scanner, BLE_EddystoneTLM_Beacon.

Change the settings in the nimconfig.h file to customize NimBLE to your project, such as increasing max connections (default is 3).

Arduino command line and platformio

As an alternative to changing the configuration in nimconfig.h, Arduino command line and platformio.ini options are available.

See the command line configuration options available in Command line config.

Sponsors

Thank you to all the sponsors who support this project!

If you use this library for a commercial product please consider sponsoring the development to ensure the continued updates and maintenance.

Acknowledgments

• nkolban and chegewara for the original esp32 BLE library this project was derived from.
• beegee-tokyo for contributing your time to test/debug and contributing the beacon examples.
• Jeroen88 for the amazing help debugging and improving the client code.