SiLabs Simplicity SDK

This guide explains how to integrate the Hubble Device SDK into a Simplicity SDK (SiSDK) project. The SDK ships as a Simplicity SDK extension (hubble-network.hubble-device-sdk). Projects add it through their .slcp file, and the SLC tooling pulls in the SDK sources, include paths, and configuration.

Note

Only the Hubble Terrestrial (BLE) Network is currently supported on Simplicity SDK FreeRTOS.

Prerequisites

Simplicity Studio 6 with the Simplicity SDK installed.
The slc-cli tool, which is still needed to install the extension (see Installing the Extension).

Simplicity SDK, slc-cli, the Arm GNU toolchain (gcc-arm-none-eabi), and Simplicity Commander (commander), installed with the Silicon Labs Tool (SLT).

A Silicon Labs board with Bluetooth® Low Energy support.
The Hubble Device SDK cloned or added as a submodule.
Device key (generated when you register a new device to your organization through the Hubble Cloud API).

Set the following environment variables before continuing, e.g.:

export SISDK=/path/to/simplicity_sdk
export SLC=/path/to/slc_cli/slc
export COMMANDER=/path/to/commander
export HUBBLE_SDK=/path/to/hubble-device-sdk

Tip

See Useful paths for where Simplicity Studio and SLT install these tools.

Installing the Extension

SLC discovers extensions under the Simplicity SDK’s extension directory. Link the Hubble Device SDK there and register both the SDK and the extension as trusted:

mkdir -p $SISDK/extension
ln -s $HUBBLE_SDK $SISDK/extension/hubble-device-sdk

$SLC configuration --sdk $SISDK
$SLC signature trust --sdk $SISDK
$SLC signature trust -extpath $SISDK/extension/hubble-device-sdk

Adding Hubble Network to a Project

Open your project’s .slcp file to launch the Project Configurator.
Go to Software Components and search for Hubble.
Select Hubble Device SDK Component (under Hubble → BLE) and click Install.

Declare the extension in your project’s .slcp file and add the Hubble component:

sdk_extension:
  # change '3.1.0' to the version of the Hubble Device SDK you installed
  - id: hubble-device-sdk
    vendor: hubble-network
    version: 3.1.0

component:
  - id: hubble-device-sdk-component
    from: hubble-device-sdk

Configuration

The SDK is configured through hubble_config.h. See $HUBBLE_SDK/port/sisdk/hubble_config.h for the available options and their defaults.

In the Project Configurator, open Software Components, select Hubble Device SDK Component, and click Configure.

Configuring the Hubble Device SDK Component

Set the options you want to change in your project’s .slcp file, e.g. to provide your own sequence counter:

configuration:
  - name: SISDK_HUBBLE_NETWORK_SEQUENCE_NONCE_CUSTOM
    value: "1"

Building and Running Your First Application

The following steps build and flash the ble-beacon sample. Replace brd4187c with your target board.

Embed the device key and the current time into the sample sources:

cd $HUBBLE_SDK/samples/freertos/silabs/ble-beacon
$HUBBLE_SDK/tools/embed_key_time.py -b master.key -o src/

Generate a Simplicity Studio project:

$SLC generate -tlcn gcc -np -p ble_beacon.slcp \
    -d /path/to/workspace/ble-beacon --with brd4187c

Then in Simplicity Studio go to PROJECTS → Open Project(s), select the generated ble-beacon directory, and build and flash as usual.

Build the application:

$SLC generate -tlcn gcc -o makefile -cp -p ble_beacon.slcp \
    -d generated_sample_app --with brd4187c
cd generated_sample_app
make -f ble_beacon.Makefile

Flash the application:

$COMMANDER flash build/debug/ble_beacon.s37

See the sample’s README.md for key formats and troubleshooting.