nRF5 to nRF Connect SDK migration via DFU over BLE

Mike Voytovich

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This writeup contains some notes on how I was able to migrate one of my clients projects based on the nRF5 SDK, to nRF Connect SDK (NCS) based firmware, via a DFU to devices in the field over BLE.

Summary

This blog documents a practical migration of a client project from Nordic's nRF5 SDK to the nRF Connect SDK (NCS), focusing on performing in-field DFU updates over BLE. It explains the architectural differences, bootloader/image handling, and the steps Mike used to perform secure, reliable firmware updates to deployed devices.

Key Takeaways

Understand the architectural differences between nRF5 SDK (SoftDevice-based) and NCS (Zephyr + mcuboot) and how they affect DFU
Configure flash partitions and bootloader (mcuboot) settings to support seamless field DFU over BLE
Implement and sign NCS firmware images (imgtool/mcuboot) for secure BLE DFU upgrades
Validate and troubleshoot common BLE DFU failure modes and implement rollback/compatibility strategies

Who Should Read This

Embedded firmware engineers familiar with Nordic nRF5 SDK who need to migrate fielded devices to nRF Connect SDK and enable DFU over BLE reliably and securely.

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