nRF Connect SDK v2.0.0 Release Notes

nRF Connect SDK delivers reference software and supporting libraries for developing low-power wireless applications with Nordic Semiconductor products in the nRF52, nRF53, and nRF91 Series. The SDK includes open source projects (TF-M, MCUboot, OpenThread, Matter, and the Zephyr RTOS), which are continuously integrated and re-distributed with the SDK.

Release notes might refer to “experimental” support for features, which indicates that the feature is incomplete in functionality or verification, and can be expected to change in future releases. The feature is made available in its current state though the design and interfaces can change between release tags. The feature will also be labeled with “EXPERIMENTAL” in Kconfig files to indicate this status. Build warnings will be generated to indicate when features labeled EXPERIMENTAL are included in builds unless the Kconfig option CONFIG_WARN_EXPERIMENTAL is disabled.

Highlights

  • Simplified Software License Report generation is now possible for any nRF Connect SDK project. See the sbom documentation for more information.

  • The Zephyr SDK toolchain replaces the GNU ARM Embedded toolchain.

  • Trusted Firmware M (TF-M) replaces the Secure Partition Manager (SPM) for secure image firmware. TF-M is now enabled by default for most nRF9160 and nRF5340 applications and samples. See TF-M known issues for details.

  • Added experimental Bluetooth LE Audio support, including an application for the nRF5340 Audio DK.

  • The SoftDevice Controller is now Bluetooth v5.3 qualified.

  • Improved DFU over Bluetooth Low Energy (SMP server improvements).

  • Support for Thread v1.2 is no longer experimental. HomeKit over Thread and Matter over Thread use Thread v1.2 libraries by default now.

  • Support for the Zigbee Cluster Library specification v8 (ZCL 8) and Base Device Behavior specification v3.0.1 (BDB 3.0.1) is no longer experimental. ZCL 8 and BDB 3.0.1 libraries are now used by default in Zigbee samples.

  • Updated Zephyr LwM2M stack to v1.1, which provides extended commands and options for more efficient data transmission.

  • Added nRF Cloud Location Services support in the AVSystem’s Coiote LwM2M server.

  • Added power consumption optimization for poor satellite coverage when using GNSS.

A migration guide is available for users moving from nRF Connect SDK v1.x to v2.x.

Sign up for the nRF Connect SDK v2.0.0 webinar to learn more about the new features.

Release tag

The release tag for the nRF Connect SDK manifest repository (https://github.com/nrfconnect/sdk-nrf) is v2.0.0. Check the west.yml file for the corresponding tags in the project repositories.

To use this release, check out the tag in the manifest repository and run west update. See Get the nRF Connect SDK code for more information.

For information on the included repositories and revisions, see Repositories and revisions for v2.0.0.

IDE and tool support

nRF Connect extension for Visual Studio Code is the only officially supported IDE for nRF Connect SDK v2.0.0. SEGGER Embedded Studio Nordic Edition is no longer tested and recommended for new projects.

Toolchain Manager, used to install the nRF Connect SDK automatically from nRF Connect for Desktop, is now also available for Linux, in addition to the previously available version for Windows and macOS. The Linux version only supports installing the nRF Connect SDK v2.0.0 and later.

Supported modem firmware

See Modem firmware compatibility matrix for an overview of which modem firmware versions have been tested with this version of the nRF Connect SDK.

Use the latest version of the nRF Programmer app of nRF Connect for Desktop to update the modem firmware. See Updating the modem firmware for instructions.

Known issues

Known issues are only tracked for the latest official release. See known issues for nRF Connect SDK v2.0.0 for the list of issues valid for the latest release.

Changelog

The following sections provide detailed lists of changes by component.

Application development

This section provides lists of changes related to Application development.

Board support

  • Added necessary reset functionality for using the nRF52840 SoC on the Thingy:91 as a Bluetooth controller.

Build system

  • Fixed an issue with nRF Connect SDK Toolchain delimiter handling on MacOS, which could in special situations result in the build system not being able to properly locate the correct program needed.

Protocols

This section provides detailed lists of changes by protocol. See Samples for lists of changes for the protocol-related samples.

Bluetooth mesh

See Bluetooth mesh samples for the list of changes for the Bluetooth mesh samples.

Matter

  • The CHIP Tool controller is now the recommended controller for Matter. The documentation about Matter controller has been updated accordingly. For more information about the CHIP Tool controller, read the Working with the CHIP Tool page in the Matter documentation.

See Matter samples for the list of changes for the Matter samples.

Matter fork

The Matter fork in the nRF Connect SDK (sdk-connectedhomeip) contains all commits from the upstream Matter repository up to, and including, 25e241ebcbf11b1f63dbe25546b1f10219866ad0.

The following list summarizes the most important changes inherited from the upstream Matter:

  • Added the Binding cluster and Groupcast communication to the Light Switch sample.

  • Updated the nRF Connect platform by adding Kconfig.defaults, Kconfig.mcuboot.defaults and Kconfig.multiprotocol_rpmsg.defaults files that contain the default configuration for all nRF Connect SDK samples.

  • Added support for Thread Synchronized Sleepy End Devices.

Thread

  • Added support for the Link Metrics and CSL Thread v1.2 features for the nRF53 Series devices.

  • Removed support for the Network co-processor (NCP) architecture and the related tools.

  • The OpenThread memory requirements page shows requirements based on the configuration used for certification instead of minimal configuration, which has been removed.

  • Updated the Configuring a radio co-processor section in the Thread Border Router page with the information about forcing Hardware Flow Control in J-Link.

  • Updated nrfconnect/otbr docker.

  • Updated OpenThread pre-built libraries for Thread v1.2.

  • Removed OpenThread pre-built libraries for Thread v1.1.

See Thread samples for the list of changes for the Thread samples.

Zigbee

  • Added:

    • Support for nRF5340 DK (PCA10095) in the Zigbee: Light switch sample with the Zigbee FOTA library enabled.

    • Production support for Weather Station application for Thingy:53.

  • Updated:

    • Support for Zigbee Cluster Library ver8 (ZCL8). The support is not experimental anymore.

    • Support for Zigbee Base Device Behavior v3.0.1 (BDB 3.0.1). The support is not experimental anymore.

    • Zigbee FOTA library. For details, see Libraries for Zigbee.

    • Zigbee Network Co-processor Host package to the new version v2.2.0.

    • Zigbee shell library. For details, see Libraries for Zigbee.

  • Fixed:

    • An issue where the Zigbee: Light bulb sample was flickering when set to 50 kHz.

    • An issue with an assertion fail in /zephyr/include/spinlock.h:129.

    • An issue where a wrong value was reported for attributes MinMeasuredvalue and MaxMeasuredValue in the Weather Station.

    • An issue with ZBOSS fatal error after factory reset and before bdb start.

    • An issue where the Coordinator did not form a new network after factory reset.

    • An issue with identifying when not in a network.

    • An issue with ZBOSS binding table corruption.

    • An issue where the Zigbee shell did not inform if the network address request was not sent.

See Zigbee samples for the list of changes for the Zigbee samples.

HomeKit

  • Added:

    • Production support for Thread 1.2.

    • Support for 3-button actions (long press, short press, double press).

    • LED indicating BLE connectivity status.

    • Development support for OTA-DFU using the iOS Home App (over UARP - BLE and Thread).

    • LED output can be fully disabled using Kconfig.

  • Updated:

    • Flash usage optimization for debug versions of samples and applications.

    • DFU mode can now be enabled by a button press.

    • CLI is no longer required for DFU configuration.

    • HAP_TESTING is now configurable using Kconfig.

  • Fixed:

    • An issue where RTT logs did not work with the Light Bulb multiprotocol sample with DFU on nRF52840.

    • An issue where Nordic DFU was not compliant with HAP certification requirements.

    • An issue where a change in KVS key naming scheme caused an error for updated devices.

    • An issue where activating DFU caused increased power consumption.

Applications

This section provides detailed lists of changes by application.

nRF9160: Asset Tracker v2

nRF9160: Serial LTE modem

  • Added:

    • #XDFUGET and #XDFURUN AT commands to support the cloud-to-nRF52 DFU service.

    • Native TLS support to the HTTPS client.

    • #XCMNG command to support the use of native TLS.

    • #XSOCKETSELECT AT command to support multiple sockets in the Socket service.

    • #XPOLL AT command to poll selected or all sockets for incoming data.

  • Updated:

    • Enhanced the #XHTTPCREQ AT command for better HTTP upload and download support.

    • Enhanced the #XSLEEP AT command to support data indication when idle.

    • Enhanced the MQTT client to support the reception of large PUBLISH payloads.

    • The nRF Cloud library is now used directly instead of the Cloud API.

  • Fixed:

    • The secondary MCUboot partition information is no longer passed to the P-GPS library if the P-GPS partition is enabled.

    • The combined use of A-GPS and P-GPS so that ephemeris and almanac data is not requested through A-GPS, saving both power and bandwidth.

nRF Machine Learning (Edge Impulse)

nRF Desktop

  • Added managing BLE connection interval depending on the USB state to reduce power consumption when USB is suspended.

  • Changed default Bluetooth connection interval from 7.5 ms to 10 ms for nRF Desktop centrals that support LLPM and two simultaneous Bluetooth connections. This is needed to prevent Bluetooth Link Layer scheduling issues.

  • Removed configurations without a bootloader. The B0 bootloader is enabled by default on all boards if the configuration with two image slots fits in memory. Alternatively, MCUboot bootloader with a single image slot and serial recovery is enabled. In case the configuration with the MCUboot does not fit in memory, no bootloader is enabled.

Thingy:53 Zigbee weather station

Samples

This section provides detailed lists of changes by sample, including protocol-related samples. For lists of protocol-specific changes, see Protocols.

Bluetooth samples

Bluetooth mesh samples

nRF9160 samples

  • Added:

  • Secure Partition Manager (rather than TF-M) is enabled by default for the applications and samples that support Thingy:91.

  • nRF9160: AT monitor sample:

    • Added denied, unknown, roaming, and UICC failure CEREG status codes to cereg_mon().

  • nRF9160: Modem Shell sample:

    • Added:

      • Remote control support over MQTT using the Terminal window in the nRF Cloud portal. It enables executing any MoSh command on the device remotely.

      • An option --interval (in seconds) to neighbor cell measurements in continuous mode (link ncellmeas --continuous). When using this option, a new measurement is started in each interval.

      • Separate plain AT command mode that can be started with the command at at_cmd_mode start. AT command termination methods can be configured using Kconfig options. The default method is CR termination. In AT command mode, a maximum of 10 AT commands can be pipelined with | as the delimiter character between pipelined AT commands.

      • Threading support for the ping command.

      • Iperf3 usage over Zephyr native TCP/IP stack and nRF9160 LTE default context.

      • Support for the GNSS features introduced in modem firmware v1.3.2. This includes several new fields in the PVT notification and a command to query the expiry times of assistance data.

      • Support for the CONFIG_NRF_CLOUD_PGPS_STORAGE_PARTITION option.

      • Device information is sent to nRF Cloud when connecting with MQTT using the cloud connect command.

      • New options to send acquired GNSS location to nRF Cloud for location command, either in NMEA or in PVT format. Both MQTT and REST transports are supported (compile-time configuration).

      • Improved the nRF9160 DK out-of-the box experience and the process of adding the DK to nRF Cloud using MoSh and LTE Link Monitor.

    • Updated:

      • The behavior of this sample when built with the CONFIG_NRF_MODEM_LIB_TRACE_MEDIUM_UART option enabled, is changed as follows:

        • When disabling of UART is requested either by a shell command or by a button press, modem traces are disabled before disabling UART1.

        • When the UART1 is re-enabled (either after timer expiry or button press), the modem traces are also re-enabled.

  • nRF9160: nRF Cloud REST FOTA sample:

    • Enabled building of bootloader FOTA update files.

    • Corrected handling of the bootloader FOTA updates.

    • Enabled the AT Host library to make it easier to update certificates.

  • nRF9160: LTE Sensor Gateway sample:

    • Added support for Thingy:91.

  • nRF9160: LwM2M Client sample:

    • Added:

    • Updated:

      • Reworked the retry logic so that the sample can fall back to bootstrap mode and need not always restart the LTE connection.

      • Replaced the deprecated GPS driver with the new GNSS interface.

      • LwM2M v1.1 uses SenML CBOR by default as content format.

  • nRF9160: Download client sample:

    • Updated the default HTTPS URL and certificate due to the old link being broken.

  • nRF9160: GNSS sample:

  • nRF9160: Location sample:

    • Enabled the AT Host library to make it easier to update certificates.

  • Removed the Cloud client sample.

Thread samples

  • Updated:

    • Thread 1.2 version is now the default configuration option.

    • Thread Beacon payload has been removed after changes in the latest Thread Specification.

    • Minimal configuration for CLI sample has been removed.

    • BLE advertising interval has been increased from 100 ms to 300 ms for CLI sample when multiprotocol is enabled.

    • Thread: CoAP Client sample with Multiprotocol Bluetooth LE extension is now compatible with Bluetooth: Central UART sample.

Matter samples

  • Added:

    • Release configuration for all samples.

    • Matter: Window covering sample, based on the Matter upstream sample. This sample utilizes Thread Synchronized Sleepy End Device role.

  • Updated:

    • Simplified the prj.conf file of each sample by using the default configuration from the Kconfig.defaults file in Matter upstream.

    • All ZAP configurations due to changes in Matter upstream.

  • Matter: Template:

    • Added OTA DFU support.

  • Matter: Light switch sample:

    • Added:

      • A binding cluster to the sample.

      • Groupcast communication.

      • Overlay enabling low power mode support.

    • Updated the Pairing process to Binding process in the sample.

  • Matter: Door lock sample:

    • Added support for the Door Lock cluster, which replaced the previous temporary solution based on the On/Off cluster.

NFC samples

  • NFC: Tag reader sample:

    • Skips NDEF content printing when message parsing returns an error.

nRF5340 samples

  • Added:

  • Updated:

    • Changed the transport layer for inter-core communication on the nRF5340 device from the RPMsg to the IPC service library. The IPC service library can work with different transport backends and uses the RPMsg backend with static VRINGs by default. This transport layer change affects all samples that use Bluetooth HCI driver over RPMsg, 802.15.4 spinel backend over IPC or nRF RPC libraries.

  • nRF5340: nRF RPC Entropy sample:

    • Converted from TinyCBOR to zcbor.

Zigbee samples

Other samples

  • Added:

  • Radio test sample:

    • Added new configuration that builds the sample with support for remote IPC Service shell on nRF5340 application core through USB.

    • Added possibility to build with the limited nRF21540 front-end module hardware pinout.

    • Improved the calculation of the total payload size for the radio duty cycle.

    • Fast ramp-up is enabled for all radio modes.

    • The duty cycle for modulated transmission is limited to 1-90%.

    • Improved the DFU throughput in the SMP Server Sample for the Bluetooth transport by optimizing Bluetooth MTU configuration and by leveraging the MCUmgr packet reassembly feature.

Drivers

This section provides detailed lists of changes by driver.

  • Removed the deprecated GPS driver.

Libraries

This section provides detailed lists of changes by library.

Binary libraries

  • LwM2M carrier library:

    • Updated to v0.30.0. See the Changelog for detailed information.

    • Projects that use the LwM2M carrier library cannot use TF-M for this release, since the LwM2M carrier library requires hard floating point. For more information, see the TF-M documentation.

Bluetooth libraries and services

Bootloader libraries

DFU libraries

Modem libraries

  • Added Modem antenna library, a new library for setting the antenna configuration on an nRF9160 DK or a Thingy:91.

  • SMS subscriber library:

    • Fixed time zone handling for received SMSs.

    • The time zone is now returned in quarters of an hour.

    • Added handling for SMS client unregistration notification from the modem. When the notification is received, the library re-registers the SMS client automatically.

  • Location library:

    • Added:

      • Support for the CONFIG_NRF_CLOUD_PGPS_STORAGE_PARTITION option.

      • Improved integration of A-GPS and P-GPS when both are enabled.

      • A missing call to the nrf_cloud_pgps_notify_prediction() function, when using the REST interface with P-GPS.

      • Support for P-GPS data retrieval from an external source, implemented separately by the application. Enabled by setting the CONFIG_LOCATION_METHOD_GNSS_PGPS_EXTERNAL option. The library triggers a LOCATION_EVT_GNSS_PREDICTION_REQUEST event when assistance is needed.

      • Obstructed satellite visibility detection feature for GNSS. When this feature is enabled, the library tries to detect occurrences where getting a GNSS fix is unlikely or would consume a lot of energy. When such an occurrence is detected, GNSS is stopped without waiting for a fix or a timeout.

      • In addition to the current default fallback mode for acquiring a location, it can also be acquired using the LOCATION_REQ_MODE_ALL mode that runs all methods in the list sequentially. Each run method receives a location event, either a success or a failure.

    • Updated:

    • Removed support for Skyhook.

  • Modem library integration layer library:

  • LTE link controller library:

  • Modem attestation token library:

    • CBOR parsing is now performed with the zcbor module. TinyCBOR is deprecated.

  • Removed the deprecated A-GPS library.

  • Fixed an issue where the compiler would generate an error when building ncs/nrf/include/modem/lte_lc.h with C++ applications.

Libraries for networking

  • nRF Cloud REST library:

    • Added JSON Web Token (JWT) autogeneration feature. If enabled, the nRF Cloud REST library automatically generates a JWT if none is provided by the user when making REST requests.

    • Updated:

      • Centralized error handling.

      • Error return values.

      • For cellular positioning responses, the type is now set based on the fulfilledWith response from the nRF Cloud.

      • nRF Cloud error codes are now parsed and set in the nrf_cloud_rest_context structure.

  • Download client library:

    • Fixed an issue where downloads of COAP URIs would fail when they contained multiple path elements.

    • Added the set_native_tls parameter in the configuration structure to configure native TLS support at runtime.

  • FOTA download library:

  • nRF Cloud library:

    • Added:

    • Updated:

      • Shadow data behavior during the connection process. The data is now sent to the application even if no "config" section is present.

      • The application can now send shadow updates earlier in the connection process.

      • nRF Cloud error message responses to location service MQTT requests are now handled.

      • The value of the CONFIG_NRF_CLOUD_HOST_NAME option is now mqtt.nrfcloud.com.

      • Removed support for the Cloud API.

    • Fixed the validation of bootloader FOTA updates.

  • AWS IoT library:

    • Renamed aws_iot_topic_type to aws_iot_shadow_topic_type and removed AWS_IOT_SHADOW_TOPIC_UNKNOWN.

    • Removed support for the Cloud API.

  • LwM2M client utils library:

    • Added support for using location assistance when using the Coiote LwM2M server.

    • Updated the library to store credentials and server settings permanently on bootstrap.

    • Updated the library to let an application control the network connection state.

  • Azure IoT Hub library:

    • Added CONFIG_AZURE_IOT_HUB_NATIVE_TLS option to configure the socket to be native for TLS instead of offloading TLS operations to the modem.

    • Removed support for the Cloud API.

  • nRF Cloud P-GPS library:

  • nRF Cloud A-GPS library:

    • Fixed premature assistance suppression when the CONFIG_NRF_CLOUD_AGPS_FILTERED option is enabled. Added a 10 minute margin of error to ensure A-GPS assistance is downloaded every two hours even if the modem requests assistance a little early.

  • Multicell location library:

    • Removed support for Skyhook.

  • Removed the Cloud API library.

Libraries for NFC

Other libraries

Common Application Framework (CAF)

Shell libraries

Libraries for Zigbee

  • Zigbee application utilities library:

  • Zigbee shell library:

    • Added:

      • nbr monitor shell command for monitoring the list of active Zigbee neighbors.

      • Set of zcl groups shell commands for managing Zigbee groups.

      • CONFIG_ZIGBEE_SHELL_ZCL_CMD_TIMEOUT for timing out ZCL cmd commands.

    • Updated:

      • Zigbee shell structure to make it an independent library.

      • File names zigbee_cli* and changed it to zigbee_shell*.

      • Function names zigbee_cli* and changed it to zigbee_shell*.

      • bdb factory_reset command. Now the command checks if the ZBOSS stack is started before performing the factory reset.

      • zcl cmd shell command extended to allow sending groupcasts.

      • zdo shell commands extended to allow binding to a group address.

      • Internal context manager structures.

    • Fixed an issue where the zcl cmd shell command was using the incorrect index of a context manager entry during cleanup after the command was sent.

  • Zigbee ZCL scene helper library:

    • Updated the library, so that it is allowed to store empty scenes.

  • Zigbee ZBOSS OSIF library:

    • Updated:

      • Crypto library used for performing software AES encryption. Now, the nrf_oberon crypto library is used instead of the Tinycrypt library.

      • Optimize calling ZBOSS API in nRF Connect SDK platform. If the ZBOSS API is called in the ZBOSS thread context, processing by the workqueue is now skipped.

  • Zigbee FOTA library:

  • Fixed:

    • An issue where printing binding table containing group-binding entries results in corrupted output.

    • An issue where Zigbee shell coordinator would not form a new network after the factory reset operation.

sdk-nrfxlib

See the changelog for each library in the nrfxlib documentation for additional information.

Scripts

This section provides detailed lists of changes by script.

MCUboot

The MCUboot fork in nRF Connect SDK (sdk-mcuboot) contains all commits from the upstream MCUboot repository up to and including e86f575f68fdac2cab1898e0a893c8c6d8fd0fa1, plus some nRF Connect SDK specific additions.

The code for integrating MCUboot into nRF Connect SDK is located in the ncs/nrf/modules/mcuboot folder.

The following list summarizes both the main changes inherited from upstream MCUboot and the main changes applied to the nRF Connect SDK specific additions:

  • Added CONFIG_NRF53_ENFORCE_IMAGE_VERSION_EQUALITY to attach the dependencies between application and network core images. This option links the upgrade images in such a way that either both or none is applied.

  • Added support for the Dual-slot execute-in-place (XIP) feature in the nRF Connect SDK build system. See the ncs/nrf/tests/modules/mcuboot/direct_xip test project for an example of how to leverage this feature in your application.

  • Adapted boot_serial to Zephyr’s new CRC APIs (boot_serial implements the serial recovery).

  • Modified zephyr/boot_serial_extension to use BOOT_LOG instead of LOG_ (boot_serial_extension implements the serial recovery extension).

  • Loader was reworked so it allows larger minimum flash write size (was 8 B, now 32 B).

  • Added optional timeout to enter serial recovery for zephyr under boot_serial. See CONFIG_BOOT_SERIAL_WAIT_FOR_DFU.

  • Modified zephyr to use a smaller SHA-256 implementation.

  • Added support for the echo command to boot_serial. See CONFIG_BOOT_MGMT_ECHO.

  • Modified the single loader to fix image decryption for any SoC flash of the pages with size not fitting in 1024 B.

  • Removed deprecated DT_CHOSEN_ZEPHYR_FLASH_CONTROLLER_LABEL.

  • Fixed usage of CONFIG_LOG_IMMEDIATE.

Zephyr

The Zephyr fork in nRF Connect SDK (sdk-zephyr) contains all commits from the upstream Zephyr repository up to and including 53fbf40227de087423620822feedde6c98f3d631, plus some nRF Connect SDK specific additions.

For the list of upstream Zephyr commits (not including cherry-picked commits) incorporated into nRF Connect SDK since the most recent release, run the following command from the ncs/zephyr repository (after running west update):

git log --oneline 53fbf40227 ^45ef0d2

For the list of nRF Connect SDK specific commits, including commits cherry-picked from upstream, run:

git log --oneline manifest-rev ^53fbf40227

The current nRF Connect SDK main branch is based on revision 53fbf40227 of Zephyr.

cddl-gen/zcbor

Note

In March 2022, cddl-gen has been renamed to zcbor. zcbor is now provided through Zephyr instead of directly in nRF Connect SDK.

The zcbor module has been updated from version 0.3.0 to 0.4.0. Release notes for 0.4.0 can be found in ncs/nrf/modules/lib/zcbor/RELEASE_NOTES.md.

The following major changes have been implemented:

  • Renamed cddl-gen to zcbor throughout the repository.

  • Regenerated fmfu code from cddl.

  • Added Kconfig options to control the zcbor configuration options.

  • Updated tests to run with updated zcbor.

Trusted Firmware-M

  • Fixed:

    • NCSDK-13949 known issue where the TF-M secure image would copy FICR to RAM on the nRF9160 SiP.

    • NCSDK-12306 known issue where a usage fault would be triggered in the debug build on nRF9160 SiP.

    • NCSDK-14015 known issue that would cause crash during boot when the CONFIG_RPMSG_SERVICE Kconfig option is enabled on the nRF5340 SoC.

cJSON

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