Nordic Semiconductor's nRF21540 DB consists of the nRF21540 Development Kit (DK) and the nRF21540 Evaluation Kit (EK). The nRF21540 DK is the perfect tool for developing products that require the range extension capabilities or link budget improvements offered by the nRF21540 RF Front-end Module (FEM). nRF21540 EK can be connected to laboratory equipment via SMA connectors to monitor RF FEM performance.

     The nRF21540 DK from Nordic Semiconductor contains the nRF21540 RF FEM and features two antenna ports with chip antennas and additional SWF connectors for direct RF measurements. Dual antennas can be used in antenna diversity scenarios, such as Thread or Zigbee® (802.15.4) protocols, to reduce the multipath fading effect. RF FEM is connected to and controlled by nRF52840 Advanced multi-Protocol SoC that supports all Bluetooth 5 features, These features relate to Bluetooth Low Power (BLE), mesh networking protocols such as Bluetooth Mesh Networking, Thread, and Zigbee, and 2.4GHz proprietary protocols.

     The nRF21540 DK shares many similarities with the nRF52840 DK and contains an onboard Segger J-LINK debugger accessible via USB, four user programmable leds and four buttons, an NFC-A tag antenna connector, and current measuring pins. It is the perfect tool for real-world application performance testing using the extended range provided by nRF21540.

     On nRF21540 EK, RF FEM is connected to laboratory equipment or radio via SMA connectors. The gain control, antenna switching, and mode of the nRF21540 are controlled via GPIO or SPI, or a combination of both, accessible through an Arduino Uno Rev3 compatible connector. The shield also features two additional SMA connectors connected to the RF FEM's dual antenna ports to monitor RF FEM performance using whatever equipment is required