Part: Nordic Semiconductor nRF52840 DK (PCA10056)

Type: Hardware Development Kit

Description: A hardware development platform for designing and developing application firmware on the nRF52840 and nRF52811 System on Chips, featuring a SEGGER J-Link OB Debugger, virtual serial port, and Mass Storage Device programming.

Operating Conditions:

• Supply voltage: 2.5–5.0 V (Li-Poly), 3.0–5.0 V (VIN), 5 V (USB), 1.7–3.6 V (nRF direct supply)
• Operating temperature: null
• Max power supply: < 15 W (PS1 class)

Absolute Maximum Ratings:

• Max supply voltage: 5 V (for onboard regulators), 3.6 V (for nRF direct supply)
• Max continuous current: null
• Max junction/storage temperature: null

Key Specs:

• Supported SoCs: nRF52840, nRF52811
• Debugger: SEGGER J-Link OB Debugger with debug out functionality
• Programming: Drag-and-drop Mass Storage Device (MSD) programming
• UART interface: Virtual serial port with flexible baud rate up to 1 Mbps (921 600 bps not supported)
• NFC support: NFC-A Listen Mode
• Power measurement: Pins for measuring power consumption
• I/O interface: Arduino form factor plug-in modules
• External memory: Flash memory

Features:

• nRF52840 flash-based Bluetooth® Low Energy and ANT™/ANT+™ SoC solution
• Support for nRF52840 and nRF52811 SoCs development
• Buttons and LEDs for user interaction
• I/O interface for Arduino form factor plug-in modules
• SEGGER J-Link OB Debugger with debug out functionality
• UART interface through a virtual serial port
• Flash memory
• Drag-and-drop Mass Storage Device (MSD) programming
• Support for NFC-A Listen Mode
• Pins for measuring power consumption

Applications:

• null

Package:

• Development Kit (PCA10056)

• nRF52840 flash-based Bluetooth® Low Energy and ANT™/ANT+™ SoC solution
• Support for nRF52840 and nRF52811 SoCs development
• Buttons and LEDs for user interaction
• I/O interface for Arduino form factor plug-in modules
• SEGGER J-Link OB Debugger with debug out functionality
• UART interface through a virtual serial port
• Flash memory
• Drag-and-drop Mass Storage Device (MSD) programming
• Support for NFC-A Listen Mode
• Pins for measuring power consumption

This Development Kit (DK) can be used to develop and test applications for the nRF52840 or nRF52811 SoCs.

For access to firmware source code, hardware schematics, and layout files, see www.nordicsemi.com.

Nordic Semiconductor products are not designed for use in life support appliances, devices, or systems where malfunction of these products can reasonably be expected to result in personal injury.

Nordic Semiconductor ASA customers using or selling these products for use in such applications do so at their own risk and agree to fully indemnify Nordic Semiconductor ASA for any damages resulting from such improper use or sale.

nRF52840-DK (PCA10056) Pinout

Note: The nRF52840-DK is a development board, not a discrete IC. The pinout information below describes the GPIO assignments and connector interfaces for the nRF52840 SoC on this board, extracted from the user guide. Pin numbers refer to nRF52840 SoC GPIO designations (P0.xx, P1.xx), not physical package pins. The board itself uses various connectors (P1–P24) to expose these signals.

nRF52840 SoC GPIO Assignments (as used on PCA10056)

Notes

• No physical package pinout provided: This is a development board user guide, not an IC datasheet. The GPIO assignments above are the SoC pin functions as implemented on the PCA10056 board.
• UART pins (P0.05–P0.08): Connected to the interface MCU. P0.05 (RTS) and P0.07 (CTS) can be repurposed when hardware flow control is disabled; controlled by switch SW7.
• External flash memory (P0.17, P0.19–P0.23): Default configuration uses these pins for a 64 Mbit QSPI flash. Can be reconfigured for GPIO use by cutting solder bridges SB10–SB15 and shorting SB20–SB25.
• NFC pins (P0.09–P0.10): Default function is NFC antenna interface; can be reassigned to GPIO if NFC is not needed.
• Button/LED alternatives: Buttons 1 and 2 have alternative pin assignments (P1.07, P1.08) via solder bridge configuration.
• Reset pin (P0.18): Must enable CONFIG_GPIO_AS_PINRESET in firmware for the IF Boot/Reset button (SW5) to function as a reset.
• Analog pins: P0.03, P0.04, P0.28–P0.31 support analog input and map to Arduino analog inputs A0–A5.
• Power measurement pins: P22 and P23 are designated for current measurement of the nRF52840 SoC.