WL18xx Audio Demo Kit QuickStart Guide

What is TI Audio Demo Kit ?

TI WiLink™ 8 Audio Demo kit is designed to demonstrate Audio solution offered by Texas Instruments in partnership with Stream Unlimited (SU). This Kit includes pair of BeagleBone Black boards (Sitara AM335x Host) and Stream Unlimited Multi Room WL1837MOD (http://www.ti.com/lsds/ti/wireless_connectivity/wilink/products.page) cape connected to Stereo speakers. Audio solution features ultra-precise audio sync , Multi Room feature, Airplay , support for online music services, UPnP etc.

What is included in TI Audio Kit ?

Hardware

• Audio kit board with BeagleBone Black (2), SU cape with TI WL1837MOD (2), Stereo Speakers (2)
• FTDI cable for debugging (1)
• AC Power Adapter (1)

Software

• Pre-Flashed SD cards with Linux SDK inserted in both BeagleBones
• Audio Android App ( contact TI Team to get access to the App )

TI Audio demo Kit Features

Some of the features are listed below:

• Full Audio Streaming Stack
• GStreamer support
• Airplay audio receiver
• Audio Multi Room Feature
• Rich set of supported online music services ex: Spotify etc.
• Unique high-precision synchronization between multiple speakers
• Stereo ADC and DAC
• IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n supported : 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands supported

and much more..

Configuring TI Audio demo kit

Pre-installs/Prerequisites

• Install Audio App on an Android device ( contact TI Team to get access to the App )
• Apple device to test AirPlay
• Hotspot/AP with internet access to test online music services

Powering up the Audio Kit

• Power lines for both BeagleBone Black boards are shorted. Power up the boards using the AC Power Adapter included in the kit.

Audio Kit Provisioning

• Audio kit needs to be provisioned i.e. both speakers need to be connected to a WiFi network
• Prior to provisioning , both speakers will come up as Access points with SSID: softap_xxxxxxxxxxxx
• Since the audio kit has 2 speakers, 2 Access Points will come up with SSID softap_xxxxxxxxxxxx
• Audio kits can be provisioned in multiple ways : Using Audio Android App, using web browser on PC/Handheld device or by using Apple device

Option 1 : Audio Kit Provisioning using Audio App on Android Device

• Make sure Audio App is installed on an Android device

• As explained above, both speakers on audio kit come up as Access Points prior to provisioning. Connect Android device to softap_xxxxxxxxxxxx . No password needed

• Start Audio Android App . It will automatically discover the speaker

• Select the speaker and go to Settings->Network Wizard->Configure Wireless->Scan . Wait for few seconds for it to list the available WiFi networks. In case desired network is not on the list, scan again.

• Select the desired WiFi network, enter the password and press Connect

• Speaker will connect to the selected WiFi network. At this point speaker will shut down it's Access point (hence Android phone will loose connection to it).
• Connect the Android device to same network as the just provisioned speaker and restart Audio Android App

• Repeat the above steps for the second speaker on demo kit

Option 2 : Audio Kit Provisioning using Apple Device (iPhone etc.)

• Audio kit consists of 2 BeagleBone+capes+speakers , One or both should have Apple MFi authentication PCB (shown below) used for Apple Wireless Accessory Configuration (WAC) authentication.

• Connect Apple device to desired WiFi network. Both 802.11 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands are supported. On Apple device go to Settings->WiFi . Under section SET UP NEW AIRPLAY SPEAKER bbb-wl8-xxxxxxxxxxxx should be listed as shown below. Click on it, then click on Next. Apple device will show the status while speaker connects to the selected WiFi network. It should take only a few seconds .Click on Done after kit connects to the desired network successfully.

Option 3 : Audio kit Provisioning using Web Browser on PC / Handheld Device

• As explained above, both speakers on audio kit come up as Access Points prior to provisioning. Connect PC to softap_xxxxxxxxxxxx . No password needed

• Using PC web browser , go to IP address 192.168.200.1 and click on the icon shown below

• Go to Settings->Network Wizard->Configure Wireless->Scan . Wait for few seconds for it to list the available WiFi networks. In case desired network is not on the list, scan again.

• Select the desired WiFi network, enter the password, click ok and then Connect

• Speaker will connect to the selected WiFi network. After successful provisioning, speaker will shut down it's Access point (hence PC will loose connection to it).
• To access the newly provisioned speaker, connect PC to same WiFi network and enter speaker's new ip address in web browser
• Repeat the above steps for the second speaker on demo kit

Audio Kit De-Provisioning

Audio kit speakers can be De-Provisioned i.e. speakers disconnect from current WiFi network and bring up their Access Points for provisioning .

De-Provisioning using Audio App

• Start Audio Android App
• Go to Settings->Network Wizard->Configure Wireless->Manual, delete the SSID( make sure the field is blank) and click on Static Connect

• Speaker will disconnect from current WiFi network and start it's Access Point
• If needed, repeat the same procedure for the second speaker

De-Provisioning using command Line

In case FTDI cable ( consult Troubleshooting ) is connected to Audio Kit, run following command to delete the settings (including provisioning)

• rm -r /media/settings/settings/*

OR

 rm -r /settings/*

• Restart the Audio kit. After re-start, Audio kit will bring up it's Access Point and is ready to be provisioned.

Playing Music on Audio Demo kit

Airplay

• Make sure Audio kit is configured ( consult section Configuring TI Audio Demo Kit). BeagleBone+cape+Speaker with Apple MFi sub PCB can be used as Airplay Receiver.
• Make sure Apple device ( iPhone etc. ) and the speaker (with MFi) are on the same WiFi network
• Go to Airplay option ( ex: swipe from the bottom of the screen).

• Click on Airplay section. speaker should be listed as bbb-wl8-xxxxxxxxxxxx. Select it and click on Done.

• Speaker is now configured to work as Airplay receiver

Playing Audio using Android App (UPnP, online music services etc.)

• Make sure Audio kit is configured ( consult section Configuring TI Audio Demo Kit)
• Make sure Android device is on same WiFi network as Audio kit speakers
• Start Audio Android App. It will discover available compatible speakers automatically. In case more than one speakers are listed, select any one speaker

• Certain music services/protocols can be tested using this app - UPnP, TuneIn, VTuner etc. Internet is needed for online music services. Services such as SiriusXM, Rhapsody etc. are supported but cannot be tested since they need authentication test keys from respective service providers

Spotify Connect

• Audio kit is spotify connect enabled. Select the speaker from the available list and play audio

Audio Multi Room

Audio Multi Room is an advanced feature where audio playback is synchronized between multiple speakers. TI and Stream Audio solution offers ultra-precise sync between multiple speakers. Steps to test Multi Room:

• Make sure Audio kit is configured ( consult section Configuring TI Audio Demo Kit)
• Make sure Android device is connected to same Access Point as the speakers
• Launch Audio Android App. It should discover available speakers automatically. Since Audio kit consists of 2 speakers, both should be listed by the Audio App
• Drag one speaker on another to enable Multi Room Feature.

• Click on master speaker (speaker that was NOT dragged) and play audio using UPnP, VTuner or TuneIn to test Multi Room. Both speakers should play audio simultaneously in synchronization .

Google Cast Audio

User can play music using Google cast on TI Audio Kit.

• Google cast feature is being integrated with Audio Multi Room image - in the interim a separate image is provided to test this feature. Please be sure to put Google Cast image on "new" micro SD card instead of the existing micro SD card that holds the Multi Room image
• This feature requires authentication from TI partner Stream Unlimited servers - please be sure to provide your board eth0 and wlan0 MAC addresses to TI .
• Make sure Audio kit is configured ( consult section Configuring TI Audio Demo Kit).
• Make sure Android device is connected to same WiFi network as the Audio Kit speaker
• On Android Device, Launch an application (such as Pandora, TuneIn) that supports Google Cast
• Click on the below icon on Google cast enabled application - it will list all Google Cast enabled devices in the network . TI Audio kit speaker should be listed as "Stream Unlimitedxxx"

• Click on "Stream Unlimitedxxx" - After successful connection, Google cast icon on the Android device application should change

• Speaker is now configured to work as Google Cast Audio receiver

Bluetooth A2DP and WiFi Multi Room

User can play music using Bluetooth A2DP and at the same time playback same music in synchronization (using WiFi) on multiple speakers

• Make sure Audio kit is configured ( consult section Configuring TI Audio Demo Kit)
• Make sure device running Audio App is connected to the same WiFi network as the Audio Kit speaker/s
• Start Audio Android App . It will automatically discover the speaker. Select the speaker that needs to be provisioned as A2DP sink and go to Bluetooth menu. This will make this Bluetooth speaker discoverable

• Switch on Bluetooth on phone/tablet and search for nearby Blueooth devices. Audio kit Speaker will be listed as bbb-wl8-xxxxxxxxxxxx. Click on it and connect.

• Speaker is now configured to play music using A2DP
• In case user intends to play same music on multiple speakers , follow section Audio Multi Room)

Troubleshooting

How many APs should i see when audio kit boots up?

2 since audio kit has 2 speakers

I cannot find softap_xxxxxxxxxxxx when audio Kit comes up ?

• Try restarting the board
• Make sure BeagleBone Black is not connected to LAN over Ethernet. SDK software will not start soft APs if valid Ethernet connection is detected.
• In case speakers are connected to a WiFi network , De-provision the speakers and restart

Can I capture BeagleBone Black serial logs ?

Yes. 1 FTDI cable is included in the audio kit. In case you need to capture logs, connect it to BeagleBone Black as shown below. Serial port settings: baud rate 115200 , no Flow control , Parity none, Data 8 bit . Login - username: root , no password

How do I know speakers are connected to the WiFi network ?

Launch Audio Android App - It should discover the connected speakers automatically

I cannot hear any audio from Speakers ?

Make sure speaker cable is inserted into cape AUX OUT. Also, make sure both speakers are powered up ( they have ON/OFF button on them) and volume wheel on speakers in not set to minimum.

Do the speakers connect to same WiFi network after power cycle or do they need to be provisioned every time ?

Speakers remember the previously provisioned network. They will connect to the same WiFi network automatically after Power cycle. In case speakers cannot find the network , they will start soft AP after timeout.

I am not able to test online music services such as SiriusXM ?

Such services require pre-installed test keys from service provider. This kit doesn't have it installed yet, but rest-assured these are supported and tested on TI/SU audio offering

Can I re-flash/update image on micro SD cards included with the kit?

Absolutely . Demo image binary is uploaded on TI drop box and you may request access to it. All future drops will be uploaded as and when available. Steps to flash image:

• Download flash tool : http://sourceforge.net/projects/win32diskimager/
• Get 2GB Micro SD Card
• Flash *.img using flash tool

Abbreviations

WL1837MOD TI WiLink™ 1837 Module (http://www.ti.com/lsds/ti/wireless_connectivity/wilink/products.page)

SU Stream Unlimited

ADC Analog-to-Digital converter

DAC Digital-to-Analog converter

MFi Made for iPhone