WiLink FAQ

Overview

Welcome to the WiLink™ FAQ! This is a collection of the most commonly asked questions on our forums. If you are wondering how to get started evaluating WiLink™ 8 or you are currently having issues, you are in the right place.

Please note that this FAQ is always changing. We appreciate your feedback on broken links or missing information on this FAQ or on any other WiLink™ collateral.

How do I get started with WiLink™?

To get started evaluating WiLink™ 8, please choose a platform:

• Linux platforms:

TI (AM335x/437x/57x or J6) and other (including i.MX6, BeagleBone, etc.): http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/WiLink8_Linux_Getting_Started_Guide

• Non-Linux operating systems:

Please refer to the MCP page for the baseline WiLink™ 8 driver: http://www.ti.com/tool/wilink8-wifi-mcp8

For help on non-Linux development, please contact the respective third party listed on the MCP page above.

Once your platform is set up, get started with some demos (Linux): http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/WiLink8_Linux_Getting_Started_Guide#Demos

Resources

• For general information about WiLink™ 8 and the different chip flavors, please visit: www.ti.com/wilink

• For WiLink™ 8 technical documents such as application notes and white papers, please visit: http://www.ti.com/product/WL1837MOD/technicaldocuments

• For links to WiLink™ 8 tools, software and reference designs, please visit: http://www.ti.com/product/WL1837MOD/toolssoftware

• For additional information on WiLink™ 8 that was not previously mentioned, please visit the WiLink™ wiki hub, located at: http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/WL18xx_Overview

Order Hardware

Choose a hardware combination below to get started evaluating:

1. AM335x EVM/ AM437x SK/ AM57x EVM + WL183xMODCOM8

2. BeagleBone Black + StreamUnlimited audio cape [orderable through StreamUnlimited]

3. J6 / J6 Eco + WiLink™ 8 COM8Q [Automotive]

4. i.MX6 + WL183xMODCOM8 + SDMMC Adapter

5. RF Evaluation only using Windows PC : WL183xMODCOM8 + SDMMC Adapter

NOTE: For a list of third-party System-on-Modules which include the processor (Sitara, Freescale, Xilinx, etc.) on-board with the WiLink™ module, please see the following pdf: https://gforge.ti.com/gf/download/docmanfileversion/652/7929/WiLink%e2%84%a28%20SoM%20Partners.pdf

General questions

1. What are the supported operating systems?
TI offers drivers for high-level operating systems such as Linux® and Android™.

Additional drivers, such as WinCE and RTOS which includes WinCE, QNX, Nucleus, ThreadX, FreeRTOS, uC, MQX, RTX, and uITRON are supported through third parties.

For more information on the baseline driver and third parties that support other operating systems, please visit: http://www.ti.com/tool/wilink8-wifi-mcp8

2. Which host platforms have been tested with WiLink™ 8?
AM335x EVM, AM437x EVM, AM57x EVM, BeagleBone classic and black, i.MX6 solo, i.MX6 Dual, Avnet Zedboard, Clarinox Koala EVM, and more.

3. How do I integrate the TI WiLink™ 8 module on my PCB?
Please refer to the Hardware Integration Guide for pin descriptions, power requirements, layout and antenna recommendations and even a schematic checklist that makes sure everything is covered.

You can also see the Platform Integration GuidePlatform Integration Guide for information on configuring your kernel for your board.

4. What are the available antenna configurations on the WL18x7MOD?
There are two antennas available on the WL18x7MOD series. Below is a brief description of the capabilities of each antenna:

• ANT1:

• Bluetooth®/BLE (WL183xMOD only)
• WLAN 2.4 GHz main antenna (11b, 11g, 11n)
• WLAN 5 GHz main antenna (duplexed)

• ANT2:

• WLAN 2.4 GHz MIMO only (MCS12-MCS15 rates)
• WLAN MRC for 11g/11n
• WLAN 5 GHz diversity antenna

For more information on the module flavors, please visit: www.ti.com/wilink

5. How do I measure Wi-Fi® and/or Bluetooth® RF performance?
For Wi-Fi® RF performance evaluation and testing, please visit the following wikis:

• For TX testing: http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/WL18xx_TX_Testing
• For RX testing: http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/WL18xx_RX_Testing
• For other configurations/testing: http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/WL18xx_Testing_Misc_Commands
• For testing Wi-Fi® throughput: http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/WLAN_Throughput_Test

For Bluetooth® RF performance measurement such as TX/RX, BER, etc., please visit the following wiki: http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/WL18xx_Bluetopia_PM_Bluetooth_RF_Testing

6. Can WiLink™ 8 be used for wireless audio applications?
Absolutely! TI has partnered with third parties to create a wireless audio streaming solution, which is enabled by WiLink™ 8 features such as precise time synchronization and antenna diversity.

• For more information on our multi-room wireless audio streaming TI design, please visit: http://www.ti.com/tool/TIDC-WL1837MOD-AUDIO-MULTIROOM-CAPE

• For more information on WiLink™ 8 5GHz Antenna Diversity, please visit: http://www.ti.com/lit/swaa161
• For more information on WiLink™ 8 time synchronization, please visit: http://www.ti.com/lit/swaa162

7. Can Wi-Fi® and Bluetooth®/BLE run at the same time?
The Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radios use the same 2.4GHz antenna (ANT1) on WiLink™ 8, which means that transmissions are time-multiplexed. This still allows the user to have a seamless experience when using Wi-Fi® and Bluetooth at the same time (i.e. A2DP audio + Wi-Fi® download for example).

For more information on the coexistence mechanism and throughput characteristics when using Wi-Fi and Bluetooth®/BLE at the same time, please see the WiLink™ 8 Software Specification Guide.

8. How do I get started with WiLink™ 8 + an MCU?
TI provides a baseline driver for WiLink™ 8 for use on non-Linux platforms. The WiLink™ 8 software drivers are a part of the mainline Linux kernel.

There is also a third party, Clarinox, which has a solution on an MCU + RTOS, please contact them for more information.

Certification

1. How can I re-use TI regulatory certification (FCC/IC/ETSI/JP) including Class 1 and Class 2 permissive changes?
Please visit the TI certification wiki: http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/WL18xxMOD_Regulatory_Product_Certification

2. Where can I find TI WiLink™ 8 module regulatory and Bluetooth® SIG certificates?
The certificates can be found on the following wiki: http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/WL18xxMOD_Certificates

3. Where can I find the TI WiLink™ 8 module regulatory certification results?
http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/WL18xxMOD_Certification_Reports

4. Where can I find the official .INI files?
https://git.ti.com/wilink8-wlan/18xx-ti-utils/trees/master/wlconf/official_inis

Wi-Fi®

1. Which features are supported on WiLink™ 8?
For a complete list of features and specification details supported on WiLink™ 8 modules, please see the Software Specification guide: http://www.ti.com/lit/swru423

Please note that the features in this document may not be enabled in an outdated software version. For information on the features supported on your firmware version, visit this wiki.

2. Which IEEE standards are currently supported on WiLink™ 8?
WiLink™ 8 supports IEEE 802.11abgn.

There are currently no plans to support 802.11ac or 802.11ad in our roadmap.

3. How do I check which versions of WiLink™ drivers and firmware I have?
To find out the version of WiLink™ firmware (usually named wl18xx-fw-x.bin), type the following command into the Sitara serial terminal once booted and logged in as root:

grep Rev /lib/firmware/ti-connectivity/wl18xx-fw-4.bin

Assuming the ./build_wl18xx.sh script was used to configure the WiLink driver: To find out the WiLink™ software driver version (usually named R8.x), type the following command into the Sitara serial terminal once booted and logged in as root:

• For R8.6:

strings /lib/modules/{kernel version}/updates/drivers/net/wireless/ti/wl18xx/wl18xx.ko | grep 'ol_r8\|Build-' -m1

• For R8.6 SP1:

strings /lib/modules/{kernel version}/updates/drivers/net/wireless/ti/wl18xx/wl18xx.ko | grep 'R8.\|Build-' -m1

For more information on this, please visit the following wiki: http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/WL18xx_Driver_Debug#Driver_version

4. How do I update my WiLink™ software to the latest?

WiLink™ software consists of two components: the firmware (wl18xx-fw-x.bin) and the software driver (NLCP Rx.x). Both must be updated to the latest releases.

• For firmware:

Download the latest firmware from git, https://git.ti.com/wilink8-wlan/wl18xx_fw/, and replace the current firmware file in your filesystem (i.e. for Sitara, it is located in /lib/firmware/ti-connectivity/wl18xx-fw-4.bin).

• For software driver:

The latest WiLink™ 8 software release is R8.6. To upgrade your driver, please follow the steps outlined in the Wi-Fi® system build scripts.

For more information on the NLCP release, visit: http://software-dl.ti.com/ecs/WiLink8/latest/index_FDS.html

5. How do I subscribe to the new software release alerts (including driver, firmware and tools)?
Please visit the WiLink™ 8 software page, and subscribe to the relevant software packages with the AlertMe button.

6. How do I configure specific parameters such as how many antennas to use, SISO20/40, etc?
Wlconf is a tool that is used to configure the WLAN parameters on the WiLink™ chip. It sets the initial PHY system configuration parameters upon startup, and it is also used for debugging.

Once you boot your board for the first time, you are required to run a script to configure the chip properly. Running this script with the proper information of the device in use (i.e. chip flavor, number of antennas and etc.) will generate the correct wl18xx-conf.bin file.

For a full description of the script, please see the wlconf manual: http://www.ti.com/lit/swra489

As an example, you can run the script, answer the questions with the information of the device in use to configure it as follows:

cd /usr/sbin/wlconf
./configure-device.sh

7. How do I configure features such as Zigbee® coexistence and/or audio synchronization?
Configuring these features can be done through the wlconf utility, as described in Section 3 of the wlconf manual.

As an example, you can enable zigbee as follows:

cd /usr/share/wl18xx
./wlconf-toggle-set.sh /lib/firmware/ti-connectivity/wl18xx-conf.bin zigbee 1

NOTE: Make sure you configure the device first with the configure-device.sh script, and that your software is up to date (R8.6+).

8. How do I dump wlconf for debugging?
Wlconf can be dumped by running the following commands while booted and logged in as root:

cd /usr/sbin/wlconf
./wlconf -i $binary_name --get > wl18xx-conf-dump.txt

Or, an alternative option:

cd /usr/sbin/wlconf
./configure-device.sh -dump

For more information, please see the wlconf manual: http://www.ti.com/lit/an/swra489/swra489.pdf

9. How do I measure Wi-Fi® throughput?
Wi-Fi® throughput can be measured using a software utility called iperf. For more information on how to setup iPerf, visit the wiki.

10. Are there simple Wi-Fi® demos for connecting to a secure/unsecure AP, P2P mode, multirole, etc.?
Yes! Please visit this wiki.

11. How many stations can connect to a WiLink™ 8 SoftAP?
Up to 10. The same applies for P2P Group Owner (P2P GO).

12. How do I view the firmware logs for WLAN?
The WiLink™ 8 module hardware includes a pin dedicated to WLAN firmware logging called WLAN_UART_DBG (1.8V). This pin can be connected to a Serial -> USB cable to your computer.

In order to read the output of the pin, the TI Wireless Tools software package includes a WLAN firmware logging software called “gLogger”.

• To download gLogger, please visit the TI Wireless Tools download page: http://www.ti.com/tool/wilink-bt_wifi-wireless_tools.
• For more information on configuring gLogger, please see the User’s guide: http://www.ti.com/lit/swru435

NOTE: When making a custom board, make sure to route the WLAN firmware logger pin, at least to a test point.

13. How can I just evaluate the RF performance of WiLink™ 8 (using a dedicated RF evaluation tool)?
The Wireless Tools software package provided by TI contains software tools for evaluating the WLAN and Bluetooth®/BLE performance using a Windows PC, without the need of an embedded host processor and operating system.

To get started: 1. Getting Started Guide 2. Purchase the following kit: WL183xMODCOM8 + SDMMC Adapter 3. Download the Wireless Tools software: http://www.ti.com/tool/wilink-bt_wifi-wireless_tools 4. Use RTTT for WLAN evaluation or HCITester for Bluetooth®/BLE evaluation.

14. How do I connect to the WLAN RS232 interface?
The WLAN RS232 interface is used for debug including read/write of registers, and can be enabled by pulling up the WL_IRQ at power-on. This enables RTTT operational mode, which means the device will load its firmware from the RS232 interface rather than the SDIO interface.

For more information, see the RTTT User’s Guide.

15. How do I build the Device Tree file (DTS) for a custom board?
You can check the Platform Integration Guide for information on configuring your kernel for your board.

Bluetooth® / Bluetooth Low Energy

1. How do I get started with Bluetooth?

If you are using the Processor SDK for Sitara, please note that the TI Bluetooth stack must be loaded separately, as it is not part of the Processor SDK release.

• For bringing up TI Bluetooth stack on Linux: http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php?title=TI_Bluetooth_Stack_for_WL18xx_-_Getting_Started_Guide

• For Bluetooth demos: http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/TI_Bluetooth_Stack_for_WL18xx_-_Demo_Guide

2. What is the supported Bluetooth stack and version?
At this time, TI provides support through the E2E forums for the TI Bluetooth Stack, which is based on the Bluetopia® stack. The WiLink™ 8 chipset supports BT 4.1.

3. Is the BlueZ stack supported?
The WiLink™ 8 chip series supports BlueZ as part of the native Linux® support, but the TI Dual-Mode Bluetooth® Stack (based on Bluetopia®) is the recommended one by TI that is officially supported on the WiLink™ E2E forums.

For help on the BlueZ stack, please visit: http://www.bluez.org/development/lists/

4. Which Bluetooth profiles are supported?
The supported Bluetooth® and Bluetooth Smart profiles on Linux are listed on the features section of the stack add-on page here: http://www.ti.com/tool/ti-bt-stack-linux-addon

For more information on the TI Bluetooth Stack that is supported on WiLink™ devices, click here: http://www.ti.com/tool/tibluetoothstack-sdk

5. How many Bluetooth Smart connections can you have at the same time?
Up to 10

6. How many Bluetooth® Classic connections can you have at the same time?
As a master, you can be connected to up to 7 slaves. As a slave, you can be connected to up to 2 masters (or, in other words, a part of two different piconets).

7. How do I measure Bluetooth® RF performance?
Please visit the following wiki: http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/WL18xx_Bluetopia_PM_Bluetooth_RF_Testing

8. How do I set output power for Bluetooth®/Bluetooth Smart?
You can set output power using the vendor-specific command “HCI_VS_DRPb_Set_Power_Vector” using either HCITester tool (Windows PC) or SS1Tool (Linux host).

For more information on the command, click here: http://www.ti.com/lit/swru442 To download HCITester tool for Windows, click here: http://www.ti.com/tool/wilink-bt_wifi-wireless_tools

9. How do I view the firmware logs for Bluetooth?
The WiLink hardware includes a pin dedicated to Bluetooth® firmware logging called BT_UART_DBG (1.8V). This pin can be connected to a Serial -> USB cable to your computer.

In order to read the output of the pin, the TI Wireless Tools software package includes a Bluetooth® firmware logging software called “Logger”. To download Logger, please visit the TI Wireless Tools download page: http://www.ti.com/tool/wilink-bt_wifi-wireless_tools. For more information on configuring Logger, please see the User’s guide: http://www.ti.com/lit/swau058

NOTE: When making a custom board, make sure to route the Bluetooth® firmware logger pin, at least to a test point.