WL1801MOD: Evaluation environment with WILINK8-WIFI-MCP8

Hello,

For evaluation, I would recommend the beaglebone black (am335x based) and element 14 wilink board. We have direct instructions on how to use the wilink driver (NLCP) for evaluation with this exact hardware setup. 

https://www.element14.com/community/docs/DOC-79264/l/wireless-connectivity-cape-for-beaglebone-black 

Is MCP8 required for this application? 

Hi Sabeeh,

Thank you for your clarification.

I shared your comments with customer. It seems customer plans to use WILINK8-WIFI-MCP8.

I received further question. Customer wants to confirm non-modulated CW and RF-Power level.

If customer’s MCU/MPU side supports calibration/wfconf commands, we believe customer is able to confirm them.   (https://www.ti.com/lit/ug/swru562/swru562.pdf ). Is my understanding correct? if so, I'll share this document information

Also, I noticed that customer is able to use RTTT( https://www.ti.com/lit/pdf/SWAU085E )  as well. Is this tool still available?

If customer wants to use RTTT, customer should connect GPIO1(WL_RS232_TX)/GPIO2(WL_RS232_RX) of WL1801MOD to PC. Is that correct?

It will be appreciated if you will share your expert’s advice/comments.

Best regards,

Miyazaki

Hello Miyazakisan,

The RTTT and the software is still available for use, you can find it here: https://www.ti.com/tool/WILINK-BT_WIFI-WIRELESS_TOOLS 

Please note that the calibration and wlconf tools that you are sharing are included in NLCP.

As for MCP8, I do not believe the same tools are available, but I can check if you wish. There are some modes of RTTT that are directly linked to NLCP and not MCP8. These are reasons why I believe NLCP is a better fit.  

Hi Sabeeh,

Thank you for your advice/comments.

Customer decided to use RTTT, and, they are starting to evaluate “non-modulated CW / RF-Power level”. Customer tried to look for WK1801MOD_INI file, however, they was not able to find it.

I also checked the following URL, but,  I’m not sure if customer can use WL1837MOD_INI or not. Can I have further advice, please?

https://git.ti.com/cgit/wilink8-wlan/18xx-ti-utils/tree/wlconf/official_inis?h=R8.6

Regarding firmware, I believe customer can use the following the latest firmware.

https://git.ti.com/cgit/wilink8-wlan/wl18xx_fw/log/

best regards,

Miyazaki

Hi Miyazakisan,

In the same repository you linked, there is a configure-device.sh script that can be used to determine which INI should be used. However, there is a newer branch:

https://git.ti.com/cgit/wilink8-wlan/18xx-ti-utils/tree/wlconf/configure-device.sh?h=R8.8 

This script is already found in the wlconf folder. You can read more about the script in section 4.1 of the Wilink R8.8 User guide;

https://www.ti.com/lit/swru561 

Hi Sabeeh,

Thank you for your clarification.

Since customer is using WL1801MOD, I believe customer should use /usr/sbin/wlconf/official_inis/WL1835MOD_INI_C2PC.ini file. But, I’m not sure if WL1835MOD_INI_C2PC.ini is same as WL1835MOD_INI.ini on git server( https://git.ti.com/cgit/wilink8-wlan/18xx-ti-utils/tree/wlconf/official_inis?h=R8.6 ).

Would you think it is same?

Customer decided to use RTTT, first of all.

Best regards,

Miyazaki

I assume they are different so I will ask the hardware team what is the correct certification to use, but regardless, I strongly recommend using the latest branch revision (R8.8, not R8.6 as you have linked). 

Furthermore, please run the configure-device.sh script from R8.8. It will automatically choose the correct INI. 

If running the script is not possible,  you can open the file and read through the code to see which it is selecting based off user inputs. 

Hi Sabeeh,

Thank you for your advice.

I tried to read this script-code and I found out that customer should use WL1835MOD_INI_C2PC.ini file.  Since this file is stored in the following latest R8.8 folder. I will share this information with customer.

https://git.ti.com/cgit/wilink8-wlan/18xx-ti-utils/tree/wlconf/official_inis?h=R8.8

Meanwhile, customer tried WL1835MOD_INI.ini file, however, it seems the following Error Pop-up dialog appears. I don’t believe this error is related to INI file.

How would you think about this error?

Can I have your further advice/comments on this error, please?

Best regards,

Miyazaki

Hi Sabeeh,

Customer noticed, an error occurred because the external MCU seemed to access to WL1801MOD. So, customer confirmed RTTT tool can access to WL1801MOD directly.

Thank you for your supports.

Since we received other inquiry about RTTT, I’ll submit new thread.

Best regards,

Miyazaki