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wl18xx to use both antennas for 2.4GHz

Other Parts Discussed in Thread: WL1835, WL1837MOD

Hi,

We are trying to get the wl18xx (wl1835) to use both antennas for 2.4 GHz WLAN.
The board has 2 antennas for 2.4 GHZ, none for 5 GHz.

When ever we connect using a SISO device, only ANT1 is used. We've tested with wl18xx.ht.mode = 0x00 (MIMO) and wl18xx.ht.mode = 0x02 (SISO20).

Is it possible to get the two antennas to work together so that the module always uses the antenna with the best signal ?
- in other words, we are not interrested in multiple streams (MIMO), but one stream (SISO) from the antenna with the best signal.

Thank you.
BR, David

  • Hi David,

    Can you try setting number of 2.4GHz antennae to 2 and SISO.

    Try the attached script and run on the target (remove the .txt extension) which takes as an argument the device version

    ./configure-device.sh wl1835

    Iain

  • Hi Iain,

    Thank you.

    I've run the script and generated a _new_ conf file. Below is the difference to my current config. When I get to work tomorrow I'll modify it to be wl18xx.ht.mode = 0x02 (SISO20) and try this setup.

    Thanks,
    David

    diff /misc/wl18xx-conf-my.bin.txt /misc/wl18xx-conf-ti.bin.txt
    --- /misc/wl18xx-conf-my.bin.txt
    +++ /misc/wl18xx-conf-ti.bin.txt
    @@ -372,15 +372,15 @@
     core.hangover.window_size = 0x10
     core.recovery.bug_on_recovery = 0x00
     core.recovery.no_recovery = 0x00
    -wl18xx.ht.mode = 0x02
    +wl18xx.ht.mode = 0x00
     wl18xx.phy.phy_standalone = 0x00
     wl18xx.phy.spare0 = 0x08
     wl18xx.phy.enable_clpc = 0x00
     wl18xx.phy.enable_tx_low_pwr_on_siso_rdl = 0x00
     wl18xx.phy.auto_detect = 0x00
     wl18xx.phy.dedicated_fem = 0x00
    -wl18xx.phy.low_band_component = 0x02
    -wl18xx.phy.low_band_component_type = 0x04
    +wl18xx.phy.low_band_component = 0xff
    +wl18xx.phy.low_band_component_type = 0x05
     wl18xx.phy.high_band_component = 0x01
     wl18xx.phy.high_band_component_type = 0x09
     wl18xx.phy.number_of_assembled_ant2_4 = 0x02
    @@ -407,15 +407,15 @@
     wl18xx.phy.primary_clock_setting_time = 0x05
     wl18xx.phy.clock_valid_on_wake_up = 0x00
     wl18xx.phy.secondary_clock_setting_time = 0x05
    -wl18xx.phy.board_type = 0x02
    +wl18xx.phy.board_type = 0x04
     wl18xx.phy.psat = 0x00
    -wl18xx.phy.low_power_val = 0x08
    -wl18xx.phy.med_power_val = 0x12
    -wl18xx.phy.high_power_val = 0x18
    +wl18xx.phy.low_power_val = 0xff
    +wl18xx.phy.med_power_val = 0xff
    +wl18xx.phy.high_power_val = 0xff
     wl18xx.phy.per_sub_band_tx_trace_loss = 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00
     wl18xx.phy.per_sub_band_rx_trace_loss = 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00
     wl18xx.phy.tx_rf_margin = 0x01
    -wl18xx.phy.low_power_val_2nd = 0x05
    -wl18xx.phy.med_power_val_2nd = 0x0a
    -wl18xx.phy.high_power_val_2nd = 0x14
    +wl18xx.phy.low_power_val_2nd = 0xff
    +wl18xx.phy.med_power_val_2nd = 0xff
    +wl18xx.phy.high_power_val_2nd = 0xff
     wl18xx.phy.padding = 0x00

    Iain

  • I've tested using the new configuration file today - only change: wl18xx.ht.mode = 0x02.

    Behaviour is the same as before:
    * TX: only takes place one antenna.
    * RX: I have not determined if RX is done on one or both antennas (but as far as I can tell the module should be using MRC = both antennas for RX due to wl18xx.ht.mode=2 and wl18xx.phy.number_of_assembled_ant2_4=0x02.

    Is the output of the script you provided the values recommended by TI to use for wl1835?

    /David

  • Hi again,

    Just a follow up question.

    Per another answer in this forum, the WL8_System_parameters.ini has the correct values, and that shall be used. Ref.: http://e2e.ti.com/support/wireless_connectivity/f/307/p/361475/1270081.aspx

    The script you provided sets wl18xx.phy.low_band_component = 0xff (instead of 0x02 in WL8_System_parameters.ini).

    Can you explain why that is?

    /David

  • Hi David,

    wl18xx.phy.low_band_component should be set as 0x2
    If you check the configure-device.sh script from the git, you can see that this parameter has been updated to "0x2"

    Regards,
    Gigi Joseph.

  • Hi Gigi,

    Thank you!

    BR, David

  • David,

    Did changing the ht mode and low band component fix your problem? I'm having the same issue but low+band_component is already at 0x02.

    Thanks,

    Kaitlyn
  • Hi Kaitlyn,

    Can you please post a new query and give the below details:

    ***
    * Host platform (Sitara EVM, BeagleBone, etc.)
    * If TI Sitara, which SDK version is being used?
    * Operating system (Linux, Android, etc.)
    * WiLink™ flavor (WL1837MOD, etc.)
    * Module vendor, if any (TI, Jorjin, Murata, etc.)
    * WiLink™ firmware version (click here for more information)
    * WiLink software driver version (R8.5/6/7)
    * Any applicable logs including Wireshark sniffer logs, WLAN firmware (gLogger), BT firmware (logger), kernel logs, wlconf dump, supplicant logs
    ***

    Regards,
    Gigi Joseph.
  • Hi Kaitlyn,

    If you mean getting both antennas to be used for SISO, the answer is no, it is always using the same antenna for TX.

    BR, David