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CC3220MOD: CC3220MOD

Neeraj Sallh
Intellectual 685 points
Part Number: CC3220MOD
Other Parts Discussed in Thread: CC3120

We want to use an external MCU (Host MCU) with the TI product(s).  Two TI products are being considered - CC3220 and CC3120.

After what I have read it appears that using CC3120 will be a better choice.  I needed to ask this because directly nowhere in the documentation of CC3220 is it mentioned that simply CC3120 is the part that gives CC3220 the Wi-Fi and Network Processor capability.  The CC3220 documentation dwells only on how the Cortex M4 MCU is integrated with a Wi-Fi and Networking processor, without naming this "Wi-Fi + NWP" block.

The reference is indirect as in:

  1. The document swru455d.pdf (which is Programmer's Guide for CC3120 and CC3220 ) doesn't have a block diagram to this effect.
  2. The document swra502.pdf which about power management.  Here in the section 3.1 the Main Block diagrams of CC3220 and CC3120 clarify the relation between the two.

Suggestion: So if somehow the documentation of CC3220 itself could have a block diagram as in swra502.pdf above, it would be very assuring for the user of CC3120/CC3220.

Queries:

Now the main part of my query:

  1. When "swru455.pdf" says that the Host Driver is the same for CC3220 and CC3120 (Page 13, Introduction section of Chapter 1), the meaning is that the same driver that runs on the CM4 of CC3220 will have to be ported onto the new Host in case one decides to go ahead with using CC3120.  Is this understanding correct?
  2. If I use an External Host MCU with a CC3220, then the host driver that runs the "Wi-Fi + Networking" part (i.e. CC3120 of CC3220??) will be running on the CM4 itself, and the External Host MCU will therefore have to communicate with the CM4 and via the CM4 overlook the configuration of the "Wi-Fi + Networking" part.  Is this understanding correct?
  3. If External Host is used with CC3220 instead of CC3120, do you foresee some other issues/concerns that we will face in addition to the unnecessary effort mentioned in the point 2 above? 
  4. Could there be any advantage in going in for "External host + CC3220" instead of "External Host + CC3120"?

--

Regards,

Neeraj Sallh

  • 0
    TI__Expert 8255 points

    Hi Neeraj,

    I think there may be some confusion--the CC3220 device is a single chip solution with both a Network Processor MCU and a User Application ARM Cortex M4 MCU. Whereas, the CC3120 device contains only the Network Processor MCU and requires an external host MCU.

    1) Correct--the SimpleLink host driver will need to be ported to any new host platform when using the CC3120. Detailed instructions on how to do this can be found in the CC3120 SDK: simplelink_sdk_wifi_plugin_1_50_00_38/docs/wifi_host_driver_api/html/index.html

    2) With the CC3220, the Cortex M4 host MCU is already fully available to you as the Wi-Fi networking component is offloaded on Network Processor. Thus, an additional external how MCU would be redundant when paired with the CC3220.

    3) See answer 2.

    4) See answer 2.

  • 0 in reply to Austin Tanner
    Intellectual 685 points

    I want to use an external Host MCU and interface it with CC3220.

    The External Host will use CC3220 as follows:

    It will (pass data on to/receive from) CC3220 and use it to tx/rx over the wi-fi interface.

    Can this be done or not?

    If yes, then how? That is,

    1. which interface can be used to interface the External Host MCU with the CC3220?  Will this interface be with the M4 of CC3220 (I expect this to be possible, because we are using the External Host MCU simply as a peripheral of CC3220 as far as data transfer is concerned)?  Or does this interface have necessarily to be with the NWP part of the CC3220 (thereby making it mandatory for the External Host to have the host driver ported onto it)?

    2. can I have the host driver running over M4 of CC3220?

    Please find a hand drawn block diagram attached where I try to explain the intended usage.

    The interface related doubts are written on this diagram also.