CCS/CC3220MODA: Only 5 SSID showing up

Darren Jenkins

Genius 12631 points

Part Number: CC3220MODA
Other Parts Discussed in Thread: CC3220SF, UNIFLASH

Tool/software: Code Composer Studio

Simplelink Wifi team,

Our customer needs some urgent help with getting a demo working properly. They have:

- CC3220MODASF Launchpad

- Software example: CC3220SF Launchpad -> Demos -> network_terminal

This example code only sees 5 SSID or fewer.

They wrote their own code use sl_WlanGetNetworkList similar to network_terminal, and they see up to 8 networks, but it's not consistent. The first time they ran the example, they saw 12 or more SSID.

It's important for their application that they can see a long list of networks.

Do you know why they would see only 5 networks with the network_terminal example, or why they see a shorter list of networks with their own code?

Thanks,

Darren

over 5 years ago

0 Kobi Leibovitch over 5 years ago

TI__Guru 63006 points

Hi Darren,

This is the nature of 802.11 scan.

The number of results may vary due to many factors (RF channel status, beacon interval, scan timeouts).

There are few parameters that the user controls through scan policy and/ sl_wlanSet commands (such as the bit-mask of scanned channels or the minimum rssi threshold) which can limit the results. Please check this, however the defaults should enable the max results.

The best solution is to trigger the scan multiple times as the NWP aggregates the results. You can reduce the scan interval using sl_WlanPolicySet (see below).

   <b>SL_WLAN_POLICY_SCAN:</b><br> defines system scan time interval. \nDefault interval is 10 minutes.
    After settings scan interval, an immediate scan is activated.\n The next scan will be based on the interval settings. 
    For AP scan, minimum interval is 10 seconds.

    -  With hidden SSID: For example, setting scan interval to 1 minute interval use including hidden ssid: 
    \code
        _u32 intervalInSeconds = 60;    
        sl_WlanPolicySet(SL_WLAN_POLICY_SCAN,SL_WLAN_SCAN_POLICY(1,1), (_u8 *)&intervalInSeconds,sizeof(intervalInSeconds)); 
    \endcode
    <br>

    -  No hidden SSID: setting scan interval to 1 minute interval use, not including hidden ssid: 
    \code
        _u32 intervalInSeconds = 60;    
        sl_WlanPolicySet(SL_WLAN_POLICY_SCAN,SL_WLAN_SCAN_POLICY(1,0), (_u8 *)&intervalInSeconds,sizeof(intervalInSeconds));
    \endcode

Please read chapter 4.7 of the programmer's guide (https://www.ti.com/lit/ug/swru455l/swru455l.pdf) for more details on the scan.

Br,

Kobi

0 Brenden Riggs over 5 years ago in reply to Kobi Leibovitch

Prodigy 120 points

Hi guys,

Sorry for the delay, I drove to my office to test a theory using our second launchpad.

Test #1) Old board(the one I've been working with for the past couple of weeks), TI network_terminal demo, debug session, at my office.

Same results as at my home office.

No serial out to TeraTerm upon starting debug session.

If I close the debug session, then start a new one immediately after, I will then get serial output and entry to the program(the "user:" input line)

Entered command "scan -n 20"

Only 5-6 results.

waiting 90 seconds, then rerunning "scan -n 20" only returns 4-5 networks.

Test#2) New Board(fresh out of the box), TI network_terminal demo, debug session, at my office.

Immediate serial out to Teraterm upon starting debug session

Entered command "scan -n 20"

9-10 results

waiting 90 seconds, then rerunning "scan -n 20" returns 14 results

-----------------------------------------

As you can see, the only difference between these two experiments is the board that I'm using. Both are the same model launchpad.

The only difference between the boards, is that the "old board" had been flashed with a project via Uniflash.

Is this expected behavior, and if so, is there another image that I need to flash my board to so I can freely utilize the code composer debug mode without having the limits as seen in the tests above? Basically, how do I reset the board to a state that allows code to run properly?

0 Kobi Leibovitch over 5 years ago in reply to Brenden Riggs

TI__Guru 63006 points

Hi Brenden,

This is not an expected behavior.

Please make sure the same software is installed on both (program both devices in uniflash), to eliminate issues with different SP or settings.

You can compare the RF performance with the radio tool (https://www.ti.com/lit/ug/swru471b/swru471b.pdf).

Note that to achieve the exact performance with module antennas, the 2 devices needs to be tested in the exact location and orientation, but the variation you mentioned is too steady and too large to be explained with the orientation of the LP.

Br,

Kobi

0 Brenden Riggs over 5 years ago in reply to Kobi Leibovitch

Prodigy 120 points

Hi Kobi,

So I'm sure that if I flashed the same program on each board, they would work the same. The board is currently flashed with a network scanning application and it works as expected. My concern is that now I cant utilized the debugger in CCS and get expected results. I'd like to not have to reflash my board with uniflash every time I want to test a change in my code. How do I fix this? Should I do the weird thing with the SOP pins to reset the board to factory? If that's the answer, do we know why this solves the problem? I don't know where I could have messed up SP/Settings, as the uniflash process is rather straightforward(it autodetects your device), and the resource manager in CCS autodetected my board to provide the correct SDK.

0 Kobi Leibovitch over 5 years ago in reply to Brenden Riggs

TI__Guru 63006 points

if you set the development mode (in uniflash, under Advanced/General/Settings/Image Mode), you will be able to use the debugger.

The development mode enable the use of JTAG. You can use SOP == 010, to enable both functional and flash modes.

br,

Kobi

0 Brenden Riggs over 5 years ago in reply to Kobi Leibovitch

Prodigy 120 points

Hi Kobi,

My problem is not that I cannot access the debugger. My problem is that debugged program behavior changes when the device is flashed. so a device fresh out the box has certain behavior while using the CCS debugger, while a device that has been flashed with another program will have different behavior if I attempt to use it with the CCS debugger.

And the device is set to development mode in uniflash, and the SOP pins are set to 010.

0 Kobi Leibovitch over 5 years ago in reply to Brenden Riggs

TI__Guru 63006 points

You need to program at least the latest service pack in order to get the best performance.

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CCS/CC3220MODA: Only 5 SSID showing up