WiFi

The phyCORE-AM62Ax development kit does not have WiFi integrated on the carrier board, but it can support external WiFi modules via the M.2 connector located on the bottom of the development kit carrier board, at X36. For more information on the M.2 connector on the phyCORE-AM62Ax development kit, please see the Hardware Manual.

phyCORE-AM62Ax WiFi

Requirements

Warning

Depending on the WIFI module you are using, the jumpers J19 and J20 may require adjustment to level shift the signals routed out of the M.2 connector.

The module requires a 1.8V operating voltage, thus this module specifically requires J19 and J20 set to the 1+2 jumper position. This is the default position on the kit. (reference development kit schematics for clarification).

Jumper Configuration

J19

1+2 = 1.8V

2+3 = 3.3V

Level shifts UART (Bluetooth) and PCM (audio) signals

J20

1+2 = 1.8V

2+3 = 3.3V

Level shifts MMC (WIFI) signals

phyCORE-AM62Ax WiFi

Hardware Setup

  • Power off the development kit and disconnect the power supply.

  • Prepare the M.2 WiFi module by securing the antenna.

  • Connect the M.2 WiFi module to the X36 M.2 connector on the bottom side of the carrier board. We recommend securing the module with a M2 bolt into the soldered standoff.

Enabling the Firmware and Building the BSP (Yocto)

Warning

Attempting to use the LWB5+ Wifi module without setting the REGDOMAIN will result in the following error:

Direct firmware load for brcm/brcmfmac4373-sdio.phytec,am62a7-phyboard-lyra-rdk.bin failed with error -2

If you see the above error, you can use this section to select a regdomain. Otherwise skip to the “Enable the Bootloader Overlay” section of this wifi guide.

It is required that you select the region when building the BSP in order for the firmware to be included in the Image. Reference this Build the BSP guide to build the BSP image.

Set LWB_REGDOMAIN:

  • From the base Yocto directory we can edit our common.inc file as follows:

    Host (Yocto BSP Build)
       vim sources/meta-ampliphy/conf/distro/common.inc
    
  • Un-comment the following line and update the region if necessary:

common.inc Excerpt
     # Define Country Code for Laird LWB WiFi chips.
     # Possible Codes: US/CA/ETSI/JP/AU/CN/TW/BR/KR
     # ETSI includes all member countries of the European Union.
     LWB_REGDOMAIN = "US"  #<----- Uncomment this line
  • A list of regions is shown under Possible Codes for reference.

  • Rebuild the BSP and proceed.

Enable the Bootloader Overlay

The bootloader environment needs to be modified in order to enable the WiFi device tree overlay before booting into Linux. For more information on overlays please see section “Working with Overlays” of the guide Configuring the Bootloader.

  • Power on the development kit and hit any key to stop in U-Boot.

    Target (U-Boot)
       setenv overlays k3-am62-phyboard-lyra-m2-lwb5p.dtbo
       boot
    

Note

For more information about overlays see the guide Configuring the Bootloader.

Configure WiFi Credentials

  • Once in Linux, scan for available networks:

    Target (Linux)
    iw wlan0 scan | grep SSID
    
    Example Output
        SSID: OFFICE-GUEST
        SSID: OFFICE-5G
    
  • With a network identified, use wpa_passphrase to create the NETWORK section of your wpa_supplicant-wlan0.conf file with your network credentials and password fille in:

Note

Update “MYSSID” and “passphrase” to the correct credentials for your target network.

Target (Linux)
mkdir -p /etc/wpa_supplicant
wpa_passphrase MYSSID passphrase > /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant-wlan0.conf
  • Now we can edit the wpa_supplicant-wlan0.conf to include the rest of our network configuration.

    Target (Linux)
    vi /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant-wlan0.conf
    

Note

The vi text editor begins in “Command Mode” and you must first hit the ‘i’ key in order to enter “Insert Mode”. Using the arrow keys to navigate, make the necessary changes and then hit ESC to go back to “Command mode”. Now enter “:wq” to write the file and quit.

Pro Tip: Use the right click on your mouse to paste! This will only work if you are in “Insert Mode” first.

(Updated wpa_supplicant-wlan0.conf)
      # Giving configuration update rights to wpa_cli
      ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
      ctrl_interface_group=0
      update_config=1

      # AP scanning
      ap_scan=1

      # ISO/IEC alpha2 country code in which the device is operating
      country=US

      # network section generated by wpa_passphrase
      network={
              ssid="OFFICE-GUEST"
              #psk="123456"
              psk=59e0d07fa4c7741797a4e394f38a5c321e3bed51d54ad5fcbd3f84bc7415d73d
      }

Establish A Connection

  • Enable the wpa_service for the wlan0 interface:

    Target (Linux)
    systemctl enable [email protected]
    
  • Restart the systemd-networkd and wpa_supplicant services:

    Target (Linux)
    systemctl restart systemd-networkd.service
    systemctl restart [email protected]
    
  • Confirm wlan0 is connected to the network.

    Target (Linux)
    iw dev wlan0 link
    
    Expected Output
    Connected to 6e:d7:9a:cd:92:e9 (on wlan0)
    SSID: OFFICE-GUEST
    freq: 2437
    RX: 3684015 bytes (18198 packets)
    TX: 57638 bytes (745 packets)
    signal: -88 dBm
    rx bitrate: 39.0 MBit/s
    tx bitrate: 6.0 MBit/s
    
    bss flags:      short-preamble short-slot-time
    dtim period:    1
    beacon int:     100
    
  • Check the IP address:

    Target (Linux)
    ip addr show wlan0
    
    Expected Output
     5: wlan0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel state UP group default qlen 1000
         link/ether c0:ee:40:84:4e:ec brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
         inet 100.55.50.55/24 metric 1024 brd 100.55.50.255 scope global dynamic wlan0
            valid_lft 70512sec preferred_lft 70512sec
         inet6 fe80::c2ee:40ff:fe84:4eec/64 scope link
             valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
    
  • In the above example output we can see that this system has been assigned the 100.55.50.55 IPv4 address.

  • Verify that the M.2 WiFi module connected to the network.

    Target (Linux)
     ping -c 5 -I wlan0 google.com
    
    Expected Output
     PING google.com (142.251.33.110): 56 data bytes
     64 bytes from 142.251.33.110: seq=0 ttl=56 time=464.257 ms
     64 bytes from 142.251.33.110: seq=1 ttl=56 time=13.316 ms
     64 bytes from 142.251.33.110: seq=2 ttl=56 time=15.097 ms
     64 bytes from 142.251.33.110: seq=3 ttl=56 time=13.265 ms
     64 bytes from 142.251.33.110: seq=4 ttl=56 time=13.039 ms
    
     --- google.com ping statistics ---
     5 packets transmitted, 5 packets received, 0% packet loss
     round-trip min/avg/max = 13.039/103.794/464.257 ms