Ublox EVK-LILY-W1 User Manual

EVK-LILY-W1

Evaluation kit for the LILY-W1 host-based Wi-Fi
modules

User Guide



Abstract

This document describes how to set up the EVK-LILY-W1 evaluation kit to evaluate the LILY-

W1

host-based Wi-

Fi modules. It also describes how to compile the Marvell Linux reference drivers and

provides some basic usage examples.

www.u-blox.com

UBX-15030290 - R04

EVK-LILY-W1 - User Guide

UBX-15030290 - R04 Page 2 of 25

Document Information

Title EVK-LILY-W1

Subtitle Evaluation kit for the LILY-W1 host-based Wi-Fi modules

Document type User Guide

Document number UBX-15030290

Revision and date R04 3-Jul-2018

Disclosure Restriction

This document applies to the following products:

Product name Type number Firmware version PCN reference Product status

EVK-LILY-W131 EVK-LILY-W131-00 SDIO driver:

Package: SD-UAPSTA-8801-FC18-MMC-

14.85.36.p101-C3X14160_B0-GPL
Firmware version: 14.85.36.p101
USB driver:
Package: USB-UAPSTA-8801-FC18-X86-

14.85.36.p101-C3X14160_B0-GPL
Firmware version: 14.85.36.p101

N/A

Early Production
Information

EVK-LILY-W132 EVK-LILY-W132-00 SDIO driver:

Package: SD-UAPSTA-8801-FC18-MMC-

14.85.36.p101-C3X14160_B0-GPL
Firmware version: 14.85.36.p101
USB driver:
Package: USB-UAPSTA-8801-FC18-X86-

14.85.36.p101-C3X14160_B0-GPL
Firmware version: 14.85.36.p101

N/A

u-blox or third parties may hold intellectual property rights in the products, names, logos and designs included in this
document. Copying, reproduction, modification or disclosure to third parties of this document or any part thereof is only
permitted with the express written permission of u

-blox.

The information contained herein is provided “as is” and u

-blox assumes no liability for its use. No warranty, either express or

implied, is given, including but not limited

to, with respect to the accuracy, correctness, reliability and fitness for a particular

purpose of the information. This document may be revised by u

-blox at any time without notice. For the most recent

documents, visit www.u

-blox.com.

Copyright © u

-blox AG.

EVK-LILY-W1 - User Guide

UBX-15030290 - R04 Page 3 of 25

Contents

Document Information ................................................................................................................................ 2

Contents .......................................................................................................................................................... 3

1 Evaluation kit description ................................................................................................................... 5

1.1 Overview ........................................................................................................................................................ 5

1.2 Kit includes ................................................................................................................................................... 5

1.3 Software and documentation ................................................................................................................... 5

1.4 System requirements ................................................................................................................................ 6

1.5 Specifications .............................................................................................................................................. 6

2 Getting started ....................................................................................................................................... 7

2.1 Host interface through SDIO .................................................................................................................... 8

2.2 Host interface through USB ..................................................................................................................... 8

3 Board description ................................................................................................................................... 9

3.1 Connectors ................................................................................................................................................... 9

3.2 Pin header J2 ............................................................................................................................................... 9

3.3 Pin header J3 ............................................................................................................................................. 10

3.4 Antenna interfaces on the EVB-LILY-W131 ....................................................................................... 10

3.4.1 Single antenna .................................................................................................................................. 10

3.4.2 Antenna diversity .............................................................................................................................. 11

3.4.3 LTE filter ............................................................................................................................................. 11

3.5 LED ............................................................................................................................................................... 11

3.6 Schematic ................................................................................................................................................... 12

3.7 Assembly .................................................................................................................................................... 12

4 Software ................................................................................................................................................ 13

4.1 Driver versions ........................................................................................................................................... 13

4.2 Driver and firmware architecture ........................................................................................................... 13

4.3 Compiling the drivers ............................................................................................................................... 14

4.3.1 Prerequisites ...................................................................................................................................... 14

4.3.2 Extracting the package content .................................................................................................... 15

4.3.3 Compile-time configuration ............................................................................................................ 15

4.3.4 Building ............................................................................................................................................... 16

4.4 Deploying the software ............................................................................................................................ 16

4.4.1 Blacklisting the mwifiex driver ....................................................................................................... 17

4.4.2 Additional software requirements ................................................................................................ 17

4.5 Loading the drivers ................................................................................................................................... 17

4.5.1 SDIO driver ......................................................................................................................................... 17

4.5.2 USB driver ........................................................................................................................................... 18

4.5.3 Unloading the drivers ....................................................................................................................... 19

4.6 Usage examples ........................................................................................................................................ 19

4.6.1 Wi-Fi access point mode ................................................................................................................. 19

4.6.2 Wi-Fi station mode ........................................................................................................................... 20

4.7 Driver debugging ....................................................................................................................................... 21

EVK-LILY-W1 - User Guide

UBX-15030290 - R04 Page 4 of 25

4.7.1 Compile-time debug options .......................................................................................................... 21

4.7.2 Runtime debug options ................................................................................................................... 21

Appendix ....................................................................................................................................................... 23

A Glossary ................................................................................................................................................. 23

Related documents ................................................................................................................................... 24

Revision history .......................................................................................................................................... 24

Contact .......................................................................................................................................................... 25

EVK-LILY-W1 - User Guide

UBX-15030290 - R04 Evaluation kit description Page 5 of 25

1 Evaluation kit description

1.1 Overview

The EVK-LILY-W1 evaluation kit provides a simple way to evaluate the LILY-W1 host-based Wi-Fi
modules. The evaluation board offers a standard full-size SDIO card connector (compatible with host
sockets designed for SD memory cards) and a micro-USB receptacle for host communication.

The main features of the EVK-LILY-W1 evaluation kit are:

• Available for internal antenna and antenna pin variants of the LILY-W1 module

• SDIO 2.0 device interface via SDIO card connector for host communication

• USB 2.0 device interface via micro-USB receptacle for host communication

• U.FL coaxial connectors for external antenna and antenna diversity (EVK-LILY-W131)

• All module interfaces are externally available

• Multiple power supply options

Table 1 lists the available evaluation kit versions.

Evaluation kit Description Suitable for evaluation of

EVK-LILY-W131 Evaluation kit for version with antenna pin; without internal

LTE filter

LILY-W131

EVK-LILY-W132 Evaluation kit for version with internal antenna and LTE filter LILY-W132

Table 1: List of available EVK-LILY-W1 evaluation kits

Figure 1 and Figure 2 show the EVK-LILY-W1 evaluation kits.

Figure 1: EVK-LILY-W131 evaluation kit including antenna

Figure 2: EVK-LILY-W132 evaluation kit

1.2 Kit includes

The EVK-LILY-W1 evaluation kit includes the following:

• Evaluation board (EVB) for LILY-W131 (EVB-LILY-W131) or LILY-W132 (EVB-LILY-W132)

• One 2.4 GHz antenna (ProAnt Ex-IT 2400 RP-SMA 70-002) and RP-SMA to U.FL adapter cable

(EVK-LILY-W131 only)

• Quick Start card

1.3 Software and documentation

☞ The reference drivers for the LILY-W1 module series are developed by Marvell and can be re-

distributed by u-blox to customers free of charge after signing a license agreement

[1]

. Contact u-

blox support to obtain the software package.

EVK-LILY-W1 - User Guide

UBX-15030290 - R04 Evaluation kit description Page 6 of 25

1.4 System requirements

• Host (PC or embedded system) with

o SDIO 2.0 capable, full-size SD card socket or
o USB 2.0 interface

• Operating System: Linux (2.6.x/3.x) or Android (4.4)

1.5 Specifications

Table 2 and Table 3 list the absolute maximum ratings and operating conditions for the LILY-W1
evaluation board.

Parameter Description Min. Max. Unit

SDCARD.VDD SD card power supply - 4.0 V

USB.VBUS USB power supply - 6.0 V

T

STORAGE

Storage temperature -40 +85 ºC

Table 2: Absolute maximum ratings for the LILY-W1 evaluation board

Parameter Description Min. Typ Max. Unit

SDCARD.VDD SD card power supply, 3.3 V operation 3.0 3.3 3.6 V

SD card power supply, 1.8 V operation 1.65 1.8 1.95 V

USB.VBUS USB power supply 4.25 5.0 5.5 V

Digital I/O SDIO interface and other GPIO -0.4 - SDCARD.VDD+0.4 V

1.8V Digital I/O WKUP and ENn pins -0.4 - 2.2 V

TA Ambient operating temperature -40 - +85 ºC

Table 3: Operating conditions for the LILY-W1 evaluation board

EVK-LILY-W1 - User Guide

UBX-15030290 - R04 Getting started Page 7 of 25

2 Getting started

This section describes the evaluation board connectors and configuration settings that are required
to get started.

Figure 3: Evaluation board EVB-LILY-W131

Figure 3 shows an overview of the evaluation board and its connectors. The board can be connected
to a host system either through the SDIO card connector or the micro-USB connector. The U.FL
connectors - J4, J5, and J6 can only be used with the EVK-LILY-W131, which uses the LILY-W131
module version with the antenna pin. The antenna U.FL connector J6 is connected to the module by
default. The evaluation of antenna diversity via the U.FL connectors J4 and J5 requires switching of
components on the board.

The following steps are required to start the evaluation:

1. For the EVK-LILY-W131, connect the included 2.4 GHz antenna via the adapter cable to the U.FL

single antenna connector (J6) on the EVB-LILY-W131 evaluation board. For the EVK-LILY-W132,
you need not connect an external antenna as it uses the internal antenna of the LILY-W132
module.

2. Select the SDIO (Figure 4) or USB (Figure 5) interface for host communication as described in

sections 2.1 and 2.2 and connect the evaluation board to the host system.

3. Install the necessary driver software for the LILY-W1 series modules as described in section 4.

Figure 4: J2 and J3 jumper settings for SDIO

Figure 5: J2 and J3 jumper settings for USB

SDIO card connector

J3: jumpers for

power supply and

configuration

J6: U.FL connector for

single antenna

operation

(EVK-LILY-W131 only)

J4, J5: U.FL

connectors for

antenna diversity

(EVK-LILY-W131 only)

Power LED J7: micro-USB

receptacle

Pin #1

J2: jumpers for host

interface selection

EVK-LILY-W1 - User Guide

UBX-15030290 - R04 Getting started Page 8 of 25

2.1 Host interface through SDIO

The default jumper settings, as shown in Figure 4 and described in Table 4, enable SDIO as the host
interface. Secure Digital (SD) card is used for power supply of the main and I/O voltages.

Jumper configuration Description

J2: 7-8 bridged SDIO interface selection

J3: 5-6 bridged Selects 3.3 V SD card supply for main power supply

J3: 3-4 bridged Selects 3.3 V I/O voltage

Table 4: Jumper configuration for SDIO interface

Connect the evaluation board to an SDIO capable host by inserting the board into the SD card slot. As
the LILY-W1 series module uses an SDIO host interface, only an SDIO capable card reader (not just a
common SD card reader) will be able to transfer the data and interrupts correctly. You can use either
a built in reader (usually found in laptops – but not all models support SDIO), or a separate reader in
one of the extension slots.

An example card reader for Linux is the “Sonnet SDXC UHS-I Pro Reader/Writer ExpressCard/34”

[4]

.

⚠ Be careful while inserting the evaluation board into the SDIO slot of a laptop. Such built-in readers

might be designed poorly and can be damaged easily compared to the ones found on development
platforms, which are more compact.

2.2 Host interface through USB

The jumper settings for selecting the USB interface for host communication are shown in Figure 5
and described in Table 5. Use a USB micro-B cable to connect the evaluation board to the host through
the micro-USB receptacle on the evaluation board.

Jumper configuration Description

J2: 5-6 bridged USB interface selection. SD_CMD/USB_VBUS_ON connected to VBUS (via 33k and

3.3V LDO)

J3: 7-8 bridged Selects USB supply for main power supply

J3: 3-4 bridged Selects 3.3 V I/O voltage

Table 5: Jumper configuration for USB interface

EVK-LILY-W1 - User Guide

UBX-15030290 - R04 Board description Page 9 of 25

3 Board description

This section describes the EVB-LILY-W1 evaluation board and the available connectors and
configuration settings.

3.1 Connectors

Table 6 lists the available connectors on the EVB-LILY-W1 evaluation board and their functions. Refer
to the schematic in section 3.6 for details about the pin assignment.

Function Description Name

SDIO interface SD card connector for connecting to the host SDIO socket J1

USB interface Micro-USB 2.0 receptacle for connecting to the USB host J7

Host interface selection /
SDIO

Pin header for selecting the host interface and accessing the SDIO signals J2

Power supply configuration
/ LILY-W1 module I/O

Pin header for power supply and I/O voltage selection and access to the I/O signals of
the module

J3

Single external antenna
connector

U.FL coaxial connector for single external 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi antenna (can only be used on
the EVB-LILY-W131)

J6

Diversity external antenna
connector 1

U.FL coaxial connector for first external 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi antenna for antenna diversity
(can only be used on the EVB-LILY-W131); disconnected by default

J4

Diversity external antenna
connector 2

U.FL coaxial connector for second external 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi antenna for antenna
diversity (can only be used on the EVB-LILY-W131); disconnected by default

J5

Table 6: Description of available connectors on the EVB-LILY-W1

3.2 Pin header J2

The dual-row pin header J2 on the evaluation board is used to:

• Select between the SDIO and USB host interfaces

• Access the SDIO signals

Table 7 and Table 8 list the available host interface selection options and signals on J2.

Jumper configuration Description

7-8 bridged, 5-6 open Selected SDIO host interface (J1)

5-6 bridged, 7-8 open Selected USB host interface (J7)

Table 7: J2 host interface selection

Pin Signal LILY-W1 signal Description

1 SDCARD.D2 SDIO_D2 SDIO bidirectional data signal 2

3 SDCARD.D3 SDIO_D3 SDIO bidirectional data signal 3

5 SDCARD.CMD SDIO_CMD/USB_VBUS_ON SDIO: command/response signal

USB: power valid indication

6 USB_3V3 via 33k - VBUS via 33 k and 3.3 V LDO

7 SDIO_EN-N USB/SDIO-n Host interface selection

9 SDCARD.VDD - SDIO 3.3 V power supply

11 SDCARD.CLK SDIO_CLK SDIO host to card clock signal

13 SDCARD.D0 SDIO_D0 SDIO bidirectional data signal 0

15 SDCARD.D1 SDIO_D1 SDIO bidirectional data signal 1

2, 4, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 GND GND Ground

Table 8: J2 pin description

EVK-LILY-W1 - User Guide

UBX-15030290 - R04 Board description Page 10 of 25

3.3 Pin header J3

The dual-row pin header J3 on the evaluation board is used to:

• Select the power supply and I/O voltages

• Provide access to the I/O signals of the LILY-W1 module

Table 9 and Table 10 list the available power supply configuration options and signals on J3.

⚠ Be careful when configuring the power supply settings, as wrong configurations can cause short

circuits and damage the evaluation board and the host system.

Jumper configuration Description

5-6 bridged, 7-8 open 3.3 V SDIO card supply is used for main power supply

7-8 bridged, 5-6 open 5 V USB supply is used to generate the 3.3 V main power supply

3-4 bridged, 1-2 open 3.3 V I/O voltage selected

1-2 bridged, 3-4 open 1.8 V I/O voltage selected, generated from the 3.3 V main supply

Table 9: J3 power supply configuration

Pin Signal LILY-W1 signal Description

1, 3 VDDIO VCC_IO I/O voltage supply

2 V1_8V - 1.8 V supply from internal LDO

4, 6, 8 VCC VCC Module main voltage supply

5 SDCARD.VDD - SDIO 3.3 V power supply

7 USB_3V3 - 3.3 V supply from VBUS and internal LDO

9 POWER_DOWN-N PD-n Power down, active low

11 ANT.SEL ANT_SEL External antenna selection signal for diversity

(only on EVB-LILY-W131)

12 ANT.SEL-N ANT_SEL-n External inverted antenna selection signal for

diversity
(only on EVB-LILY-W131)

13 HOST_WKUP HOST_WKUP Module-to-Host Wake-Up signal

14 RESERVED - Reserved

15 WAKE_UP WAKE_UP Host-to-Module Wake-Up signal

10, 16 GND GND Ground

Table 10: J3 pin description

3.4 Antenna interfaces on the EVB-LILY-W131

The EVB-LILY-W131 evaluation board, which is used to evaluate the LILY-W131 module version with
antenna pin, has three U.FL coaxial connectors J4, J5, and J6 for connecting the external antennas.
The J6 connector is used for single antenna configuration and J4/J5 can be used for evaluating
antenna diversity after switching components on the board.

3.4.1 Single antenna

This is the default configuration, where the U.FL coaxial connector J6 is connected to the antenna pin
of the LILY-W131 module. Connect the included 2.4 GHz antenna to J6.

EVK-LILY-W1 - User Guide

UBX-15030290 - R04 Board description Page 11 of 25

3.4.2 Antenna diversity

Antenna diversity can be evaluated using the U.FL coaxial connectors J4 and J5, after populating C12
instead of C13 on the evaluation board

1

. Connect two external 2.4 GHz antennas to J4 and J5.
Antenna selection for diversity is controlled by the ANT.SEL and ANT.SEL-N signals from the LILY­W131 module. These signals can be monitored on the pin header J3 (see Table 10).

3.4.3 LTE filter

The LILY-W131 module includes a standard SAW bandpass filter. A BAW filter for Wi-Fi and LTE co­existence (Triquint 885071) is included on the evaluation board in the antenna path to the J5 U.FL
connector by default (FL1), when using the antenna diversity configuration. The filter can be disabled
by populating C18 and C20 instead of C19 and C21. For evaluating the performance of the LTE filter,
the signals ANT.SEL and ANT.SEL-N on the pin header J3 can be tied to fixed values to manually
select one antenna path. R7 and R8 must be removed first to disconnect the switching control from
the LILY-W131 module. Table 11 lists the possible signal states for selecting one of the antenna
paths.

ANT.SEL ANT.SEL-N Selected antenna connector

GND VCC J5 (with LTE filter)

VCC GND J4 (without LTE filter)

Table 11: Antenna selection

3.5 LED

Table 12 lists the available LED on the EVB-LILY-W1 evaluation board:

Function Description Name Color

Main power Main power supply (VCC) status indication LD1 Green

Table 12: LED description

1

Refer to the schematics in section 3.6 and assembly drawing in section 3.7 to find the location of the components.

EVK-LILY-W1 - User Guide

UBX-15030290 - R04 Board description Page 12 of 25

3.6 Schematic

Figure 6: Schematic of the EVB-LILY-W1 evaluation board

3.7 Assembly

Figure 7: Assembly of the EVB-LILY-W1 evaluation board

EVK-LILY-W1 - User Guide

UBX-15030290 - R04 Software Page 13 of 25

4 Software

The LILY-W1 module series is based on the Marvell Avastar 88W8801 chipset and it supports Wi-Fi

802.11b/g/n simultaneous client/station, access point, and Wi-Fi Direct operations.

The LILY-W1 modules connect to the host processor either through an SDIO 2.0 or USB 2.0 device
interface.

From the software point of view, the LILY-W1 series modules contain only calibration data and basic
operation settings in an on-board non-volatile memory and thus require a host-side driver and a
firmware to run. Each base software package contains the following:

• A firmware image that has to be downloaded to the module on system start

• A driver, which is placed between the bus driver and the attached network stacks

Various control tools are also included optionally.

4.1 Driver versions

Marvell reference drivers for the LILY-W1 series modules are currently available for Linux and Android
operating systems as SDIO or USB driver versions. The drivers are usually released for a single
reference host platform and operating system version, but can be easily ported to comparable
platforms. It is recommended to use the latest available host interface driver version and port this to
the used operating system version.

⚠ The Software section of this manual describes only the Marvell reference drivers, which can be

obtained through u-blox support. The “mwifiex” open source drivers that are distributed with the
Linux kernel are not officially supported by u-blox.

☞ Refer to the Release Notes that is bundled with each driver release for a list of supported driver

features.

4.2 Driver and firmware architecture

The software for the LILY-W1 modules is split into the following parts:

• The Wi-Fi driver, running on the host system

• The device firmware, which runs on the module itself

The host drivers interface with the SDIO or USB bus drivers and upper layer protocol stacks of the
Linux/Android system. The basic architecture of the Wi-Fi driver is typical of a thick firmware
architecture, where the Wi-Fi firmware handles all 802.11 MAC management tasks. Figure 8 shows
the basic driver and firmware architecture.

The following steps are performed while loading the Wi-Fi host driver:

• The driver registers itself with the MMC/SDIO or USB bus driver.

• Upon successful registration, the bus driver calls the Wi-Fi driver's probe handler, when the module

is detected.

• The probe handler allocates and initializes internal structures, registers the interrupt service

routine and starts the main driver threads.

• The firmware image is downloaded to the module and the hardware is initialized.

• Network devices such as STA, AP, and WFD are registered.

EVK-LILY-W1 - User Guide

UBX-15030290 - R04 Software Page 14 of 25

Figure 8: Basic Wi-Fi driver and firmware architecture

4.3 Compiling the drivers

4.3.1 Prerequisites

4.3.1.1 Reference drivers

The versions of the Marvell reference drivers/firmware package and the Linux OS that are described
in the Software section of this document are:

• Marvell Linux reference driver:

SD-UAPSTA-8801-FC18-MMC-14.85.36.p101-C3X14160_B0-GPL

• Linux kernel 3.19.8

☞ The instructions for compilation and usage of the USB driver version are very similar to the SDIO

version. The main differences between both versions are noted in the description, if applicable.

The drivers should be able to support Linux kernel versions from 2.6.13 to 4.2. Older or more recent
kernels might require some patches due to the changed kernel APIs. Patches for the u-blox EVK-W16
reference platform, which is currently running a 3.19.8 kernel, can be provided on request.

☞ The reference drivers for the LILY-W1 module series are developed by Marvell and can be re-

distributed by u-blox to customers after signing a license agreement

[1]

.

4.3.1.2 Kernel configuration

According to the used host interface, the drivers for the LILY-W1 series modules depend on the
MMC/SDIO or the USB stack of the Linux kernel; thus the respective stack must be enabled on the
target system. For configuration, the Linux reference driver supports the following two driver API
options:

EVK-LILY-W1 - User Guide

UBX-15030290 - R04 Software Page 15 of 25

• The old Linux wireless extensions (WEXT) interface

• The new cfg80211 configuration API

To enable these APIs on the target system, the following must be selected in the kernel configuration
(CONFIG_WIRELESS_EXT cannot be selected directly, so a driver that depends on it, such as

hostap

or

zd1201

must be selected):

Listing 1: Kernel .config

⚠ For older kernels (<3.2), use compat-wireless (now named backports) to provide recent versions

of the kernel's 802.11 APIs to support all the driver features. In this case, cfg80211 has to be
compiled as a module (CONFIG_CFG80211=m).

4.3.2 Extracting the package content

The Marvell driver package contains the firmware image, the Wi-Fi driver sources, and also a release
notes that describes the tested hardware platform, supported features, bug fixes, and known
limitations of the release. The package comes as several archives that are packed into each other.
Follow the steps mentioned below to extract the Marvell driver package:

Once you remove the archives, you should find something similar to the following in your working
directory:

4.3.3 Compile-time configuration

The Wi-Fi driver has several compile-time configuration options that can be set in the driver's
Makefile. Change to the wlan_src subdirectory and ensure that the following are enabled:

Listing 2: Makefile

CONFIG_WIRELESS_EXT=y

CONFIG_WEXT_PRIV=y

CONFIG_CFG80211=y

unzip SD-UAPSTA-8801-FC18-MMC-14.85.36.p101-C3X14160_B0-GPL-Release.zip

tar xf SD-UAPSTA-8801-FC18-MMC-14.85.36.p101-C3X14160_B0-GPL.tar

for i in *.tgz; do tar xzf $i; done

├── FwImage/
│ └── sd8801_uapsta.bin # SDIO firmware image (USB version: usb8801_uapsta.bin)
└── SD-8801-FC18-MMC-14.85.36.p101-C3X14160_B0-GPL/

└── wlan_src/ # Wi-Fi driver and tools sources
├── Makefile # Driver/tools Makefile
├── mapp/ # User space tools for configuration, sample configuration files
├── mlan/ # OS independent driver sources
├── mlinux/ # Linux specific driver sources
└── [...]

[…]
# Enable STA mode support

CONFIG_STA_SUPPORT=y
# Enable uAP mode support

CONFIG_UAP_SUPPORT=y
# Manufacturing firmware support

CONFIG_MFG_CMD_SUPPORT=y
[…]

EVK-LILY-W1 - User Guide

UBX-15030290 - R04 Software Page 16 of 25

The manufacturing firmware support is required, if the driver is used with the "

Manufacturing and

Labtools

" packages, which can be used for setting up the test modes for certification

[5].

4.3.4 Building

4.3.4.1 Prepare kernel sources

Primarily, ensure that your kernel is prepared for compiling external kernel modules. For this, change
to the kernel's source directory and run the following:

⚠ "make modules_prepare" will not build Module.symvers even if CONFIG_MODVERSIONS is set;

therefore, a full kernel build must be executed to make the module versioning work.

4.3.4.2 Wi-Fi driver and tools

To compile the Wi-Fi drivers and tools, go to the driver packages's wlan_src subdirectory and run “make
build”. For cross-compilation, you should specify the target architecture, cross-toolchain prefix, and

the directory with the kernel sources used to build the kernel on the target system, that is:

This command will build the Wi-Fi kernel modules and all the included user space applications. The
build results will be copied to ../bin_sd8801/ (or ../bin_usb8801 in case of USB driver), related to the
wlan_src directory. The following table summarizes the content of the Wi-Fi build results directory:

File Description

mlan.ko,
sd8801.ko/usb8801.ko

Wi-Fi driver kernel modules

README* Usage instructions for the provided tools

config/* Sample configuration files used by various tools

uaputl.exe Micro-AP configuration tool

mlanutl Configuration tool for additional driver parameters

mlanevent.exe Netlink event listener

mlan2040coex 802.11 20/40 MHz coexistence handler

Table 13: Content of the Wi-Fi build results directory

4.4 Deploying the software

The following steps describe how to install the drivers, firmware, and provided tools on the target
system:

1. Copy the application binaries to an appropriate location on the target file system and add it to

the $PATH environment variable, if required.

2. The kernel modules should be copied to somewhere below the modules directory of the kernel,

for example, /lib/modules/3.19.8/updates/. Run the

depmod

command afterwards to

update the module dependencies and to have the modules findable by the

modprobe

utility.

3. Copy the firmware image file sd8801_uapsta.bin (or usb8801_uapsta.bin) from the driver

package's FwImage directory to the directory /lib/firmware/mrvl/ on the target file system.

An example deployment is shown below:

make modules_prepare

# e.g.:
# ARCH=arm
# CROSS_COMPILE= arm-poky-linux-gnueabi­# KERNELDIR=~/elin-w160-evk/build/tmp/sysroots/elin-w160-evk/usr/src/kernel/

make ARCH=${ARCH} CROSS_COMPILE=${CROSS_COMPILE} KERNELDIR=${KERNELDIR} build

EVK-LILY-W1 - User Guide

UBX-15030290 - R04 Software Page 17 of 25

Listing 3: Example target file system

4.4.1 Blacklisting the mwifiex driver

If the target system includes the open source mwifiex driver, make sure to use the correct firmware
image by replacing the existing one and that the mwifiex driver is blacklisted to prevent it from being
loaded automatically. To blacklist the mwifiex kernel modules, add the following lines to a file under
/etc/modprobe.d/, for example in /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf:

Listing 4: Blacklisting mwifiex

⚠ Blacklisting will not work for drivers that are built into the kernel image rather than as a kernel

module.

4.4.2 Additional software requirements

Some additional packages that are recommended for installation on the target system are mentioned
in the following table:

Package Comment

wpa_supplicant WPA supplicant. Handles key negotiation and roaming etc., on the client side

iw CLI configuration utility for wireless devices

wireless-tools CLI tools for configuring wireless device drivers using Wireless Extensions

crda User space udev helper to handle the regulatory domain

Table 14: Recommended additional software packages

4.5 Loading the drivers

4.5.1 SDIO driver

If the SDIO kernel modules were installed correctly, you can load them by simply issuing the following
command

Else, you have to load them separately using the

insmod

command.

This will automatically load the

sd8801

kernel module and all its dependencies, such as

mlan

or

cfg80211

. The cfg80211_wext=0xf module parameter in the above-mentioned example informs the
driver to enable support for the wireless extensions interface and for the cfg80211 configuration API.
A full description of the available module parameters is given in the README files and also in the

/
├── lib
│ ├── firmware
│ │ └── mrvl
│ │ └── sd8801_uapsta.bin
│ └── modules
│ └── 3.19.8
│ └── updates
│ ├── mlan.ko
│ └── sd8801.ko
└── opt

└── lily-w1
└── bin_sd8801

blacklist mwifiex
blacklist mwifiex_sdio

modprobe sd8801 cfg80211_wext=0xf

EVK-LILY-W1 - User Guide

UBX-15030290 - R04 Software Page 18 of 25

”modinfo sd8801” command. If the drivers are successfully loaded, you should see them in the list of
loaded modules as shown below (via lsmod command):

☞ The internal name for the sd8801 module is sd8xxx.

When the module is detected on the SDIO interface, the driver will automatically download the
firmware to it, initialize the hardware, and register the network interfaces.

Listing 5: Kernel log after inserting the SDIO card

You should be able to see the following new network interfaces (for example using the “ifconfig –a”
or “iw dev” commands):

Interface Function

mlan0 Wi-Fi station mode

uap0 Wi-Fi micro access point mode

wfd0 Wi-Fi Direct

Table 15: Network interfaces

The version of the loaded firmware can be verified for example, by using one of the following
commands:

4.5.2 USB driver

The USB driver can be loaded by issuing the following command, which will load the

usb8801

kernel

module and all its dependencies such as

mlan

or

cfg80211

:

For a full description of the available module parameters refer to the README files and also to
the output of the “modinfo usb8801” command. If the drivers are successfully loaded, you should see
them in the list of loaded modules as shown below (via lsmod command):

☞ The internal name for the usb8801 module is usb8xxx.

Module Size Used by

sd8xxx 357725 0

mlan 251382 1 sd8xxx

wlan: Loading MWLAN driver
wlan: Driver loaded successfully
mmc1: new high speed SDIO card at address 0001
vendor=0x02DF device=0x9139 class=0 function=1
rx_work=0 cpu_num=1
Request firmware: mrvl/sd8801_uapsta_sdio.bin
Wlan: FW download over, firmwarelen=234524 downloaded 234524
WLAN FW is active
fw_cap_info=0xba3, dev_cap_mask=0xffffffff
wlan: version = SD8801-14.85.36.p101-C3X14C160-GPL-(FP85)

$ mlanutl mlan0 version
Version string received: SD8801-14.85.36.p101-C3X14C160-GPL-(FP85)
$ iwpriv mlan0 version
mlan0 version:SD8801-14.85.36.p101-C3X14C160-GPL-(FP85)

modprobe usb8801 cfg80211_wext=0xf

EVK-LILY-W1 - User Guide

UBX-15030290 - R04 Software Page 19 of 25

When the module is detected on the USB interface, the driver will automatically download the
firmware to it, initialize the hardware, and register the network interfaces.

Listing 6: Kernel log after connecting via USB

After successful registration, the network interfaces listed in Table 15 should be available. The
version of the loaded firmware can be verified for example, by using one of the following commands:

4.5.3 Unloading the drivers

To unload the drivers, bring all the interfaces down first and then remove the modules using:

4.6 Usage examples

4.6.1 Wi-Fi access point mode

The following example configures and starts an access point using the provided Marvell tools. A more
detailed description of the uaputl.exe tool and its parameters can be found in the

README_UAP

file

from the driver package.

Module Size Used by
usb8xxx 349149 0
mlan 243114 1 usb8xxx

wlan: Loading MWLAN driver
usbcore: registered new interface driver usb8xxx
wlan: Driver loaded successfully
usb 2-1: new high-speed USB device number 4 using musb-hdrc
[…]
Request firmware: mrvl/usb8801_uapsta_usb.bin

WLAN FW is downloaded

usb_reset_device() successful.
usb 2-1: USB disconnect, device number 4
usb 2-1: new high-speed USB device number 5 using musb-hdrc
sb 2-1: New USB device found, idVendor=1286, idProduct=204a
usb 2-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
usb 2-1: Product: Marvell Wireless Device
usb 2-1: Manufacturer: Marvell
usb 2-1: SerialNumber: D4CA6E9001F7
VID/PID = 1286/204A, Boot2 version = 3117
rx_work=0 cpu_num=1
WLAN FW is active
fw_cap_info=0xba3, dev_cap_mask=0xffffffff
wlan: version = USB8801-14.85.36.p101-C3X14C160-GPL-(FP85)

$ mlanutl mlan0 version
Version string received: USB8801-14.85.36.p101-C3X14C160-GPL-(FP85)
$ iwpriv mlan0 version
mlan0 version: USB8801-14.85.36.p101-C3X14C160-GPL-(FP85)

rmmod mlan sd8xxx # for SDIO driver; or
rmmod mlan usb8xx # for USB driver

EVK-LILY-W1 - User Guide

UBX-15030290 - R04 Software Page 20 of 25

Listing 7: Create a Wi-Fi access point

⚠ The capability of the provided reference tools (for example, uaputl) differs depending on the driver

package versions.

For older versions of the driver package, use the following commands to set the AP configuration
including SSID, channel and encryption, and to start the AP:

To assign an IP address to the access point interface:

Additionally, it is recommended to use a DHCP server on the interface.

The list of client stations that are currently associated with the AP can be obtained with the “uaputl
sta_list” command, for example:

4.6.2 Wi-Fi station mode

4.6.2.1 Using Marvell tools

This example will connect the LILY-W1 module as a station to an access point. A description of the
used commands and parameters can be found in the provided

README

and

README_MLAN

files.

Listing 8: Connect to an access point (AP) in station mode

4.6.2.2 Using wpa_supplicant

It is also possible to let

wpa_supplicant

handle the connection to the access point. For this, create a

configuration file containing the following network settings:

./uaputl.exe sys_cfg_ssid LILY-W1 # set AP SSID to "LILY-W1"

./uaputl.exe sys_cfg_channel 6 # set AP radio channel to 6
./uaputl.exe sys_cfg_11n 1 0x112c 3 0 0xff # enable 802.11n mode with short guard interval
./uaputl.exe sys_cfg_80211d state 1 country US # enable 802.11d, set country

# configure encryption:
./uaputl.exe sys_cfg_auth 0 # Open authentication
./uaputl.exe sys_cfg_protocol 32 # WPA2
./uaputl.exe sys_cfg_cipher 8 8 # CCMP
./uaputl.exe sys_cfg_wpa_passphrase topsecret # set passphrase "topsecret"

./uaputl.exe bss_start # start the AP

iwpriv uap0 apcfg "ASCII_CMD=AP_CFG,SSID=LILY-W1,CHANNEL=6,SEC=wpa2-psk,KEY=topsecret"
iwpriv uap0 bsstart

ifconfig uap0 192.168.1.1

./uaputl sta_list

Number of STA = 1

STA 1 information:
=====================

MAC Address: 60:67:20:xx:xx:xx
Power mfg status: active

Rssi : -56 dBm

mlanutl mlan0 countrycode US # set countrycode

mlanutl mlan0 passphrase "1;ssid=MyAP;passphrase=12345678" # set passphrase for WPA/WPA2
mlanutl mlan0 reassoctrl 1 # turn on re-association
mlanutl mlan0 assocessid MyAP # connect to AP with SSID "MyAP"

udhcpc -i mlan0 # request IP address per DHCP

EVK-LILY-W1 - User Guide

UBX-15030290 - R04 Software Page 21 of 25

Listing 9: wpa_supplicant.conf

Then run the wpa_supplicant daemon using the configuration file:

To configure the IP address through DHCP:

The “iwconfig mlan0” command can be used to display parameters and statistics of the wireless
network interface.

4.7 Driver debugging

Driver debugging is provided via the kernel print function printk and the proc file system. The driver
states are recorded and can be retrieved through the proc file system during runtime. The following
files containing the debug information are provided (the actual location is dependent on the Linux
kernel version):

• /proc/mwlan/config or /proc/net/mwlan/config

• /proc/mwlan/mlanX/info or /proc/net/mwlan/mlanX/info

• /proc/mwlan/mlanX/debug or /proc/net/mwlan/mlanX/debug

☞ mlanX is the name of the device node created at runtime. Other possibilities are uapX and wfdX

for the acces point and Wi-Fi Direct interfaces respectively.

Debug messages are also printed to the kernel ring buffer through printk calls. These messages can
be accessed raw using the /proc/kmsg interface or by the

dmesg

command. Alternatively, this can be

handled by more advanced logging facilities.

4.7.1 Compile-time debug options

The extent to which debug messages are available for printing at runtime is controlled by the
CONFIG_DEBUG variable in the driver's Makefile. The CONFIG_DEBUG variable can have the following
values:

• n: debug messages are disabled and not compiled into the driver module

• 1: all kinds of debug messages can be configured except for MENTRY, MWARN and MINFO. By

default, MMSG, MFATAL, and MERROR are enabled.

• 2: all kinds of debug messages can be configured

4.7.2 Runtime debug options

Once debugging is enabled in the Makefile, debug messages can be selectively enabled or disabled at
runtime by setting or clearing the corresponding bits of the drvdbg parameter:

ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant

ap_scan=1
network={
scan_ssid=1
ssid="MyAP"
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
psk="12345678"

}

wpa_supplicant -D nl80211 -i mlan0 -c /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf –B

udhcpc -i mlan0

EVK-LILY-W1 - User Guide

UBX-15030290 - R04 Software Page 22 of 25

The value of drvdbg can be given as a module parameter when the driver is loaded, by writing to the
proc file system’s debug file or by setting it via the

iwpriv

or

mlanutl

tool.

Listing 10: Debug examples

bit 0: MMSG PRINTM(MMSG,...)

bit 1: MFATAL PRINTM(MFATAL,...)
bit 2: MERROR PRINTM(MERROR,...)
bit 3: MDATA PRINTM(MDATA,...)
bit 4: MCMND PRINTM(MCMND,...)
bit 5: MEVENT PRINTM(MEVENT,...)
bit 6: MINTR PRINTM(MINTR,...)
bit 7: MIOCTL PRINTM(MIOCTL,...)

...

bit 16: MDAT_D PRINTM(MDAT_D,...), DBG_HEXDUMP(MDAT_D,...)
bit 17: MCMD_D PRINTM(MCMD_D,...), DBG_HEXDUMP(MCMD_D,...)
bit 18: MEVT_D PRINTM(MEVT_D,...), DBG_HEXDUMP(MEVT_D,...)
bit 19: MFW_D PRINTM(MFW_D,...), DBG_HEXDUMP(MFW_D,...)
bit 20: MIF_D PRINTM(MIF_D,...), DBG_HEXDUMP(MIF_D,...)

...

bit 28: MENTRY PRINTM(MENTRY,...), ENTER(), LEAVE()
bit 29: MWARN PRINTM(MWARN,...)

bit 30: MINFO PRINTM(MINFO,...)

iwpriv mlan0 drvdbg # Get the current driver debug mask

iwpriv mlan0 drvdbg 0 # Disable all debug messages
echo "drvdbg=0x7" > /proc/mwlan/mlan0/debug # enable MMSG, MFATAL and MERROR

mlanutl mlan0 drvdbg -1 # Enable all debug messages

EVK-LILY-W1 - User Guide

UBX-15030290 - R04 Appendix Page 23 of 25

Appendix

A Glossary

Abbreviation Definition

AP Access point

API Application Programming Interface

CLI Command-Line Interface

DHCP Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol

EVB Evaluation Board

EVK Evaluation Kit

GND Ground

GPIO General-purpose input/output

I/O Input/Output

IP Internet Protocol

LDO Low Drop Out

LED Light-Emitting Diode

LTE Long Term Evolution

MAC Medium Access Control

MMC MultiMedia Card

OS Operating System

SD Secure Digital

SDIO Secure Digital Input Output

SSID Service Set Identifier

STA Station

TCP Transmission Control Protocol

uAP Micro Access Point

UDP User Datagram Protocol

USB Universal Serial Bus

VCC IC power-supply pin

WEXT Wireless Extensions

WFD Wi-Fi Direct

Wi-Fi Wireless Local Area Network

WPA Wi-Fi Protected Access

Table 16: Explanation of the abbreviations and terms used

EVK-LILY-W1 - User Guide

UBX-15030290 - R04 Related documents Page 24 of 25

Related documents

[1] u-blox Limited Use License Agreement for Marvell SW platform and OSS Deliverables
[2] LILY-W1 System Integration Manual, Document No. UBX-15027600
[3] LILY-W1 series Data sheet, Document No. UBX-15000203
[4] Sample card reader for Linux: Sonnet SDXC UHS-I Pro Reader/Writer ExpressCard/34 -

http://www.sonnettech.com/product/sdxcproreader.html

[5] Radio Test Guide Application Note, Document No. UBX-15014433

☞ For regular updates to u-blox documentation and to receive product change notifications, register

on our homepage (www.u-blox.com).

Revision history

Revision Date Name Comments

R01 8-Mar-2016 mzes, kgom Initial release.

R02 8-Apr-2016 mzes Document status updated to Advance Information. Updated the version of

the USB driver package and removed information about previously required
patches. Added information about the part number of the LTE filter on EVK­LILY-W131 (section 3.4.3). Added reference to the Radio Test Guide
Application Note.

R03 19-Aug-2016 mzes, kgom Modified the document status to Early Production Information. Updated

section 4 - Software to the latest SDIO and USB reference driver versions.
Updated external antennas included in EVK-LILY-W131. Updated EVB
schematics in section 3.6.

R04 3-Jul-2018 shoe, kgom Updated section 4.6.1 to cover missing command support in uaputl for

setting passphrase on some driver package releases.

EVK-LILY-W1 - User Guide

UBX-15030290 - R04 Contact Page 25 of 25

Contact

For complete contact information, visit us at www.u-blox.com.

u-blox Offices

North, Central and South America

u-blox America, Inc.

Phone: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]

Regional Office West Coast:

Phone: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]

Technical Support:

Phone: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]

Headquarters
Europe, Middle East, Africa

u-blox AG

Phone: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]
Support: [e-mail]

Asia, Australia, Pacific

u-blox Singapore Pte. Ltd.

Phone: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]
Support: [e-mail]

Regional Office Australia:

Phone: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]
Support: [e-mail]

Regional Office China (Beijing):

Phone: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]
Support: [e-mail]

Regional Office China (Chongqing):

Phone: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]
Support: [e-mail]

Regional Office China (Shanghai):

Phone: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]
Support: [e-mail]

Regional Office China (Shenzhen):

Phone: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]
Support: [e-mail]

Regional Office India:

Phone: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]
Support: [e-mail]

Regional Office Japan (Osaka):

Phone: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]
Support: [e-mail]

Regional Office Japan (Tokyo):

Phone: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]
Support: [e-mail]

Regional Office Korea:

Phone: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]
Support: [e-mail]

Regional Office Taiwan:

Phone: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]
Support: [e-mail]