Introduction

PEB-WLBT-05 for phyBOARD-Mira

PHYTEC's WLAN adapter, PEB-WLBT-05, is aimed to support your processor with WiFi and Bluetooth. However, the connection and the way of using it differs according to the target processor kit.

For each kit, there are  4 variants depending on the frequency of WiFi and antenna type.

There are two WiFi variants:

• IEEE 802.11 b/g/n which supports 2.4 GHz
• IEEE 802.11 b/g/n/ac which supports 2.5 and  5Ghz

There are two antenna variants:

• Chip antenna
• U.FL connector (enables external antenna)

The Bluetooth is delivered via a UART interface, and it requires all 4 lines of UART (CTS, RTS, TX, RX). The WiFi is delivered via SDIO interface and it requires (SDIO-CLK, CMD, D0, D1, D2, D3).

In this guide, we explain how to connect and install the PEB-WLBT-05 on the phyBOARD-Mira.

Specification

The PEB-WLBT-05 supports the Mira kit with WiFi and Bluetooth and has the following variants depending on frequency and antenna configuration:

• PEB-WLBT-05-02C 
  • IEEE 802.11 b/g/n which supports 2.4 GHz, via Sterling-LWB chip
  • Mounted Chip Antenna
  • Bluetooth v4.2 BR /DR/LE
• PEB-WLBT-05-02E
  • IEEE 802.11 b/g/n which supports 2.4 GHz, via Sterling-LWB chip
  • Mounted U.FL connector instead of Antenna
  • Bluetooth v4.2 BR /DR/LE
• PEB-WLBT-05-05C
  • IEEE 802.11 b/g/n/ac which supports 2.5GHz and 5 GHz, via Sterling-LWB5 chip
  • Mounted Chip Antenna
  • Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, Bluetooth 3.0, Bluetooth 4.2 (Bluetooth Low Energy)
• PEB-WLBT-05-02E
  • IEEE 802.11 b/g/n/ac which supports 2.5GHz and 5 GHz, via Sterling-LWB5 chip
  • Mounted U.FL connector instead of Antenna
  • Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, Bluetooth 3.0, Bluetooth 4.2 (Bluetooth Low Energy)

WiFi: The WiFi is delivered via the SDIO3 interface to the i.MX6 Processor which is held internally from X1.

Bluetooth: The Bluetooth signal is conveyed to the processor externally using UART3 Interface on X23 via a specially configured cable from PEB-WLBT-05 (X3) to the phyBOARD-Mira (X23)  as seen in the picture below.

Hardware Installation

Step 1: Install the PEB-WLBT-05 on the phyBOARD-Mira Expansion Connector (X17). Note the position of Pin 1 on both the PEB-WLBT-05 and phyBOARD-Mira.

Connecting PEB-WLBT-05 to phyBOARD-Mira

phyBOARD-Mira with PEB-WLBT-05 (Outlined) (top view)

phyBOARD-Mira with PEB-WLBT-05 (connection outlined) (side view)

Step 2: Connect the PEB-WLBT-05 to UART3 connector (X23).

UART 3 (X27) to PEB-WLBT-05 Connection

Step 3: To enable Bluetooth, connect the UART cable as illustrated in the previous picture

Step 4: Start the software installation.

1. WiFi jumpers must be set as:

   Jumper	Mira Configuration WiFi
   J11	2+3
   J12	2+3
   J13	1+2

2. Bluetooth jumpers must be as:

   Jumper	Mira Configuration Bluetooth
   J3	1+2
   J4	2+3
   J5	2+3
   J6	1+2

Software Installation

As indicated in the specifications, the PEB-WLBT-05 is offered in a 2.4 and 5 GHz version. The 5GHz-chipset differs from the 2.4GHz variant, that means the firmware used for the modules are not the same.

Firmware for the PEB-WLBT-05 with 2.4 GHz: laird-lwb-firmware.tar.bz2
Firmware for the PEB-WLBT-05 with 5 GHz:    laird-lwb5-etsi-firmware-8.2.0.16.tar.bz2

Here an example on how to extract the needed files:

host$ tar -xjf laird-lwb5-etsi-firmware-8.2.0.16.tar.bz2
host$ ls lib/firmware/
brcm regulatory.db regulatory_etsi.db

On Windows operating system, just extract the corresponding archive with an extraction tool (e.g. WinZip).

• Copy the extracted brcm - directory to the target system, either with a USB device or over ethernet.
• Copy the brcm - directory to the right path in the target system and then reboot:

root@phyboard-segin-imx6ul-6:~# cp -r brcm/ /lib/firmware/
root@phyboard-segin-imx6ul-6:~# reboot

In case the interface is enabled, the driver should correctly load the firmware and initialize the wi-fi module:

..
[ 7.955240] brcmfmac: brcmf_fw_map_chip_to_name: using brcm/brcmfmac4339-sdio.bin for chip 0x004339(17209) rev 0x000002
[ 8.342546] brcmfmac: brcmf_c_preinit_dcmds: Firmware version = wl0: Sep 9 2019 12:24:31 version 6.37.39.114 (r722401 CY)
..
root@phyboard-segin-imx6ul-6:~# ifconfig | grep wlan
wlan0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr C0:EE:40:36:45:5E

Further information on how to enable the needed interfaces is described in the next section.

Enable and Setup PEB-WLBT-05

The PEB-WLBT-05 module interfaces are deactivated from the device-tree by default but can be activated easily with a script that is provided in the BSP. For instructions on how to enable the PEB-WLBT-05 support, please refer to BSP Reference Manual - phyCORE-i.MX 6UL/ULL (L-844e.A3)#EnableWi-FiExpansionBoards

Wireless Network

For wireless configurations and connection management, the 'iw' utility is preinstalled.

For more information about 'iw':
https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/en/users/documentation/iw

For a tutorial on how to set up wireless:
Yocto Reference Manual (L-813e.Ax) Head#ChangingtheWirelessNetworkConfiguration

Bluetooth

Like the Wi-Fi chip, Bluetooth also needs firmware to work. The BT-driver will not load the firmware automatically, it has to be done manually.

For further Bluetooth setup and configuration, follow this Link:
BSP Reference Manual - phyCORE-i.MX 6UL/ULL (L-844e.Ax) Head#Bluetooth