NXP Semiconductors UM11483 User manual
UM11483
Getting Started with NXP-based Wireless Modules on i.MX 8M
Quad EVK Running Linux OS
Rev. 2 — 21 January 2021 User manual
Document information
Information Content
Keywords i.MX 8M Quad Evaluation Kit (EVK), 88W8987-based wireless module,
88W8997-based wireless module
Abstract Details the bring-up of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on NXP-based wirelesss modules
connected with i.MX 8M Quad EVK running on Linux OS
NXP Semiconductors UM11483
Getting Started with NXP-based Wireless Modules on i.MX 8M Quad EVK Running Linux OS
Rev Date Description
v.1 20201015 Initial version
v.2 20210121 Modifications
•Extended the scope to 88W8987- and 88W8997-based wireless modules
•Updated the document title and overall document structure
Revision history
UM11483 All information provided in this document is subject to legal disclaimers. © NXP B.V. 2021. All rights reserved.
User manual Rev. 2 — 21 January 2021
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NXP Semiconductors UM11483
Getting Started with NXP-based Wireless Modules on i.MX 8M Quad EVK Running Linux OS
1 About this document
1.1 Purpose and scope
This document details the enabling of wireless solutions on i.MX 8M Quad evaluation
kit. The i.MX 8M Quad EVK is powered by Linux and the NXP Linux drivers are used for
NXP-based wireless modules. The manual covers the bring-up of i.MX 8M Quad EVK,
the configurations for the BSP image and the hardware connection with NXP-based
wireless modules. The later chapters describe how to bring up the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
interfaces.
This document specifies the hardware interconnection and software support for the i.MX
8M Quad evaluation kit and AzureWave AW-CM358-uSD, AW-CM358MA, and AW-
CM276MA modules to enable Wi-Fi/Bluetooth functionality. Note that the Azurewave
module AW-CM358-uSD only supports Wi-Fi with the i.MX 8M Quad EVK.
Once you have enabled the Wi-Fi and/or Bluetooth interfaces, refer to the user manual
UM11490 that details the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth features and configurations for i.MX 8M
Quad EVK.
Note: This document does not provide a detailed description of the i.MX 8M Quad BSP
nor how to generate an image and rootfs as these are covered in i.MX Yocto Project
User's Guide.
1.2 References
Reference type Description
Datasheet NXP - DS - 88W8987 - 2.4/5 GHz Dual-Band 1x1 Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5 Solution (link)
Datasheet AzureWave - AW-CM358SM - IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac WLAN with Bluetooth 5 Combo Stamp LGA
Module (link)
Datasheet AzureWave - AW-CM276MA-PUR - IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wireless LAN 2T2R and Bluetooth 5.0
Combo Module (M.2 2230) (link)
Fact sheet NXP - FS - 88W8997-802.11ac wave 2 2x2 Wi-Fi Dual-band with Bluetooth 5 SoC (link)
Fact sheet NXP - Evaluation Kit Based on i.MX 8M Quad Application Processors (link)
User guide AzureWave - AW-CM358-uSD - uSD-1212 Adapter Board for AW-AM281-uSD and AW-CM358-uSD
(link)
User manual NXP - UM - i.MX Yocto Project User's Guide (link).
User manual NXP - UM - i.MX Linux® User's Guide (link).
User manual NXP - UM11490 - Feature Configuration Guide for NXP-based Modules with i.MX 8M Quad EVK (link)
Web page NXP - 88W8987: 2.4/5 GHz Dual-Band 1x1 Wi-Fi® 5 (802.11ac) + Bluetooth® 5 Solution (link)
Web page NXP - 88W8997: 2.4/5 GHz Dual-Band 2x2 Wi-Fi® 5 (802.11ac) + Bluetooth® 5 Solution (link)
Table 1. References
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NXP Semiconductors UM11483
Getting Started with NXP-based Wireless Modules on i.MX 8M Quad EVK Running Linux OS
2 i.MX 8M Quad evaluation kit (EVK)
2.1 I.MX 8M Quad EVK overview
NXP i.MX 8M Quad Evaluation Kit (EVK) provides a platform for rapid evaluation of the
i.MX 8MQuad, i.MX 8MDual and i.MX 8MQuadLite application processors, utilizing dual
to quad Arm Cortex-A53s and single Cortex-M4 cores.
The EVK includes the hardware design files, tools and board support packages (BSPs)
for Linux where:
•The i.MX 8M Quad Linux Board Support Package (BSP) supports the Linux Operating
System (OS) on the i.MX 8M Quad application processors. The purpose of this
software package is to enable Linux support on the i.MX 8M Quad family of Integrated
Circuits (ICs) and their associated platforms. It provides the necessary software to
interface the standard open-source Linux kernel to the i.MX 8M Quad hardware.
•The i.MX 8M Quad BSP is based on the latest long-term stable (LTS) version of
the Linux kernel, which is enhanced with the features provided by NXP and can be
accommodate customized Linux kernel configurations.
2.2 i.MX 8M Quad evaluation board
The i.MX 8M Quad evaluation board is based on the NXP i.MX 8M Quad application
processor. The i.MX 8M Quad processor features an advanced implementation of
the Quad Arm Cortex-A53+ ARM Cortex-M4 core which operates at speeds up to
1.5 GHz and 266 MHz respectively. The i.MX 8M Quad features an integrated power
management module that reduces the complexity of an external power supply and
simplifies the power sequencing. Each processor provides a 32-bit LVDDR3L/DDR4/
LPDDR4 memory interface and other interfaces to connect peripherals such as HDMI,
LCD, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and camera sensors.
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NXP Semiconductors UM11483
Getting Started with NXP-based Wireless Modules on i.MX 8M Quad EVK Running Linux OS
Figure 1. i.MX 8M Quad EVK block diagram
For more information about the application processor, please refer to the data sheet and
reference manual on www.nxp.com.
Table 2 lists the features of i.MX 8M Quad EVK.
Features Features (continued)
i.MX 8M Quad applications processor with five cores (4×Arm
® Cortex ® -A53 and 1× Cortex-M4)
M.2 connector for Wi-Fi/Bluetooth (PCIe, USB, UART, I2C
and I2S)
3 GB, 32-bit LPDDR4 with 1.6 GHz clock USB3.0 Type-A connector
eMMC 5.0, 16 GB HDMI2.0a Type-A connector
32 MB Octal SPI NOR flash 1 Gbit/s Ethernet
Micro SD card connector Mini-SAS MIPI-DSI connector
USB3.0 Type-C connector with PD support 2x mini-SAS MIPI-CSI connectors for Camera
USB to serial converter for debug Infrared receiver LEDs for power indication and general-
purpose use
3.5 mm audio jack for amplified speakers JTAG 10-pin connector
Table 2. Features of i.MX 8M Quad
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NXP Semiconductors UM11483
Getting Started with NXP-based Wireless Modules on i.MX 8M Quad EVK Running Linux OS
2.3 i.MX 8M Quad evaluation board interfaces
Figure 2 shows the front view of i.MX 8M Quad evaluation board with pointers to the
interfaces.
Figure 2. i.MX 8M Quad evaluation board interfaces - Front view
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NXP Semiconductors UM11483
Getting Started with NXP-based Wireless Modules on i.MX 8M Quad EVK Running Linux OS
Figure 3 shows the back view of i.MX 8M Quad evaluation board with pointers to the
interfaces.
Figure 3. i.MX 8M Quad evaluation board interfaces - Back view
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NXP Semiconductors UM11483
Getting Started with NXP-based Wireless Modules on i.MX 8M Quad EVK Running Linux OS
2.4 i.MX 8M Quad switch settings
Figure 4 shows the two switches on i.MX 8M Quad evaluation board. The Boot Device
Switch is used to select the boot drive while the Boot Mode Switch is used to set the boot
mode.
Figure 4. Boot device switch and boot mode switch on i.MX 8M Quad evaluation board
Table 3 shows the settings of the boot mode switch.
D1 D2 Boot mode
0 1 Serial downloader
1 0 Internal boot
Table 3. Boot mode switch settings
Table 4 shows the settings of the boot device switch to boot from eMMC.
D1 D2 D3 D4
OFF OFF ON OFF
Table 4. Switch settings to boot from eMMC
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NXP Semiconductors UM11483
Getting Started with NXP-based Wireless Modules on i.MX 8M Quad EVK Running Linux OS
3 NXP-based wireless modules
This document revision addresses 88W8987-based and 88W8997-based wireless
modules.
• 88W8987: refer to 88W8987 short datasheet and 88W8987 product overview on NXP
website.
• 88W8997: refer to 88W8997 fact sheet and 88W8997 product overview on NXP
website.
3.1 Interface with i.MX 8M Quad application processor
Figure 5 shows the high-level block diagram of i.MX 8M Quad application processor with
the Wi-Fi (SDIO/PCIe) and Bluetooth (UART) hardware interfaces used to communicate
with NXP-based wireless module.
Figure 5. Interface between the i.MX 8M Quad application processor and NXP-based wireless module
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NXP Semiconductors UM11483
Getting Started with NXP-based Wireless Modules on i.MX 8M Quad EVK Running Linux OS
3.2 Wi-Fi layer interfaces
The wireless module requires a kernel driver loaded on the i.MX 8M Quad host system
and a firmware running on 88W8987/88W8997 SoC. The MLAN module downloads
the firmware binary to the SD8987/PCIE8997 adapter when the SDIO/PCIe bus driver
detects the SDIO/PCIe interface of the module. The kernel driver (SD8987/PCIE8997) is
loaded between the bus driver and the network stack from the cfg80211 subsystem in the
kernel. NXP kernel driver includes a set of controls and configurations to communicate
with the user space through one of the following interfaces:
•Input/output control (IOCTL)
•Wireless Extension (Wext)
•CFG80211
The IOCTL provides a path to the user space applications iwconfig and iwpriv
whereas cfg80211 interface provides a different path to the user space applications
wpa_supplicant, hostapd and iw.
Figure 6 illustrates the Wi-Fi layer interface.
Figure 6. Wi-Fi layer interface
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