Wi-Fi DPP credential sharing between two Linux boards using PN7160 – P2P vs Type-4 Tag mode?

[Niranjan123]

Hello NXP Team,

I am working on Wi-Fi onboarding between two Linux boards (MediaTek Genio 510 EVK) using PN7160 NFC controller and the NXP Linux NFC stack:

https://github.com/NXPNFCLinux/linux_libnfc-nci

System Setup

• Board-1 (M1)

  • Acts as Wi-Fi Access Point (AP) using hostapd

  • PN7160 NFC enabled

• Board-2 (M2)

  • Acts as Wi-Fi Station (STA) using wpa_supplicant

  • PN7160 NFC enabled

Currently:

• Wi-Fi AP/STA connection works when credentials are manually configured

• NFC read/write and poll examples from nfcDemoApp are working correctly

Goal

I want to automatically provision Wi-Fi credentials from M1 (AP) to M2 (STA) using Wi-Fi DPP (Easy Connect) with NFC as the bootstrap channel, similar to Wi-Fi Alliance onboarding.

Questions

1. NFC Mode Selection

For Wi-Fi DPP credential provisioning between two boards:

• Should NFC Peer-to-Peer (P2P / LLCP / SNEP) mode be used?

• Or should Type-4 Tag emulation (NDEF, application/vnd.wfa.wsc or DPP URI) be used on the AP side, with the STA acting as an NFC reader?

From Wi-Fi Alliance references, it seems NFC is mainly used as a bootstrap channel, but I would like confirmation of the recommended NFC mode when using PN7160.

2. Using NXP demoapp

Using the existing linux_libnfc-nci demoapp examples:

• Can the Type-4 Tag emulation example be extended to:

  • Emulate a Wi-Fi configuration tag on M1 (AP)

  • Provide Wi-Fi onboarding data to M2 (STA)

• Is NFC P2P + SNEP recommended or discouraged for Wi-Fi DPP onboarding?

3. Wi-Fi DPP Integration

Once NFC data is received on M2:

• Is the recommended flow:

  • NFC → DPP bootstrap info (URI / public key)

  • Followed by DPP authentication over Wi-Fi using wpa_supplicant?

Are there reference examples or guidelines from NXP for integrating:

• PN7160 NFC stack

• Linux wpa_supplicant DPP commands
  to achieve automatic AP–STA connection?

Summary

I am looking for guidance on:

1. Correct NFC mode (P2P vs Type-4 Tag) for Wi-Fi DPP

2. How to reuse or extend the existing NXP demoapp

3. Recommended architecture for secure, Wi-Fi Alliance–compliant onboarding between two Linux boards

Any references, sample flows, or best practices would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your support.

Best regards,
Niranjan

[Fabian_R]

Thank you for your interest in our products.

The recommended solution would be to use one of our Connected tags. In your described setup, we recommend the M1 (AP) board to have an NTAG 5 Link board connected. The Host generates in the Tag the proper NDEF message to be read and provisions the required credentials for secure access.

In case you are interested in using SNEP, it will require NFC Readers on both sides. This will increase the costs and the P2P implementation, which requires additional command exchanges. It will also require additional SW development effort that complies with the specification.

Please keep in mind that using an NTAG 5 on the AP side, you need to build the NDEF Message according to the NFC Forum specification for both the NDEF Message and the Type 5 Tag memory configuration specification. It is necessary to purchase both specifications.

On the M2 board, you will require an NFC Reader like the PN7160, which will read the NDEF and establish the connection with the AP.

I hope this information may have been useful.

[Niranjan123]

Hi @Fabian_R

Thank you for the clarification.

I understand that using SNEP requires NFC Readers on both sides, which increases BOM cost and also adds complexity due to P2P command exchanges and additional software development as per the NFC specifications.

However, for our use case, we would like to evaluate this approach further.

Could you please help clarify the following points regarding the SNEP-based solution:

1. Architecture guidance

   • Should both Linux boards run in Reader/Initiator mode with P2P enabled?

   • Is one board expected to act as a SNEP Server and the other as a SNEP Client, or do both need to support both roles?

2. Software stack requirements

   • Can this be implemented using the linux_libnfc-nci stack and demo applications (e.g., SNEP or P2P examples)?

   • Are there any specific configuration changes required in the NFC stack for SNEP-based credential exchange?

3. Data exchange flow

   • Is it recommended to exchange Wi-Fi DPP bootstrap information (QR URI / public key) via SNEP payload?

   • After receiving the data via NFC, should the application directly trigger wpa_supplicant DPP commands on the enrollee side?

4. Compliance considerations

   • Are there any mandatory NFC Forum compliance requirements we need to follow for SNEP-based P2P communication in this scenario?

A high-level step-by-step flow or reference implementation guidance for using SNEP to transfer Wi-Fi DPP credentials between two Linux boards would be very helpful for us to evaluate feasibility.

Thank you for your support.