IW611 firmware load

[bakerngan]

Hi, am working on an MCU system in which the FW is loaded via UART to a Murata IW611 chipset. At bootup, the IW611 starts off at 115200 baud, and the baud can further be changed after the FW is loaded, (to 3M baud for example). I was wondering if there was a way to change the default baud rate for the FW load step, is this possible.

Also is there a github link with the latest NXP chipset FW, i.e (.bin or .hex files)

Thanks,

[Christine_Li]

Hi, @bakerngan 

Thanks for creating case to us.

I will check the details and reply to you if need further info or have any updates.

Best regards,

Christine.

[Christine_Li]

Hi, @bakerngan 

You can download our latest FW through below way:

For FW:

# git clone https://github.com/NXP/imx-firmware.git -b lf-6.12.20-2.0.0

# cd imx-firmware/nxp/

For your information, you can refer to our I.MX RT series(Which is FRTOS) documents to use IW611's Wi-Fi/Bluetooth.

Hope below link's doc can help you somehow.

https://docs.nxp.com/bundle/UM11441/page/topics/run_a_wifi_demo_application.html

https://docs.nxp.com/bundle/UM11443/page/topics/wi-fi_debug_features_and_configurations.html

Best regards,

Christine.

[Christine_Li]

Hi, @bakerngan 

For Wi-Fi module, the default baud rate is fixed by our module partner.

Could not modify the default baud rate manually before/during FW loading.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Please let me know whether have any other concerns on this case.

Have a nice day!

Best regards,

Christine.

[Christine_Li]

Hi, @bakerngan 

Anything else I can do for you on this case?

Best regards,

Christine.

[bakerngan]

I think that is all the questions i have for now

[bakerngan]

actually, i do have one last question, 

So i go into the fw directory for iw611 FW. I see 4 files,

sd_w61x_v1.bin.se

sduart_nw61x_v1.bin.se

uartspi_n61x_v1.bin.se

uartuart_n61x_v1.bin.se

What is the difference between these 4? Which one should i be using. I am using uart for bt and sdio for wifi. I am assuming it has something to do with the interfaces, but it would be helpful to know what they mean. 

Thanks

[Christine_Li]

Hi, @bakerngan 

Thanks for your reply. Yes, you are right, these FWs are related to interface and protocols.

sd_w61x_v1.bin.se

This is a Wi-Fi only FW which using SDIO interface.

sduart_nw61x_v1.bin.se

This is Wi-Fi(SDIO) and Bluetooth(UART) combo FW for IW611.

For IW612, this FW also includes 802.15.4, means Wi-Fi+Bluetooth+802.15.4 combo FW.

uartspi_n61x_v1.bin.se

This one is Bluetooth(UART) and 802.15.4(SPI) for IW612.

The difference between IW611 and IW612 is: IW611 doesn't support 802.15.4, but IW612 supports. So, for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, IW611 is same with IW612. 

uartuart_n61x_v1.bin.se

I have never seen this uartuart FW before. When I download the FW from our nxp.com, there is no uartuart FW. I think you can also ignore this one when you use in your project.

Hope above is clear for you.

Please do not hesitate to let me know if you still have any questions.

Otherwise, please help to click my answer as a solution so that we can close this thread.

For sure, if you have any other questions or topics, feel free to create new case to us.

Have a nice day~

Best regards,

Christine.

[Christine_Li]

Hi， @bakerngan 

For uartuart_n61x_v1.bin.se

I have checked internally, now this one is useless. Please ignore it.

Please do not hesitate to let me know if you still have any questions.

Otherwise, please help to click my answer as a solution so that we can close this thread.

For sure, if you have any other questions or topics, feel free to create new case to us.

Have a nice day~

Best regards,

Christine.

[bakerngan]

Since there is a wifi only FW, is there  a bluetooth only FW? I see the uartuart one has the smallest size, could that be the case? I have tried it and it seems to work with bluetooth. In out application we are using only BT for now, so the smaller sizes makes it more convenient for loading. 

[Christine_Li]

Hi, @bakerngan 

Currently we do not have BT only FW file, but for IW611 you can use this one:

uartspi_n61x_v1.bin.se

Because IW611 doesn't support SPI(802.15.4), you can use this FW to ignore Wi-Fi part and 802.15.4 part. And also this FW size is pretty smaller than Wi-Fi+BT combo FW.

Hope it can help you somehow.

Best regards,

Christine.

[Christine_Li]

Hi, @bakerngan 

No, please do not use this uartuart one currently.

It has not been tested by our QA team, so we do not recommend to use it.

Even I think uartuart one should be the BT only FW, but before we give the confirmed info, please do not use it in your project to avoid some unexpected issues.

Best regards,

Christine.

[Christine_Li]

Hi, @bakerngan 

Anything else I can do for you on this case?

If still need any help or have any concerns on this case, please do not hesitate to let me know or create a new case to us.

Best regards,

Christine.

[bakerngan]

Hi, I have asked Murata the same question, and they say it is possible in the bootloader to change the baud rate before FW load. My question is, who owns the code for the bootrom? Is it NXP or Murata? From the NXP SDK it looks like the FW loading protocol is by NXP, not murata. Is it possible to escalate this further so I can get more information.

Thanks

[Christine_Li]

Hi, @bakerngan 

Usually, for modules, the default baud rate is defined by our module partner.

If you are using our chip to make modules by yourself, then you can change the default baud rate in manufacture mode. But you mentioned you are using module, not COB design, so we do not recommend you to change the default baud rate.

who owns the code for the boot rom?

=>Yes, NXP.

From the NXP SDK it looks like the FW loading protocol is by NXP, not murata.

==>Can you please let me know your SDK version? Where SDK did you get? I can download the same SDK with you to check it for you.

Best regards,

Christine.

[bakerngan]

Hi @Christine_Li could you explain why it is not recommended to change the default baud rate in the FW load phase? As far as I understand, it is defaulted to 115200 just because it is a common baud, setting it to 3M after the FW load works fine, why would this not be the case in FW load? 

As for the SDK, I am using the latest from NXP 2.16 (mcu expresso). In the bluetooth examples, specifically, the examples specify a primary and secondary baud rate. It looks like the boot-rom can switch to this secondary baud rate if it fails to communicate with the primary baud rate. (the primary being 115200 and secondary, much faster at 3M). I had issues getting the secondary baud rate to work however, so brought be here in the first place. 

In the earlier post you mentioned this wasn't possible since the baud rate was set by the partner (Murata), but since NXP owns the code for the FW and the boot rom, can you clarify that this is still case even though there seems to be code in the FW loading protocol to support multiple baud rates. 

[Christine_Li]

Hi, @bakerngan 

By the way, are you using our RT series as your MCU platform?

Would you mind let me know your MCU platform?

And for the BT example, can you please let me know the detailed name?

For the SDK, did you download our RT series SDK?

Best regards,

Christine.

[bakerngan]

I am not using an NXP MCU, but an ALIF E7 MCU. I have ported over the low level uart drivers to my system but I am using the top level protocol to initiate the FW download protocol. 

I am using this fw_loader_uart.c file as a reference, which includes references to a secondary baud rate I have attached the file as well. 

So back to my original question, is if this secondary baud rate (faster speed) supported in the boot fw by the iw611. 

[Christine_Li]

Hi， @bakerngan 

The FW_Loader utility downloads the Bluetooth firmware directly to the Wireless SoC device via the bootloader.
The default baud rate of the bootloader is 115,200 bps and the flow control is disabled.

A wireless SoC bootloader supports high baud rates and flow control changes. The FW_loader can issue one CMD5 to change the bootloader baud rate and then download the firmware directly to the device.

So, it means, for your question, my answer is: yes, this secondary baud rate (faster speed) supported in the boot fw by the iw611. 

Best regards,

Christine.

[bakerngan]

Hi, thanks for confirming the chip is capable of switching to a faster baud rate, this is currently what I am trying to acheive. Is there any documentation that describes this protocol to change the baud rate?, i.e what is CMD5? It would be helpful if I could get a document that describes the commands I need to send to change the baud rate

[Christine_Li]

Hi, @bakerngan 

Sorry for the inconvenience. This kind of doc is under security, even I also do not have permissive to get it. We only have FW_Loader utility to finish this baud rate improve process as below:

2.2 High baud rate change with bootloader
The FW_loader command shown below includes an additional optional parameter to set the second baud rate.
fw_loader <ComPort> <BaudRate> <FlowControl> <FileName> <SecondBaudRate>
Command example for IW611:
# ./fw_loader /dev/ttymxc2 115200 0 uartspi_n61x_v1.bin.se 3000000
Note: The UART port is /dev/ttymxc2 and the baud rate is 3000000 bit/s. For uncalibrated EVBs, use the baud rate of 115200 bit/s. To check the UART port, enter dmesg | grep /dev/tty.

Best regards,

Christine.