Access Point#

1. Purpose / Scope#

This application demonstrates how to configure the RS9116W EVK as a soft Access point and allows stations to connect to it and enables TCP data transmission from the connected Wi-Fi station to Silicon Labs Access Point.

2. Prerequisites / Setup Requirements#

Before running the application, the user will need the following things to setup.

2.1 Hardware Requirements#

Windows PC with Host interface (UART / SPI).
Silicon Labs RS9116 Wi-Fi Evaluation Kit
Host MCU Eval Kit. This example has been tested with:
- Silicon Labs WSTK + EFR32MG21
- STM32F411 Nucleo
Windows PC (Remote PC) with iperf application

Setup Diagram for Access Point Start Example

2.2 Software Requirements#

WiSeConnect SDK.
Embedded Development Environment.
- For STM32, use licensed Keil IDE
- For Silicon Labs EFx32, use the latest version of Simplicity Studio.
- Iperf Application in Windows PC(Remote PC)

3. Application Build Environment#

3.1 Platform#

The Application can be built and executed on below Host platforms

3.2 Host Interface#

By default, the application is configured to use the SPI bus for interfacing between Host platforms and the RS9116W EVK.
The SAPI driver provides APIs to enable other host interfaces if SPI is not suitable for your needs.

3.3 Project Configuration#

The Application is provided with the project folder containing Keil and Simplicity Studio project files.

Keil Project
- The Keil project is used to evaluate the application on STM32.
- Project path: <SDK>/examples/snippets/wlan/access_point/projects/access_point-nucleo-f411re.uvprojx
Simplicity Studio
- The Simplicity Studio project is used to evaluate the application on EFR32MG21.
- Project path:
  - If the Radio Board is BRD4180A or BRD4181A, then access the path <SDK>/examples/snippets/wlan/access_point/projects/access_point-brd4180a-mg21.slsproj
  - If the Radio Board is BRD4180B or BRD4181B, then access the path <SDK>/examples/snippets/wlan/access_point/projects/access_point-brd4180b-mg21.slsproj
  - User can find the Radio Board version as given below

EFR Radio Boards

3.4 Bare Metal Support#

This application supports only bare metal environment. By default, the application project files (Keil and Simplicity studio) are provided with bare metal configuration in the SDK.

4. Application Configuration Parameters#

The application can be configured to suit user requirements and development environment. Read through the following sections and make any changes needed.

4.1 Open rsi_ap_start.c file#

4.1.1 The desired parameters are provided below. User can also modify the parameters as per their needs and requirements.#

SSID refers to the name of the Access point to be created.

#define SSID                                 "SILABS_AP"

CHANNEL_NO refers to the channel in which AP would be started

#define CHANNEL_NO                           11

SECURITY_TYPE refers type of security. Access point supports Open, WPA, WPA2 securities.

Valid configurations are:

RSI_OPEN - For OPEN security mode
RSI_WPA - For WPA security mode
RSI_WPA2 - For WPA2 security mode

#define SECURITY_TYPE                        RSI_WPA2

ENCRYPTION_TYPE refers to the type of Encryption method. Access point supports OPEN, TKIP, CCMP encryption methods.

Valid configurations are:

RSI_CCMP - For CCMP encryption
RSI_TKIP - For TKIP encryption
RSI_NONE - For open encryption

#define ENCRYPTION_TYPE                      RSI_CCMP

PSK refers to the secret key if the Access point to be configured in WPA/WPA2 security modes.

#define PSK                      "1234567890"

BEACON_INTERVAL refers to the time delay between two consecutive beacons in milliseconds. Allowed values are integers from 100 to 1000 which are multiples of 100.

#define BEACON_INTERVAL                      100

DTIM_INTERVAL refers DTIM interval of the Access Point. Allowed values are from 1 to 255.

#define DTIM_INTERVAL                        4

DEVICE_PORT port refers TCP server port number

#define DEVICE_PORT                          5001

NUMEBR_OF_PACKETS refers how many packets to receive from remote TCP client.

#define NUMBER_OF_PACKETS                    1000

GLOBAL_BUFF_LEN refers the memory length for driver

#define GLOBAL_BUFF_LEN                      15000

RECV_BUFFER_SIZE refers receive data length

#define RECV_BUFFER_SIZE                      1000

IP address to be configured to the device should be in long format and in little endian byte order.

Example: To configure "192.168.10.1" as IP address, update the macro DEVICE_IP as 0x010AA8C0.

#define DEVICE_IP                            0X010AA8C0

IP address of the gateway should also be in long format and in little endian byte order

Example: To configure "192.168.10.1" as Gateway, update the macro GATEWAY as 0x010AA8C0

#define GATEWAY                              0x010AA8C0

IP address of the network mask should also be in long format and in little endian byte order

Example: To configure "255.255.255.0" as network mask, update the macro NETMASK as 0x00FFFFFF

#define NETMASK                              0x00FFFFFF

4.2 Open rsi_wlan_config.h file. User can also modify the below parameters as per their needs and requirements.#

#define CONCURRENT_MODE                      RSI_DISABLE
#define RSI_FEATURE_BIT_MAP                  FEAT_SECURITY_PSK
#define RSI_TCP_IP_BYPASS                    RSI_DISABLE
#define RSI_TCP_IP_FEATURE_BIT_MAP           TCP_IP_FEAT_DHCPV4_SERVER
#define RSI_BAND                             RSI_BAND_2P4GHZ

5. Testing the Application#

User has to follow the below steps for the successful execution of the application.

5.1 Loading the RS9116W Firmware#

Refer Getting started with a PC to load the firmware into RS9116W EVK. The firmware file is located in <SDK>/firmware/

5.2 Building the Application on Host Platform#

5.2.1 Using STM32#

Refer Getting started with STM32

Open the project <SDK>/examples/snippets/wlan/access_point/projects/access_point-nucleo-f411re.uvprojx
Build and Debug the project
Check for the RESET pin:
- If RESET pin is connected from STM32 to RS9116W EVK, then user need not press the RESET button on RS9116W EVK before free run.
- If RESET pin is not connected from STM32 to RS9116 , then user need to press the RESET button on RS9116W EVK before free run.
Free run the project
Then continue the common steps from 5.3

5.2.2 Using EFX32#

Refer Getting started with EFX32

Open Simplicity Studio and import the project from <SDK>/examples/snippets/wlan/access_point/projects
Select the appropriate .slsproj as per the Radio Board type mentioned in Section 3.3
Compile and flash the project in to Host MCU
Debug the project
Check for the RESET pin:
- If RESET pin is connected from STM32 to RS9116W EVK, then user need not press the RESET button on RS9116W EVK before free run
- If RESET pin is not connected from STM32 to Rs9116W EVK, then user need to press the RESET button on RS9116W EVK before free run
Free run the project
Then continue the common steps from 5.3

5.3 Common Steps#

After program gets executed, RS9116W EVK will be created as an Access Point with configured SSID ( Ex: "SILABS_AP") and opens TCP server socket on DEVICE_PORT and waits for TCP connection request from TCP client. Now scan and connect to Device Access Point (Ex: "SILABS_AP" is the AP name) from Laptop.
After successful connection, open iperf application from remote PC command Prompt.
Connect to TCP Server running on RS9116W EVK using below command
iperf.exe -c <DEVICE_IP> -p <DEVICE_PORT> -i 1 -t 100
The RS9116W EVK accepts connection request and receives data on the TCP server port and exit after receiving configured NUMBER_OF_PACKETS

Receiving data on the TCP server port