Asiacom Technology AC8401 User manual

Module characteristics
Support IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n wireless
standard
Support WEP, WPA and WPA2 encryption
Support UART / PWM / ADC / GPIO / I2C
/ SPI interface
Support STA / AP and other working
modes
Support Amazon FFS distribution
network
Support TLS / SSL Protocol
Support PCB antenna
3.3V power supply
Peripheral equipment:
 2x UART
1x I2C
1x SPI
5x PWM
4x ADC
Up to 14GPIOs
Working environment temperature: -
20 ℃to + 85 ℃
Half hole SMT package supporting SMT
Application
Electrical lighting
smart home / home appliances
instrumentation
health care
Industrial automation
smart energy
MODEL
Model
Antenna type
explain
AC8401
PCB Antenna
Default
Version：1.0 Release date：2021年02 月19 日
AC8401
Embedded Wi Fi module

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Catalog
1............................................................................................................................................. - 3 -
2. Electrical parameters......................................................................................................... - 3 -
2.1 Power consumption parameters................................................................................. - 3 -
2.2 work environment....................................................................................................... - 4 -
3. Radio Frequency Parameters ............................................................................................ - 4 -
3.1 Basic Radio Frequency Parameters ............................................................................. - 4 -
3.2 TX、RX performance................................................................................................... - 5 -
3.2.1 IEEE802.11b Mode ............................................................................................... - 5 -
3.2.2 IEEE802.11g Mode................................................................................................ - 6 -
3.2.3 IEEE802.11n Mode ............................................................................................... - 7 -
4. AC8401 essential information ......................................................................................... - 10 -
4.1 Pin arrangement........................................................................................................ - 10 -
4.2 Pin definition ............................................................................................................. - 10 -
4.2.1 Module hardware pin definition ........................................................................ - 10 -
4.3 Built in antenna ......................................................................................................... - 12 -
4.4 Mechanical dimension............................................................................................... - 13 -
4.5 Recommended package size ..................................................................................... - 14 -
5. Reference design............................................................................................................. - 15 -
5.1 UARTinterface design................................................................................................ - 15 -
5.2 Power supply requirements ...................................................................................... - 16 -
6.Certification instructions.................................................................................................. - 17 -
6.1Label diagram ............................................................................................................. - 17 -
6.2 FCC instructions......................................................................................................... - 17 -

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1. Product introduction
AC8401 is a high cost-effective embedded WiFi module introduced by Asean that supports
802.11a/b/g/n and can communicate with other devices via UART port.The module integrates RF
transceiver, MAC, baseband processing, all WiFi protocols and configuration information, and
network protocol stack. It can be widely used in smart home devices, remote monitoring devices,
medical devices and other fields.
The module integrates Andes Technology N10 processors with a maximum primary
frequency of 160MHz, 192KB of SRAM, and a built-in 2MB Flash.
2. Electrical parameters
2.1 Power consumption parameters
The power consumption parameters are detailed in Table 1.
Table 1 AC8401 Power consumption parameters
Specifications
Min.
Typ.
Max.
Units
VDD1
3.1
3.6
V
VIL(input low voltage)
0
0.8
V
VIH(input high voltage)
2
3.6
V
VOL(output low voltage)
0.4
V
VOH(output high voltage)
2.4
V
Io
12
mA
Standby (SP mini)
80
85
mA
pulse current @TX
11b @17dBm 11Mbps
305
mA
pulse current @TX
11g @15dBm 54Mbps
250
mA
pulse current @TX
11n @14dBm 65Mbps
225
mA
networking
305
mA
Note: It is important to ensure that VDD is not less than 3.3V

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2.2 work environment
The working environment is detailed in Table 2
Table 2 AC8401 Work Environment
Symbol
Description
Min.
Max.
Units
Ts
Storage temperature
-40
125
℃
TA
Ambient operating temperature
-20
85
℃
Vdd
Supply voltage
3.1
3.6
V
Vio
Voltage on IO pin
0
VDD
V
ESD
HBM
1000
2000
V
3. Radio Frequency Parameters
3.1 Basic Radio Frequency Parameters
RF parameters are detailed in Table 3
Table 3 AC8401 RF parameter
frequency range
2.412GHz-2.464GHz
5.15GHz-5.25GHz
Wireless Standard Support
IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n
RF power
802.11b:17dBm±1dBm
802.11g:14dBm±1dBm
802.11n:14dBm±1dBm
5G 802.11a/n:12.5dBm±1dBm
antenna
Built in: PCB antenna/
Add in: not supported
Receive Sensitivity
802.11b<-85dBm@11Mbps
802.11a/g<-72dBm@54Mbps
802.11n<-69dBm@MCS7
Protocol stack support
IPv4, TCP/UDP/FTP/HTTP/HTTPS/TLS/mDNS
Data rate (Max)
11M@802.11b, 54M@802.11g, [email protected]
Security support
Encryption Standard:Open/WEP-Open/WPA/WPA2
Encryption algorithm:WEP64/WEP128/TKIP/AES
Network type
STA/AP/STA+AP

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3.2 TX、RX performance
3.2.1 IEEE802.11b Mode
Table 4 3.2.1 basic parameters of IEEE802.11b mode
ITEM
Specification
Modulation Type
DSSS / CCK
Frequency range
2412MHz~2462MHz
Channel
CH1 to CH11
Data rate
1, 2, 5.5, 11Mbps
Table 4 transmitting performance parameters in IEEE802.11b mode
TX Characteristics
Min
Typical
Max.
Unit
Power@11Mbps
17
dBm
Frequency Error
-10
+10
ppm
EVM@11Mbps
-30
dB
Transmit spectrum mask
Pass
Table 5 receiving performance parameters in IEEE802.11b mode
RX Characteristics
Min
Typical
Max.
Unit
Minimum Input Level Sensitivity
11Mbps (FER≦8%)
-87
dBm
Maximum Input Level (FER≦8%)
-3
dBm

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3.2.2 IEEE802.11g Mode
Table 6 basic parameters in IEEE802.11g mode
ITEM
Specification
Modulation Type
OFDM
Frequency range
2412MHz~2462MHz
Channel
CH1 to CH11
Data rate
6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, 54Mbps
Table 7 transmitting performance parameters in IEEE802.11g mode
TX Characteristics
Min
Typical
Max.
Unit
Power@54Mbps
14
dBm
Frequency Error
-10
+10
ppm
EVM@54Mbps
-34
dB
Transmit spectrum mask
Pass
Table 8 receiving performance parameters in IEEE802.11g mode
RX Characteristics
Min
Typical
Max.
Unit
Minimum Input Level Sensitivity
54Mbps
-71
dBm
Maximum Input Level (FER≦
10%)
-8
dBm

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3.2.3 IEEE802.11n Mode
Table 9 basic parameters of ieee802.11n in 20MHz mode
ITEM
Specification
Modulation Type
OFDM
Frequency range
2412MHz~2462MHz
Channel
CH1 to CH11
Data rate
MCS0/1/2/3/4/5/6/7
Table 10 transmission performance parameters of ieee802.11n in 20MHz mode
TX Characteristics
Min
Typical
Max.
Unit
Power@HT20, MCS7
14
dBm
Frequency Error
-10
+10
ppm
EVM@HT20, MCS7
-30.5
dB
Transmit spectrum mask
Pass
Table 11 receiving performance parameters of ieee802.11n in 20MHz mode
RX Characteristics
Min
Typical
Max.
Unit
Minimum Input Level Sensitivity
MCS7
-69
dBm
Maximum Input Level (FER≦
10%)
-8
dBm
Table 12 basic parameters of ieee802.11n 5g 20MHz mode
ITEM
Specification
Modulation Type
OFDM
Frequency range
5.15GHz-5.25GHz
Channel
CH36 to CH48
Data rate
MCS0/1/2/3/4/5/6/7

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Table 14 transmission performance parameters in ieee802.11n 5g 20MHz mode
TX Characteristics
Min
Typical
Max.
Unit
Power@HT20, MCS7
12.5
dBm
Frequency Error
-10
+10
ppm
EVM@HT20, MCS7
-30.5
dB
Transmit spectrum mask
Pass
Table 15 receiving performance parameters in ieee802.11n 5g 20MHz mode
RX Characteristics
Min
Typical
Max.
Unit
Minimum Input Level Sensitivity
MCS7
-69
dBm
Maximum Input Level (FER≦
10%)
-8
dBm
Table 16 basic parameters of ieee802.11n in 40MHz mode
ITEM
Specification
Modulation Type
OFDM
Frequency range
2422MHz~2452MHz
Channel
CH3 to CH9
Data rate
MCS0/1/2/3/4/5/6/7
Table 17 transmission performance parameters of ieee802.11n in 40MHz mode
TX Characteristics
Min
Typical
Max.
Unit
Power@HT40, MCS7
14
dBm
Frequency Error
-10
+10
ppm
EVM@HT40, MCS7
-29
dB
Transmit spectrum mask
Pass

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Table 18 receiving performance parameters of ieee802.11n in 40MHz mode
RX Characteristics
Min
Typical
Max.
Unit
Minimum Input Level Sensitivity
MCS7
-68
dBm
Maximum Input Level (FER≦
10%)
-8
dBm
Table 19 basic parameters of ieee802.11n 5g 40MHz mode
ITEM
Specification
Modulation Type
OFDM
Frequency range
5.15GHz-5.25GHz
Channel
CH38 to CH46
Data rate
MCS0/1/2/3/4/5/6/7
Table 20 transmission performance parameters of ieee802.11n 5g 40MHz mode
TX Characteristics
Min
Typical
Max.
Unit
Power@HT20, MCS7
12.5
dBm
Frequency Error
-10
+10
ppm
EVM@HT20, MCS7
-30
dB
Transmit spectrum mask
Pass
Table 21 receiving performance parameters in ieee802.11n 5g 40MHz mode
RX Characteristics
Min
Typical
Max.
Unit
Minimum Input Level Sensitivity
MCS7
-67
dBm
Maximum Input Level (FER≦
10%)
-8
dBm

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4. AC8401 essential information
4.1 Pin arrangement
AC8401 pin arrangement is shown in Figure 1.
图1 AC8401 引脚排列示意图
4.2 Pin definition
4.2.1 Module hardware pin definition
Table 15 for the definition of module hardware pins
Table 14 for AC8401 pin definition annotation
Pin
numb
er
Pin
definition
Pin function
Configurable function
1
GND
Ground
2
GPIO01
PWM1
3
GPIO02
PWM2
4
GPIO03
Debug_UART_RX
PWM3

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5
GPIO04
Debug_UART_TX
PWM4
6
GPIO05
UART1_RTS
7
GPIO06
UART1_RXD
8
EN
Enable pin
9
GPIO08
SPI_M_CLK
10
GPIO09
UART1_CTS
11
GPIO10
SPI_M_MISO
12
GPIO12
SPI_M_MOSI
13
GPIO13
SPI_M_CS
14
GPIO07
UART1_TXD
15
GPIO00
PWM0
ADC
16
GPIO20
ADC
17
GPIO21
I2C_SCL
Debug_UART_RX
ADC
18
GPIO22
I2C_SDA
Debug_UART_TX
ADC
19
VDD33
Power
supply 3.3V
20
GND
Ground
Note：
1. By default, uart1 (pin7, PIN14) is used for general transparent transmission, UART0 (pin4, pin5)
is used for debug information output and firmware upgrade, and the serial port output level is
described by DC characteristics.
2. En is the module hardware reset, the low level is valid, and the module will be restarted after
reset to retain the original configuration information. The EN has been pulled up in the module
itself.
3. Reset button and LED indicator control pin need to be selected and designed according to the
actual firmware.
4. The ADC is a 10 bit ADC with an input voltage range of 0 ~ 1V.

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4.3 Built in antenna
See Figure 2 for the built-in antenna. The PCB board in the area should be cut directly
directly, and the ground laying, wiring and metal components should be avoided directly under
the antenna and in the two directions indicated by the arrow.
图2 AC8401 Antenna diagram
The gain of PCB antenna of this module is about 0dB, as shown in Figure 3.

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Figure 3 simulation radiation diagram of antenna gain
When selecting PCB antenna, the following points should be paid attention to when placing
the module:
1. Users can't place components and pave the floor in the area corresponding to PCB base plate
and module antenna. It's better to hollow out the PCB in this area.
2. It is suggested that no components should be placed within 30mm of the module antenna area,
and the wiring of the module bottom plate should be avoided as far as possible in this area, and
copper deposition is prohibited.
3. Do not place the module in the metal shell or the mold with metal spray paint.
4. It is strongly recommended that the antenna of the WiFi module should be close to the edge of
the bottom plate as far as possible in PCB layout, as shown in the figure below, so as to ensure
the good performance of the antenna.
Figure 4 AC8401 Recommended PCB layout
4.4 Mechanical dimension
The dimensions of AC8401 module are shown in Figure 5.

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Figure 5 AC8401 Module dimension drawing
a. Description: dimension (15 ± 0.2) mm * (21 ± 0.2) mm * (2.6 ± 0.2) mm (with shield)
4.5 Recommended package size
See Figure 6 for the recommended package dimensions of AC8401.
图3 AC8401 recommended package dimensions

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5. Reference design
5.1 UARTinterface design
For 3.3V power supply equipment, the serial port of equipment and module can be directly
connected to complete communication according to the circuit shown in Figure 7.
Table 4 Circuit diagram（3.3V）
For 5V power supply equipment, refer to the circuit shown in Figure 8 or design relevant
level conversion circuit. The resistance value can be adjusted according to the actual circuit.

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Table 5 Circuit diagram（5V）
5.2 Power supply requirements
Power supply requirements: if 3.3V voltage is generated by LDO to supply power to the
module, the capacitance value of C1 can be considered as 10uF ~ 22uF; if 3.3V voltage is
generated by DCDC power supply to supply power to the module, the capacitance value of C1 can
be considered as 22uF.
Please ensure that the power supply can provide enough current to avoid power failure when
the module sends data. It is recommended that the maximum input current of the module is
greater than 400mA.

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6.Certification instructions
6.1Label diagram
Note: in addition to the icon, some other information, such as version number, may be added to
the label.
6.2 FCC instructions
2.2 List of applicable FCC rules
FCC Part 15.247, FCC Part 15.407
2.6 RF exposure considerations
This equipment complies with the FCC RF radiation exposure limits set forth for an uncontrolled
environment. This equipment should be installed and operated with a minimum distance of 20cm
between the radiator and any part of your body.
2.8 Label and compliance information
FCC ID label on the final system must be labeled with “Contains FCC ID:
2AY4V-AC8401” or “Contains transmitter module FCC ID: 2AY4V-AC8401”.
2.9 Information on test modes and additional testing requirements
Contact Asiacom Technology Ltd. will provide stand-alone modular transmitter test mode.
Additional testing and certification may be necessary when multiple modules are used in a host.
2.10 Additional testing, Part 15 Subpart B disclaimer
To ensure compliance with all non-transmitter functions the host manufacturer is responsible for

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ensuring compliance with the module(s) installed and fully operational. For example, if a host
was previously authorized as an unintentional radiator under the Supplier’s Declaration of
Conformity procedure without a transmitter certified module and a module is added, the host
manufacturer is responsible for ensuring that the after the module is installed and operational
the host continues to be compliant with the Part 15B unintentional radiator requirements. Since
this may depend on the details of how the module is integrated with the host, Asiacom
Technology Ltd. shall provide guidance to the host manufacturer for compliance with the Part
15B requirements.
FCC Warning
This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two
conditions:
(1) This device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any
interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation.
NOTE 1: Any changes or modifications to this unit not expressly approved by the party
responsible for compliance could void the user's authority to operate the equipment.
FCC Radiation Exposure Statement:
This equipment complies with FCC radiation exposure limits set forth for an uncontrolled
environment. End users must follow the specific operating instructions for satisfying RF exposure
compliance.
Note 1: This module certified that complies with RF exposure requirement under mobile or fixed
condition, this module is to be installed only in mobile or fixed applications.
A mobile device is defined as a transmitting device designed to be used in other than fixed
locations and to generally be used in such a way that a separation distance of at least 20
centimeters is normally maintained between the transmitter's radiating structure(s) and the body
of the user or nearby persons. Transmitting devices designed to be used by consumers or workers
that can be easily re-located, such as wireless devices associated with a personal computer, are
considered to be mobile devices if they meet the 20 centimeter separation requirement.
A fixed device is defined as a device is physically secured at one location and is not able to be
easily moved to another location.
Note 2: Any modifications made to the module will void the Grant of Certification, this module is
limited to OEM installation only and must not be sold to end-users, end-user has no manual
instructions to remove or install the device, only software or operating procedure shall be placed

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in the end-user operating manual of final products.
Note 3: The module may be operated only with the antenna with which it is authorized. Any
antenna that is of the same type and of equal or less directional gain as an antenna that is
authorized with the intentional radiator may be marketed with, and used with, that intentional
radiator.
Note 4: For all products market in US, OEM has to limit the operation channels in CH1 to CH11
for 2.4G band by supplied firmware programming tool. OEM shall not supply any tool or info to
the end-user regarding to Regulatory Domain change.