NXP Semiconductors i.MX 8M Quad User manual

UM11558
Getting Started with NXP-based Wireless Modules on i.MX 8M
Quad EVK Running Android 10 OS
Rev. 1 — 29 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 wireless modules
on i.MX 8M Quad EVK running Android 10 OS

NXP Semiconductors UM11558
Getting Started with NXP-based Wireless Modules on i.MX 8M Quad EVK Running Android 10 OS
Rev Date Description
v.1 20210129 Initial version
Revision history
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User manual Rev. 1 — 29 January 2021
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NXP Semiconductors UM11558
Getting Started with NXP-based Wireless Modules on i.MX 8M Quad EVK Running Android 10 OS
1 About this document
1.1 Purpose and scope
This manual details the bring-up of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth for NXP-based wireless modules
on i.MX 8M Quad EVK running Android 10 operating system. Refer to i.MX 8M Quad
Android BSP documentation and Android User's Guide for guidance on how to run and
build Android images from source.
1.2 References
Reference type Reference details
Datasheet NXP – SDS – 88W8987 - 2.4/5 GHz Dual-Band 1x1 Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) and Bluetooth 5
Solution (link)
Datasheet AzureWave – AW-CM358MA - IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac WLAN with Bluetooth 5 Combo
Stamp Module With M.2 2230 Adaptor Board (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 - 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 guide NXP – AQSG - Android™ Quick Start Guide(link)
User guide NXP – AUG - Android™ User's Guide (link)
Table 1. References
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NXP Semiconductors UM11558
Getting Started with NXP-based Wireless Modules on i.MX 8M Quad EVK Running Android 10 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 Applications Processors, utilizing 2 to
4x ARM® Cortex®-A53s and 1x Cortex-M4 cores.
The EVK includes the hardware design files, tools and board support packages (BSPs)
for Android OS where:
•The i.MX 8M Quad Android Board Support Package (BSP) supports Android 10 on
the i.MX 8M Quad application processors. The purpose of this software package is
to support Android OS on the i.MX 8M Quad 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 Linux kernel from the official Linux kernel
website. It 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. The i.MX 8M Quad features an integrated power management module that reduces
the complexity of 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 UM11558
Getting Started with NXP-based Wireless Modules on i.MX 8M Quad EVK Running Android 10 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 UM11558
Getting Started with NXP-based Wireless Modules on i.MX 8M Quad EVK Running Android 10 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 UM11558
Getting Started with NXP-based Wireless Modules on i.MX 8M Quad EVK Running Android 10 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 UM11558
Getting Started with NXP-based Wireless Modules on i.MX 8M Quad EVK Running Android 10 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 boot the device from eMMC 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 UM11558
Getting Started with NXP-based Wireless Modules on i.MX 8M Quad EVK Running Android 10 OS
3 NXP-based wireless modules
Refer to 88W8987 short datasheet and 88W8987 product overview on NXP website.
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 UM11558
Getting Started with NXP-based Wireless Modules on i.MX 8M Quad EVK Running Android 10 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, such as iwconfig and iwpriv
whereas cfg80211 provides a different path to the user space application, such as
wpa_supplicant, hostapd and iw.
Figure 6 illustrates the Wi-Fi layer interface.
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