Roving Networks WiFly RN-131GSX Installation manual

RN-131G
rn-131-um.pdf 5/14/2009
W I F LY GSX
802.11 b/g wireless LAN Module
User Manual and Command Reference
Version 1.1
Copyright © 2009 Roving Networks, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
The contents of this doc ment can be changed by Roving networks witho t prior notice and do not
constit te any binding ndertakings from Roving networks. Roving Networks is not responsible nder
any circ mstances for direct, indirect, nexpected or conseq ent damage that is ca sed by this
doc ment.

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Contents
1 RN-131G Overview .......................................................................................................................... 3
2 Hardware Interface............................................................................................................................ 4
2.1 Power ......................................................................................................................................... 4
2.2 Reset .......................................................................................................................................... 4
2.3 UART ........................................................................................................................................ 4
2.4 LED Indictors............................................................................................................................. 5
3 Configuration.................................................................................................................................... 5
3.1 Entering Command Mode........................................................................................................... 5
4 WiFly Command Reference .............................................................................................................. 6
4.1 Command Syntax ....................................................................................................................... 6
4.2 Command Organization.............................................................................................................. 6
5 SET Commands ................................................................................................................................ 7
5.1 COMM Parameters..................................................................................................................... 7
5.2 DNS Parameters ......................................................................................................................... 8
5.3 FTP Parameters .......................................................................................................................... 8
5.4 IP Parameters ............................................................................................................................. 8
5.5 SYSTEM Parameters.................................................................................................................. 9
5.6 TIME Server Parameters .......................................................................................................... 10
5.7 UART Parameters .................................................................................................................... 10
5.8 WLAN Parameters ................................................................................................................... 10
6 GET Commands ............................................................................................................................. 11
7 STATUS Commands ...................................................................................................................... 11
8 ACTION Commands ...................................................................................................................... 12
8.1 FILE IO Commands ................................................................................................................. 13
8.2 System timers and other features .............................................................................................. 13
8.3 Wake on Sensor INPUTs .......................................................................................................... 14
8.4 Wake on UART........................................................................................................................ 14
8.5 Uart Receiver, RTS/CTS Hardware Flow Control..................................................................... 15
8.6 Setting PIO directions, Disabling LED drivers.......................................................................... 15
8.7 Alternate IO functions .............................................................................................................. 16
8.8 Setting Debug Print levels ........................................................................................................ 16
9 Joining Networks and Making Connections .................................................................................... 17
10 Firmware Upgrade over FTP........................................................................................................... 19
11 Setting Adhoc Mode and Restoring Configuration Settings............................................................. 20
12 Default Configuration Settings........................................................................................................ 21
13 Know issues and Errata................................................................................................................... 22

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1RN-131G Overview
The RN-131g “WiFly” radio mod le is a complete, stand alone, embedded wireless LAN access
device. The device has on board TCP/IP stack and applications. Req iring only 4 pins (POWER,
TX, RX, GND) to design in. Once initial config ration is set, the radio can a tomatically access
the WiFi network and send/receive serial data over UART.
•Q alified 2.4GHz IEEE 802.11b/g transceiver
•High thro ghp t, p to 4Mbps s stained data rate with TCP/IP and WPA2
•Ultra-low power (4 A sleep, 35mA Rx, 110-180mA Tx)
•Small, compact s rface mo nt mod le
•On board ceramic chip antenna and U.FL connector for external antenna
•8 Mbit flash memory and 128 KB RAM
•UART and SPI (f t re) data/control interfaces
•10 general p rpose digital I/O
•8 analog inp ts
•Real-time clock for wake p and time stamping
•Accepts 3.3V reg lated or 2-3V battery
•S pports Adhoc connections
•On board ECOS -OS, TCP/IP stacks
•Wi-Fi Alliance certified for WPA2-PSK
•FCC / CE/ ICS certified and RoHS compliant
Features
•Host Data Rate Up to 2.7 Mbps for UART
•Memory 128 KB RAM,2MB ROM, 2 KB battery-backed memory, 8 Mbit Flash.
•Intelligent, b ilt-in power management with programmable wake p
•Can be powered from reg lated 3.3-3.7V so rce or 2.0-3.0V batteries
•Real time clock for time stamping, a to-sleep and a to-wake p modes
•Config ration over UART or wireless interfaces sing simple ASCII commands
•Over the air firmware pgrade (FTP), and data file pload.
•Sec re WiFi a thentication WEP-128, WPA-PSK (TKIP), WPA2-PSK (AES).
•B ilt in networking applications DHCP, UDP, DNS, ARP, ICMP
•802.11 power save and roaming f nctions

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2Hardware Interface
See the RN-131 data sheet on the Roving Networks website for technical specifications and
layo t information. (Doc ment rn-131-ds.pdf )
2.1 Power
There are two options for powering the RN-131G mod le directly.
1. DC SUPPLY: Apply 3.3 VDC power to VBATT (pin 20), AND V3.3IN (pin 21)
Tie 3.3VREG-IN (pin 18) to GROUND. 3.3V-REG-OUT (Pin 17) leave floating.
2. BATTERY: Apply battery = 1.8 to 3.3VDc to VBATT (pin 20). V3.3IN pin 21 = floating.
Tie pin 17 to pin 18. (this enables the on board battery boost 3.3V switcher).
2.2 Reset
Reset is active LOW and is optional/does not need to be connected. The reset pin is 3.3V
tolerant and has an internal p ll p of 100K to the VBATT. There is also a b ilt in voltage
browno t monitor.
2.3 UART
•Connect a common gro nd when sing the external TX, RX inp ts.
•For a 3 wire DB-9 interface (tx, rx, gnd only) Factory defa lt is hardware flow control
disabled, CTS and RTS are not req ired.
•When sing a 5.0Vdc Inp t, PIO’s and UART pins req ire a 10K ohm series resistor. PIO’s
are 0-3.3Vdc not 5 volt tolerant.
Warning: Do NOT exceed the voltage ratings on the 3.3V pins, damage to the module will
result.
Important Notes:
#1: The Sensor inputs SENS0-7 are extremely sensitive to over voltage. Un er no
con itions shoul these pins be riven above 1.2VDC. Placing any voltage above
this will permanently amage the ra io mo ule an ren er it useless.
#2: Placing 5VDC or any voltage above 3.3V c into the VDD pins of the mo ule will
permanently amage the ra io mo ule.
#3: Placing 3.3V c into the PIO’s while they are set as outputs will permanently
amage the ra io mo ules. The failure mo e is a short across GND an VCC. Use a
10KΩ resistor in series or a 10KΩ pull up resistor for input an output PIO’s
respectively.

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2.4 tatus Indictors
PIO 4, 5 and 6 are active high and can be connected to external LEDs to provide status.
3Configuration
3.1 Entering Command Mode
Upon power p, the device will be in data mode. To enter command mode, exactly the three
characters $$$ m st be sent. The device will respond with CMD.
While in command mode, the device will accept ASCII bytes as commands.
To exit command mode, send exit<cr>. The device will respond with “EXIT”.
Parameters, s ch as the SSID, channel, IP address, Serial Port settings, and all other settings can
be viewed and config red in command mode.
ASCII characters can be sent thro gh a terminal em lator connected to the UART or via Telnet.
When sing the UART comm nications settings sho ld match the settings sed when RN-131g
connects, for example: the defa lt is 9600 ba drate, 8 bits, No Parity, 1 stop bit, and hardware
flow control disabled.
R n yo r favorite terminal em lator, Roving Networks provides a free one, Teraterm, at
http://www.rovingnetworks.com/s pport/teraterm.zip.
Type $$$ on yo r em lator. Yo sho ld see “CMD” ret rned to yo . This will verify that yo r
cable and comm. settings are correct. Most valid commands will ret rn an “AOK”, response,
and invalid ones will ret rn an ERR description.
To exit command mode, type “exit“<cr>.
NOTE: Yo can enter command mode locally over the serial port at any time when not
connected, and also when connected if the appropriate settings are enabled.
Over the air, Remote configuration
Once the mod le has associated and if TCP SERVER is enabled (the defa lt) the device will be
listening for connections on port 2000.
Using Windows XP or Lin x or any other TCP command line client or program, yo can access
remote config ration.
Example: (windows command line) telnet 10.10.10.149 2000
Response “*HELLO*”
Yo can now enter command mode and config re the mod le.
Condition PIO6=Red LED PIO5=Yellow LED PIO4=Green LED
ON solid Not Associated Connected over TCP
Fast blink Rx/Tx data transfer No IP address
Slow blink Associated, No Internet IP address OK
OFF Associated, Internet OK

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4WiFly Command Reference
4.1 Command yntax
Commands begin with a keyword, and have optional additional parameters, generally space
delimited. Commands and options are case sensitive. Hex inp t data can be pper or lower
case. String text data, s ch as SSID is also case sensitive.
The first command is f lly decoded and m st be complete. Other command parameters can be
shorted by sing only the first character.
For example,
set uart baudrate 115200 is valid,
set uart b 115200 is also valid,
set u b 115200 is also valid, however,
s uart baudrate 115200 is NOT valid.
N mbers can be entered as either decimal, (like 115200 above) or HEX. To enter HEX, se
0x<value>. For example, the HEX val e FF wo ld be entered as 0xFF.
4.2 Command Organization
Commands fall into 5 general categories:
•ET COMMAND -Take effect immediately, permanently (save command iss ed).
•GET COMMAND -Retrieve the permanently stored information for display to ser.
•TATU COMMAND -See what is going on with the interface, IP stat s, etc.
•ACTION COMMAND - Perform action s ch as scan, connect, disconnect, etc.
•FILE IO COMMAND - Upgrade, load and save config ration, delete files, etc.
NOTE: Yo m st save the config ration or the mod le will load the previo s settings pon reboot
or power p.
When the system boots, all config ration data is loaded into RAM variables from the file called
“config”. The set commands act ally only modify the RAM copy of variables in the system.
This allows temporary change of parameters “on the fly” to test feat res, minimizes power sage
and saves on flash re-write cycles.
Once all config ration is complete, the ser m st save the settings sing the save command to
store the config ration data, otherwise it will not take effect pon reboot or reset. M ltiple
config rations can be stored by sing the save <filename> command, and these
config rations can be loaded sing the load <filename> command. These files can be pload
to remote FTP site, s ch that once a desired config ration is created, it can q ickly be copied into
additional devices (cloning).

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5ET Commands
These commands begin with “set”. There are 6 major categories.
•COMM - comm nication and data transfer, timers, matching characters
•DN - DNS host and domain
•FTP - FTP host address and login information
• IP - IP settings
• Y - system settings s ch as sleep and wake timers
• TIME - timer server settings
• UART - serial port settings s ch as ba drate and parity
• WLAN - wireless interface settings, s ch as ssid, chan, and sec rity options
5.1 COMM Parameters
set comm close <string> sets the ASCI string that is sent to the local UART when the TCP
port is closed. If no string is desired, se the command with no
<string> parameter. Max string length is 32 characters.
set comm open <string> sets the string that is sent to the local UART when the TCP port is
opened. If no string is desired, se the command with no
<string> parameter. Max string length is 32 characters.
set comm remote <string> sets the string that is sent to the remote TCP client when the TCP
port is opened. If no string is desired, se the command with no
<string> parameter. Max string length is 32 characters.
set comm idle <secs> sets the Idle Timer Val e. This is the n mber of seconds with no
transmit or receive data before the connection is closed
a tomatically. Defa lt is 0, never disconnect on idle.
set comm match <value> sets matching character initiate forwarding data across the TCP/IP
connection. The val e is entered as the decimal val e of the of
the ASCII character. Defa lt is 0, disabled. For more information
see section 8.5
set comm size <value> sets the Fl sh Size val e. This is the n mber of bytes to receive
on the UART before forwarding, 0 or 1 forwards immediately. .
Defa lt is 16 bytes. Maxim m val e = 1024 bytes
set comm time <num> sets the Fl sh Timer. This is the n mber of 10 millisecond
intervals after a byte is received before the data is sent over
TCP/IP, 1 is the minim m val e. Defa lt is 2 (20 milliseconds)

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5.2 DN Parameters
set dns address <addr> sets the IP address of the DNS sever. This is auto-set when using
DHCP, so only used used in STATIC IP mode.
set dns name <string> sets the name of the DNS server
set dns backup <string> sets the name of the backup DNS server
set dns domain <string> sets the name of the DNS domain
5.3 FTP Parameters
set ftp filename <file> sets the name of the file transferred when iss ing the ftp get
command. If the file is not fo nd on server the connection will
time o t.
set ftp addr <addr> sets the ftp server IP address.
set ftp user <name> sets the ftp ser name for accessing the FTP server.
set ftp pass <pass> sets the ftp password for accessing the FTP server.
5.4 IP Parameters
set ip address <addr> sets the IP address of the WiFly GSX mod le. If DHCP is t rned
on, the IP address is assigned and overwritten d ring association
with the access point. IP addresses are “.” delimited. Note this is
different from the RN-111b mod le which is space delimited!
Example: “set ip a 0.20.20. ”
set ip dchp <0,1> enable or disable DHCP client. If DHCP is t rned on, the IP,
gateway and net mask are assigned and overwritten d ring
association with the access point.
set ip gateway <addr> sets the gateway IP address, If DHCP is t rned on, the gateway IP
address is assign and overwritten d ring association with the
access point.
set ip host <addr> sets the remote host IP address. This command is sed for
making connections from the WiFly mod le to a TCP/IP server at
the IP address <addr>.
set ip backup <addr> sets a secondary host IP address.
set ip localport <num> sets the local port n mber.

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set ip netmask <value> sets the network mask. If DHCP is t rned on, the net mask is
assign and overwritten d ring association with the access point.
set ip protocol <value> sets the IP protocol. This is a bit mapped setting. To connect to
the WiFly GSX mod le over TCP/IP s ch as Telnet the device m st
have the se the TCP Server protocol. ( this is the defa lt setting )
Bit Value Protocol
0 UDP (receive from ANY IP)
1 TCP Server +Client
2 UDP (only receive from Host IP)
3 HTTP (f t re se)
set ip remote <value> sets the remote host port n mber.
5.5 Y TEM Parameters
set sys autoconn <secs> TCP mode: sets the a to connect timer. The a to connect timer
will attempt to connect to the stored remote host IP every <secs>
seconds. If set to once the mod le will only make one attempt to
a to connect. This command can be sed to have the mod le
periodically connect to the host. 0 is the defa lt and disables a to
connect.
set sys autosleep <num *10ms> UDP mode: sets the a to-sleep timer. 0 disables.
set sys iofunc <value> sets the IO port alternate f nctions. Bit-mapped val e. For more
details see section 8.7
set sys mask <mask> sets the IO port direction mask. Bit-mapped val e. For more
information see section 8.6
set sys printlvl <value> sets n mero s print f nctions. 0 = q iet 1 = connect
information Defa lt is 1.
set sys output <value> <mask> sets o tp t PIO pins to HIGH or LOW. Bit-mapped val e.
Optional mask only sets a s bset of pins.
set sys sleep <secs> sets the sleep timer. 0 disables.
NOTE: If not sing Sensor pins to wake the mod le, be s re to set
the wake timer before iss ing the sleep timer or the mod le will
not wake p.
See section 8.2 for more details on sing system timers
set sys trigger <value> sets the sensor inp t(s) to wake on (1-4). Bit-mapped val e. 0
disables.
set sys wake <secs> sets the a to wake timer. 0 disables. See section 8.2 for more
details on sing system timers

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5.6 TIME erver Parameters
set time address <addr> sets the time server address.
set time port <num> sets the time server port n mber.
set time enable <value> Enable or disable time server. 1= get time once on power p.
Or, get time contin o sly every <val e> min tes.
5.7 UART Parameters
set uart parity <n,e,o> sets the UART parity.
Example : “set u p e” sets even parity
set uart baud <rate> set the UART ba d rate. Valid settings are {1200, 2400, 4800,
9600, 19200, 38400, 57600, 115200, 230400, 460800, 921600}.
Example : “set b 9600” sets the ba d rate to 9600 ba d.
set uart raw <rate> sets a RAW UART val e. Used to set non-standard rates.
Example : “set r 760” sets the ba d rate to 7200 ba d.
set uart flow <0,1> sets the flow control mode. 0=off, 1= hardware RTS/CTS.
set uart tx <0, 1> Disables or enables the TX pin= PIO0 of the UART. Disable will
set PIO0 to an INPUT with weak p lldown.
5.8 WLAN Parameters
set wlan antenna <0, 1> determines which antenna is active, se 0 for chip antenna, 1 for
UF.L connector.
set wlan channel <value> sets the wlan channel, 1-13 is the valid range for a fixed channel.
If 0 is set, then scan is performed, sing the ssid, for all the
channels set in the channel mask.
set wlan key <num> <value> sets the WEP key. key m st be EXACTLY 13 bytes (26 ASCII
chars). Data is expected in HEX format, “0x” sho ld NOT be sed
here.
Example : “set w k 112233445566778899AABBCCDD”
Hex digits > 9 can be either pper or lower case.
set wlan mask <value> sets the wlan channel mask, bit-mapped val e. Bit 0 = ch 1.
set wlan num <value> sets the defa lt WEP key to se. 1-4 is the valid range.
Example : “set w n 2” sets the defa lt key to 2.