W2CBW0011u (Marvell 88W8786 based Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n 1 x1 Module, Chip Antenna) Development Kit Quick Start Guide V1.10 1.0 Contents of Wi2Wi Development Kit for W2CBW0011u Dongle: One W2CBW0011u Evaluation Board Files provided on a CD: o Linux drivers/firmware for W2SW0011u o Linux Wireless Tools (wireless_tools.29.tar.gz) Please see the following link for updated drivers http://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/jean_tourrilhes/linux/tools.html o Binaries for iperf utility for Windows (XP/Vista/7) & Linux o This Quick-Start Guide Additional information such as Schematics, BOM, Gerber Files, and module datasheet can be obtained by signing a non-disclosure agreement with Wi2Wi and signing up for extranet access on www.wi2wi.com. 2.0 What you can do with the Development Kit: Demonstrate Wi-Fi connectivity using a Linux Intel based system as the host (Watch YouTube Videos, stream music, etc.) Demonstrate Wi-Fi connectivity using a Kirkwood processor based system as the host (Watch YouTube Videos, stream music, etc.) Show TCP and UDP throughput using iperf utility 3.0 Needed for a demo and evaluation but not included in Dev Kit: Intel based Linux Laptop or a Kirkwood Development board (OpenRD Ultimate or RD-6281-A) Null-Modem cable (female to female) or connection from Kirkwood Development board to Terminal System (HyperTerminal or Terminal program) A Computer to run IPerf in Host mode (Windows XP based or Windows 7 with Administrator access) 1
802.11 b/g/n Wireless network for Wi-Fi connectivity (helpful to have a wireless router which also has Ethernet ports). (To utilize full bandwidth potential AP needs to support 40 MHz operation.) The Linux Wireless Tools need to be compiled (Built) into the Linux development system to be used. 4.0 Photo of Evaluation Board 5.0 Intel Linux Laptop Setup a. Login into system as Root b. Copy (using an SD Card or a USB memory stick or over Ethernet) the firmware files usb8786_uapsta.bin... to /lib/firmware/mrvl/ directory, Create it if it does not exist. c. Create a /WI2WI directory, if it does not already exist. Also copy the file IPerf provided by Wi2Wi to the same directory if you want to run throughput tests. d. Copy the driver file usb8xxx.ko to /wi2wi e. Copy the driver file mlan.ko to /wi2wi f. insmod mlan.ko g. insmod usb8xxx.ko h. iwconfig to see whether the interface is up or not Insert iwconfig1.ping i. iwconfig mlan0 mode managed key [WEP key] j. iwconfig mlan0 mode managed key on 2
Now associate with the Access point k. To see a list of the available access points iwlist mlan0 scan A list should appear l. iwconfig mlan0 essid <AP name> m. ifconfig mlan0 <ip address for the dongle, same subnet as AP> An Example My AP s IP address is 192.168.1.1; So. I set the Dongle to 192.168.1.100 n. ping <ip address of the AP> to see whether there is association An Example ping 192.168.1.1 Results 64 bytes from 192.168.1.1 icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.990ms o. Control C to stop the Ping p. ifconfig eth1 down (disable internal wireless card) q. route add net 0.0.0.0 gw <mention the gateway address of the AP> An Example route add net 0.0.0.0 gw 192.168.1.1 3
Now you should be able to browse on Linux laptop through the dongle r. Try ping to www.yahoo.com An example ping 209.191.122.70 => this happens to be the www.yahoo.com address. If you can ping the AP but not ping past it to Yahoo or some other site, there is probably an IP mismatch on your client (Laptop/PC) that needs to be changed to the same subnet as the AP and the Dongle. 6.0 IPerf An Open Source utility called IPerf can be used to measure TCP and UDP throughput of the wireless interface. Information and help is available on several Internet web sites. This utility has two components (server and client) running on two IP nodes. Packets are exchanged between these two nodes and the IPerf utility displays the resulting throughput. 6.1. Running throughput tests In our case, one node is the Intel based Linux Laptop, for the other side, we will use a Windows XP laptop connected with an Ethernet cable to the wireless router/access point that the W2CBW0011u dongle is associated with. This way, when packets are exchanged between the notebook computer and the Linux Laptop the slowest link is the wireless connection between the W2CBW0011u and the access point, whose throughput will be indicated by IPerf. a. On the notebook computer running Windows XP, open a DOS command window by running the program cmd. b. Typing ipconfig will show you the IP address of the notebook computer. (We are assuming here that DHCP running on the access point will assign an IP address to this computer which is connected with an Ethernet cable.) c. Let s say this Ethernet address is 192.168.1.164. d. Ping between this address and 192.168.1.100 (the address of W2SW0011u dongle from steps in previous section) in both directions and ensure that it works. Possible problems are Firewall programs running on the notebook computer which need to be disabled. e. Run IPerf as a server on Linux Laptop (from /Wi2Wi directory, issue./iperf s i 1 that indicates server operation with updates every 1 sec). This will wait for a client to initiate packet transfers. f. Run IPerf as a client on the Windows computer (issue Iperf c 192.168.1.100 i 1 t 30). We are assuming that the supplied Iperf.exe file has been copied into the appropriate directory on the notebook. This will initiate packet transfers for a 4
total of 30 seconds, and report intermediate TCP throughput every 1 sec. g. Ctrl-C will stop IPerf if it is running. Steps 3 and 4 can be reversed (Windows laptop will be server and Linux Laptop will be client) to observe TCP throughput in the other direction. h. Indicated throughput will depend on Wi-Fi traffic in the vicinity. It will be higher when there is no other traffic. 7.0 Kirkwood (RD-6281-A) Board Setup Below are the instructions for W2SW0011u USB Stick demo: a. Copy (using an SD Card or a USB memory stick or over Ethernet) the firmware files usb8786_uapsta.bin... to /lib/firmware/mrvl/ directory, Create it if it does not exist. b. Create a /WI2WI directory, if it does not already exist. Also copy the file IPerf provided by Wi2Wi to the same directory if you want to run throughput tests. c. Copy the driver file usb8xxx.ko to /wi2wi d. Copy the driver file mlan.ko to /wi2wi e. Reset or power cycle the Kirkwood Development board 5
f. Connect the (UART to 4 pin) JP2 board to the Kirkwood board, shown on the left side, dangling off the board. g. Connect a Null Modem Serial Cable from (DB9 Female) to JP2 then to the Male DB9 on the computer to be used as a HyperTerminal host. For Linux Users h. For Linux: From the Terminal prompt, type dmesg grep i tty This will indicate which ttysx is available, x being a numeral. i. Start Minicom with minicom s j. Select serial port setup k. Select serial device l. Enter /dev/ttysx x being the numeral from line 3. m. Hit enter to exit this screen n. Select save setup as dfl This will allow Minicom to boot up with the settings that you entered above. 6
o. Select Exit from Minicom p. Type minicom q. It should show up as an AT command interface. The Following is for all OS users, as the commands are executed on the Kirkwood (RD-6281-A) via the terminal program. r. Power on the Kirkwood (RD-6281-A) platform. s. DO NOT hit <Enter> to stop the Auto boot process. t. The prompt should show -sh-3.2# u. Type ls for a list of contents of the directory. v. Type cd WI2WI to enter the WI2WI directory. w. Type insmod mlan.ko (The following message may be displayed Mlan:module license unspecified taints kernel Disabling lock debugging due to kernel taint *ignore*) x. Type insmod usb8786.ko to load the driver The following message may be displayed usbcore: registered new interface driver usb8xxx y. Insert the W2SW0011u Demo Board into the Kirkwood platform USB port. z. The following messages should be displayed. 7
aa. Type iwconfig to see whether interface mlan0 is up or not 8
Now associate with the Access point bb. To see a list of the available access points iwlist mlan0 scan A list should appear cc. Type iwconfig mlan0 mode managed key [WEP key] *Do not use brackets with the WEP key dd. Type iwconfig mlan0 mode managed key on ee. Type iwconfig mlan0 essid <AP name> ff. ifconfig mlan0 <ip address for the dongle, same subnet as AP> An Example My AP s IP address is 192.168.1.1; So. I set the Dongle to 192.168.1.100 gg. ping <ip address of the AP> to see whether there is association An Example ping 192.168.1.1 Results 64 bytes from 192.168.1.1 icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.990ms hh. Control C to stop the Ping ii. Type ifconfig eth1 down (disable internal wireless card) *This may not be needed, if there is no other on-board Ethernet or Wireless device. 9
jj. Type route add net 0.0.0.0 gw <mention the gateway address of the AP> An Example route add net 0.0.0.0 gw 192.168.1.1 kk. Type ifconfig mlan0 <IP address for client> to assign an IP address for the client. The IP address given here is in the same subnet as the server IP. Please check to make sure they are in the same subnet. An Example ifconfig mlan0 192.168.1.47 * I have found that sometimes this does not work* ll. Now you should be able to browse on the laptop (Kirkwood) through the dongle mm. Try ping to www.yahoo.com An example ping 209.191.122.70 => this happens to be the www.yahoo.com address. If you can ping the AP but not ping past it to Yahoo or some other site, there is probably an IP mismatch on your client (Laptop/PC) that needs to be changed to the same subnet as the AP and the Dongle. i. Running throughput tests An Open Source utility called IPerf can be used to measure TCP and UDP throughput of the wireless interface. Information and help is available on several Internet web sites. This utility has two components (server and client) running on two IP nodes. Packets are exchanged between these two nodes and the IPerf utility displays the resulting throughput. In our case, one node is the Kirkwood (RD-6281-A) (. For the other side, we will use a notebook computer connected with an Ethernet cable to the wireless router/access point that the W2CBW0011u Eval board is associated with. This way, when packets are exchanged between the notebook computer and the Kirkwood (RD- 6281-A), the slowest link is the wireless connection between the W2CBW0011u and the access point, whose throughput will be indicated by IPerf. 1. On the notebook computer running Windows, open a DOS command window by running the program cmd. Typing ipconfig will show you the IP address of the notebook computer. We are assuming here that DHCP running on the access point will assign an IP address to this computer which is connected with an Ethernet cable. Let s say this Ethernet address is 192.168.1.164. 2. Ping between this address and 192.168.1.100 (the address of the W2SW0011u dongle from steps in the previous section) in both directions and ensure that it works. Possible problems are Firewall programs running on the notebook computer which need to be disabled. 3. Run IPerf as a server on Kirkwood (RD-6281-A) (from /Wi2Wi directory, issue./iperf s i 1 that indicates server operation with updates every 1 sec). This will wait for a client to initiate packet transfers. 4. Run IPerf as a client on the Windows computer (issue Iperf c 192.168.1.100 i 1 t 30). We are assuming that the supplied Iperf.exe file has been copied into the 10
appropriate directory on the notebook. This will initiate packet transfers for a total of 30 seconds, and report intermediate TCP throughput every 1 sec. 5. Ctrl-C will stop IPerf if it is running. Steps 3 and 4 can be reversed (Notebook will be server and Kirkwood Board (RD-6281-A) will be client) to observe TCP throughput in the other direction. 6. Indicated throughput will depend on Wi-Fi traffic in the vicinity. It will be higher when there is no other traffic. 11