60-SIPT Bluetooth and WiFi Module

There are certain patch ranges within kernels 4.4 and 4.9 that need a modification so backports can build, the reason why we cannot fix it in backports is that we cannot track and differentiate between patch versions of the same 'major.minor' version of kernel. To fix this issue, move the function kobject_has_children from linux/kobject.h to drivers/base/core.c in your kernel source, rebuild the kernel and then rebuild backports.

Yes, the 60 radio supports SDIO 3.0.

1. Load backports driver. (Here is an example for the SDIO option.)

insmod compat/compat.ko
insmod net/wireless/cfg80211.ko
insmod net/mac80211/mac80211.ko
 insmod drivers/net/wireless/laird/lrdmwl/lrdmwl.ko
insmod drivers/net/wireless/laird/lrdmwl/lrdmwl_sdio.ko
Ifconfig wlan0 up

2. Set interface as AP mode

iw dev wlan0 interface add wlan1 type __ap

3. Use hostapd utility to load hostapd.conf to enable AP.

hostapd /etc/hostapd/hostapd.conf -B (Set interface=wlan1 in hostapd.conf)

The interfaces for WiFi are USB, SDIO, and PCIE. The interfaces for Bluetooth are UART, SDIO, and USB.

Our only officially supported option for RTOS is the Sterling-LWB with Cypress? WICED stack. However, if you are interested in using our module with an RTOS please contact Laird support for more information and assistance.

No, the 60 series radio only supports 20, 40, and 80 MHz wide channels. It does not support 120 MHz channels.

Only the Summit-60 will support 802.11d. The Sterling-60 does not support 802.11d.

Yes. The 60 has coexistence arbitration for WLAN, Bluetooth, and LTE operation.

If the binary returns "not found" or does not work after confirming the executable bit is set with chmod +x <filename>, then you will need to create a symlink pointing to the system's interpreter. The file tool will show the expected interpreter and architecture of a binary, readelf is a lot more verbose and is used to discover the expected "sonames" of shared libraries. These utilities do not have to be used on the target system and is convenient to use on a common x86 Linux machine. These utilities can be installed on Ubuntu with sudo apt install binutils.

Example output from the file command:
sterling_supplicant-arm-7.0.0.139/usr/sbin$ file wpa_supplicant
wpa_supplicant: ELF 32-bit LSB executable, ARM, EABI5 version 1 (SYSV), dynamically linked, interpreter /lib/ld-linux.so.3, for GNU/Linux 3.0.0, stripped

Example output from the readelf command:
sterling_supplicant-arm-7.0.0.139/usr/sbin$ readelf -ld wpa_supplicant Elf file type is EXEC (Executable file)
Entry point 0xba28
There are 10 program headers, starting at offset 52 Program Headers:
...
<edited>
...
      [Requesting program interpreter: /lib/ld-linux.so.3]
...
<edited>
...
Dynamic section at offset 0x176ee8 contains 30 entries:
  Tag        Type                         Name/Value
 0x00000001 (NEEDED)                     Shared library: [librt.so.1]
 0x00000001 (NEEDED)                     Shared library: [libnl-3.so.200]
 0x00000001 (NEEDED)                     Shared library: [libnl-genl-3.so.200]
 0x00000001 (NEEDED)                     Shared library: [libdl.so.2]
 0x00000001 (NEEDED)                     Shared library: [libdbus-1.so.3]
 0x00000001 (NEEDED)                     Shared library: [libgcc_s.so.1]
 0x00000001 (NEEDED)                     Shared library: [libc.so.6]
...
<edited>
...

To use this binary, we will have to confirm this symlink exists or create a new symlink pointing to the interpreter on the target filesystem:
cd /lib/
ls -l ld-*
-rwxr-xr-x    1 root     root        158772 Dec  2  2019 /lib/ld-2.26.so
ln -sf ld-2.26.so ld-linux.so.3
ls -l ld-*
-rwxr-xr-x    1 root     root        158772 Dec  2  2019 /lib/ld-2.26.so
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            10 Dec 21 18:55 /lib/ld-linux.so.3 -> ld-2.26.so

If the binary now reports that a library is not found when executed, repeat the steps shown above for creating a library symlink/soname pointing to it's real name. This may require you to use the find command to discover the location of the library. Example for libnl-genl-3:
find / -name 'libnl-genl-3*' -exec ls -l {} 2>/dev/null \;
-rwxr-xr-x    1 root     root         18524 Feb 14 23:42 /usr/lib/libnl-genl-3.so.200.26.0
cd /usr/lib/
ln -sf libnl-genl-3.so.200.26.0 libnl-genl-3.so.200
ls -l libnl-genl-3*
-rwxr-xr-x    1 root     root         18524 Feb 14 23:42 /usr/lib/libnl-genl-3.so.200.26.0
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            24 Feb 14 23:37 /usr/lib/libnl-genl-3.so.200 -> libnl-genl-3.so.200.26.0

If the library does not exist, you will have to include that package in your build. For instance if the above example libnl was missing, include the libnl package when building your filesystem.

The ST60/SU60 modules supports either the open-none or WEP methods in ad hoc mode.

To enable ad hoc mode:

1. Set the interface type as ibss mode and bring it up.

# iw wlan0 set type ibss
# ip link set wlan0 up

2. run wpa_supplicant on all devices connected to the network with the following command:

# wpa_supplicant -B -i wlan0 -c /etc/wpa_supplicant_adhoc.conf -D nl80211

To configure open-none:

/etc/wpa_supplicant_adhoc.conf
ctrl_interface=/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=wheel
ap_scan=2
network={
    ssid="Laird_adhoc"
    mode=1
    frequency=2432
    key_mgmt=NONE
}

To configure WEP:

/etc/wpa_supplicant_adhoc.conf
ctrl_interface=/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=wheel
ap_scan=2
network={
    ssid="Laird_adhoc"
    mode=1
    frequency=2432
    key_mgmt=NONE
    wep_key0="11111"
   wep_key1="22222"
   wep_key2="33333"
   wep_key3="44444"
    wep_tx_keyidx=0
}

To use an antenna that is not listed on your wireless modules datasheet, it must be of the same topology (e.g. dipole, PIFA, etc.), equal or lesser gain, and have the same in-band and out of band characteristics.

Note: Japan (MIC) lists applicable antennas on its certificates. If your antenna is not on the approved list, regardless of whether it is comparative, it must be added to the certificate before it can be used in Japan.

When using the 60 series radio you should leverage our latest backports package and documentation. If you do this, as a result, you should have the following kernel modules: compat.ko, cfg80211.ko, mac80211.ko, lrdmwl.ko, and lrdmwl_sdio.ko.

While loading 7.1.0.9 release in ST60/SU60, driver indicates "/lib/firmware/lrdmwl/regpwr.db not found." What does it mean and how to handle it?

It’s the adaptive world mode component (awm) which implements 802.11d/WorldMode “roaming” for SU60, not for ST60.
Among other things it includes a daemon which runs and checks the geo-location of the radio and sets the regulatory domain accordingly.  
The message is just informational. It is not an error and will not cause any problems.

To integrate this part, if you build by yocto, you can add adaptive_ww in your recipe.

Yes, but it?s capabilities and features will be limited to those of 802.11ac Wave 1.

Yes, the Sterling-60 can be upgraded to a Summit-60 with a software upgrade. There is a license agreement that needs to be in place before this can be done. Please contact us for information.

Yes, WoW is supported on  WLAN. Please see our Wake on Wireless application note for more information. In future releases we will support WoBT.

The 60 series supports a limited SoftAP mode. It is not certified or capable of being a full AP.

Yes and no. The Sterling-60 module does not support CCX. The Summit-60 module does indeed support CCX.

No, the ST60 SIPT module on the 2230C carrier board is strapped for 1.8 VIO operation only. Design for an embedded SDIO operation and does not allow 3.3 VIO even during card enumeration.

It is best practice to include the source in your build system. If using Yocto, our external layer will do this for you.
Here is an example manually compiling using our SOM60 as a target in a Buildroot environment:

1. Download and extract the Sterling supplicant source.
2. Navigate to the "laird" directory.
3. Edit the config_laird file:
4. Find the following line, uncomment and change the path to your "openssl/include" directory:
   original line:
   #CFLAGS += -I/usr/local/openssl/include
   modified line:
   CFLAGS += -I/wb/buildroot/output/som60sd/build/host-libopenssl-1.1.1d/include
5. Run make with the following flags
   set:
CC="" for your cross-compile binary
PKG_CONFIG="" for your pkg-config binary
PKG_CONFIG_PATH="" for your pkgconfig directory
OBJCOPY="" for your objcopy binary

Note the following example is a single line command:
make CC="/wb/buildroot/output/som60sd/host/bin/arm-buildroot-linux-gnueabihf-gcc" PKG_CONFIG="/wb/buildroot/output/som60sd/host/bin/pkg-config" OBJCOPY="/wb/buildroot/output/som60sd/host/arm-buildroot-linux-gnueabihf/bin/objcopy" PKG_CONFIG_PATH="/wb/buildroot/output/som60sd/host/arm-buildroot-linux-gnueabihf/sysroot/usr/lib/pkgconfig"

In order to be able to leverage the Modular Approval of a wireless module the following requirements have to be met:

• The RF circuitry must be shielded
• The module must have buffered modulation/data inputs. Module must inherently ensure compliance under host fault (watch dog) conditions
• The module must have a regulated power supply
• An antenna needs to be attached permanently or a unique antenna connector must be mounted on the module
• The module must be compliant with the regulations in a stand-alone configuration
• The module must be labeled with its permanently affixed FCC ID label or use an electronic display
• A user manual needs to provide comprehensive instructions to explain compliance requirements.
• The module must comply with RF exposure requirements

There are several differences. Wave 2 has or supports Multi User MIMO, higher PHY rates, larger channel width, an additional spatial stream, and higher MAC throughput.

GPIO Pin on the 88w8997 Pins on SIP WOW Use GPIO 0 23 88W8997.WLAN->Host wake up GPIO 3 67   88W8997.BT->Host wake up PMU_EN 51 Host->88W8897 wake up  

It supports Linux kernel versions ranging from 3.18 to 4.9 using our backports package.

The 60 series radio supports every BT 5 feature with the exception of LE Long Range.

Yes, in our 2nd software release we will provide the capability to switch between a 1x1 and a 2x2 configuration.

Simply log into GitHub, go to the corresponding release packages page and click the "Watch" button (eye icon) in the top right of the page. Some radios (such as the LWB Series) requires you to download firmware separately from the product page; this firmware is updated on the product page in conjunction with GitHub releases.

Release Packages

1. Add two modules in the list of blacklist.conf:

vi /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
blacklist cfg80211
blacklist mac80211

2. Export the kernel settings and build driver:

export KLIB_BUILD=/lib/modules/4.4.0-31-generic/build
export KLIB=/lib/modules/4.4.0-31-generic/kernel

tar xf backports-laird-7.0.0.242.tar.bz2  -C projects/
cd ~/projects/laird-backport-7.0.0.242/
make defconfig-sterling60
make

3. Copy firmware to host and add link file  (here is an example of the PCIE option):

sudo mkdir /lib/firmware/lrdmwl
sudo cp 88W8997_ST_pcie_uart_v5.4.24.1.bin /lib/firmware/lrdmwl/
sudo cp regulatory_sterling60.db /lib/firmware/
cd /lib/firmware/lrdmwl
sudo ln -s 88W8997_ST_pcie_uart_v5.4.24.1.bin 88W8997_pcie.bin
sudo ln -s  /lib/firmware/regulatory_sterling60.db /lib/firmware/regulatory.db

4. Load the drivers:

cd ~/projects/laird-backport-7.0.0.242/
sudo insmod compat/compat.ko
sudo insmod net/wireless/cfg80211.ko
sudo insmod net/mac80211/mac80211.ko
sudo insmod drivers/net/wireless/laird/lrdmwl/lrdmwl.ko
sudo insmod drivers/net/wireless/laird/lrdmwl/lrdmwl_pcie.ko

If you don't want simultaneous ap/sta, you can run the commands:

nmcli conn add type wifi ifname wlan0 con-name softAP autoconnect no ssid softAP

nmcli conn modify softAP 802-11-wireless.mode ap 802-11-wireless.band bg 802-11d

nmcli conn up softAP

You can also do it via wpa_supplicant .conf files if you do not have nmcli.

You may not have enough space for the firmware. Verify the size of the specific firmware you are using and compare that to your available space. It is also possible that your firmware is not in the correct directory. Verify the location of the firmware file. If neither of these seem to be the issue, please contact Laird support and have the MAC address of your module handy.

The Sterling 60 has connectors for two antennas. What is the performance difference for 802.11AC with only one antenna? That is, a single antenna firmware version was mentioned for the Sterling 60 at a later date. How would that performance compare to the two antenna 60?  - Regarding performance difference between 1x1 and 2x2 MIMO:  We haven?t tested it yet.  Theoretically, 1x1 has half the throughput of 2x2, but you will also lose out on some TX and RX performance.  Typically, with 2x2 MIMO, the TX power is amplified thanks to 2x2 MIMO phase shifting.  Using single antenna you can expect 3dB loss in TX power which equates to half the TX performance vs using two antennas.  For 1x1 RX; the radio will only have one chance to receive a packet, whereas 2x2 gives the radio 2 chances to receive a packet.  With that said, to achieve max performance we recommend two antennas.  However single antenna does offer benefits such as lower power consumption and allow for a smaller form factor product.      

There are no hardware differences between the two modules. However there are vast software differences. The Sterling-60 provides professional grade connectivity while the Summit-60 has more security and roaming features intended for Enterprise use.

When using the 60 series raido you should leverage our latest backports package and documentation. If you do this, as a result, you should have bluetooth.ko and hci_uart.ko. These are the required kernel modules for Bluetooth.

The specification of Bluetooth includes an encryption key negotiation protocol that allows for the negotiate encryption keys with 1 Byte of entropy without protecting the integrity of the negotiation process.

A remote attacker can manipulate the entropy negotiation to let any standard compliant Bluetooth device negotiate encryption keys with 1 byte of entropy and then brute force the low entropy keys in real time.

With the 7.1.0.9 release for the ST60/SU60, all options including USB-USB have addressed and resolved the KNOB attack vulnerability.

Attached power point file.  

The 60 series radio as well as the 50 support the the M.2 ?E? key.

All of them.

No. Unfortunately there is no way to update the settings on the DVK-ST60-SIPT for use with the SUMMIT software. A different DVK would be required: DVK-SU60-SIPT.

The 60 series radio itself is not FIPS certified and cannot be certified, since FIPS must be tied to an entire platform (host, OS, encryption mechanisms, etc..) and have a defined boundary within the platform (data at rest, data at motion, Ethernet, USB, Wi-Fi, etc..).

From a Wi-Fi radio perspective, the on-board encryption hardware accelerators on the Marvell silicon are not FIPS compliant. Therefore, a customer would need to disable the radio encryption accelerator on the 60 series radio and use a FIPS validated crypto-engine. This is similar to what Laird Connectivity did on our 60 Series SOM to achieve FIPS certification – from a high-level perspective we bypassed the silicon's encryption HW accelerators and forwarded all of the encryption functions to a FIPS validated crypto-module on the SOM60. Disabling the radio’s encryption functions can be done from the host.  The rest of the FIPS architecture will need to be determined by customer as FIPS is tied to more than just the radio.

Each implementation of FIPS is different and the radio is just one piece of a larger FIPS strategy. Laird Connectivity's implementation of FIPS was specifically designed for the SOM60 platform.

Only the SU60 version supports monitor mode.

1. Load backports driver, such as below for SDIO option.

insmod compat/compat.ko
insmod net/wireless/cfg80211.ko
insmod net/mac80211/mac80211.ko
insmod drivers/net/wireless/laird/lrdmwl/lrdmwl.ko
insmod drivers/net/wireless/laird/lrdmwl/lrdmwl_sdio.ko

2. Setup interface type as monitor mode and bring it up.

iw dev wlaninterface add wlan1 type monitor
ifconfig wlan1 up

3. Use tcpdump to capture the packet as the command below.

tcpdump -i wlan1  -n -w wireless.cap

Generally speaking the difference is that a Thick MAC firmware will have most of the radios features and options built into the firmware. With a Thin MAC firmware many features are pulled out of the firmware and put into the driver and supplicant.

Attached power point file.  

CONFIG_ARCH_BERLIN  need to be disabled

Platform Selection  -->

[ ] Marvell Berlin SoC Family

Networking support --> Wireless

[ ] cfg80211

Device Driver -->

[*] LED support

<*> LED Class Support

<*> LED Support for GPIO connected LED

[*] LED support for LEDs on system controller

 -*-  LED Trigger support

<*> LED Heartbeat Trigger

[*] LED CPU trigger

Cryptographic API -->

<*> CCM support

<*> GCM/GMAC support

<*> CMAC support

<*> CRC32 CRC algorithm

<*> AES cipher algorithms

<*> ARC4 cipher algorithm

Kernel hacking

<*> Kernel debugging

 

If WiFi interface is PCIE, then need to check the following configuration as well.

Bus support -->

[*] PCI Support

[*] Message signaled Interrupt

[*] Root port Advance error reporting support

[*] PCI express ASPM control

 

For BT, need to have few more extra configuration.

Cryptographic API -->

<*> ECDH algorithm

Networking support -->

< > Bluetooth

SDIO reset would rely on SDIO card detection function, which can be done by broken-cd setting in device tree.

1. Modify the dts file:

For example if you use NXP IMX6UL board, the dts file is located at “~/projects/fsl-release-bsp/build-imx6ul-fb/tmp/work-shared/imx6ulevk/kernel-source/arch/arm/boot/dts/imx6ul-14x14-evk.dts”. If you use mmc0, the setting will be in usdhc1.

Add broken-cd function in the setting of usdhc1 as below and also need to make sure there is no setting of “non-removable”.

&usdhc1 {

pinctrl-names = "default", "state_100mhz", "state_200mhz";

pinctrl-0 = <&pinctrl_usdhc1>;

pinctrl-1 = <&pinctrl_usdhc1_100mhz>;

pinctrl-2 = <&pinctrl_usdhc1_200mhz>;

cd-gpios = <&gpio1 19 GPIO_ACTIVE_LOW>;

keep-power-in-suspend;

broken-cd;

enable-sdio-wakeup;

vmmc-supply = <&reg_sd1_vmmc>;

status = "okay";

};

2. Rebuild kernel and then it will set MMC_CAP_NEEDS_POLL during mmc driver initialization.

int mmc_of_parse(struct mmc_host *host)

{

…

if (of_property_read_bool(np, "non-removable")) {

dev_warn(host->parent,"Parse Card Detection: non-removable\n");

host->caps |= MMC_CAP_NONREMOVABLE;

if (of_property_read_bool(np, "cd-post"))

host->caps2 |= MMC_CAP2_CD_POST;

} else {

cd_cap_invert = of_property_read_bool(np, "cd-inverted");

if (of_property_read_bool(np, "broken-cd"))

{

dev_info(host->parent,"Parse Card Detection: broken-cd\n");

host->caps |= MMC_CAP_NEEDS_POLL;

}

…

}

…

}

Then SDHC will check the SDIO bus per second and once there is any PMU_EN or PDN assert event, SDHC will detect the bus no longer available and will unload/reload the SDIO again automatically.

In BlueZ, some commands such as l2test or l2ping are able to generate traffic on L2CAP layer. To test performance and reliability, you can use the l2test command:

On the server, run the command:

l2test -I 2000 -r

On the client side, run the command:

l2test -O 2000 -s XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX

No, actually this message is only a warning and should only come up when the highest linux printk debug is set. Laird does not use this file within its software. Hende the warning as well as the file an be neglected.

We test our Sterling supplicant for all of the following EAP types: EAP-FAST LEAP PEAP-MSCHAP PEAP-GTC PEAP-TLS EAP-TLS EAP-TTLS

Additional documentation can be located in the Sterling 60 GitHub repository