ST67W611M Hardware setup

(Redirected from Connectivity:Wifi MCU Hardware Setup)

back to main page

1. X-NUCLEO-67W61M1 mezzanine board overview

The X-NUCLEO-67W61M1 and the pin mapping between the NUCLEO-U575ZI-Q board and the X-NUCLEO-67W61M1 are shown in the image below.

X-NUCLEO-67W61M1 Arduino® view

ST67W611M pin description:

  • CHIP_EN pin is asserted to start the ST67W611M.
  • BOOT pin is asserted when a new binary must be loaded in ST67W611M
  • SPI_SCLK, SPI_MISO, and SPI_MOSI pins are used for data and control communication.
  • SPI_RDY pin is asserted by the ST67W611M to request SPI clock.
  • SPI_CS pin is used by the host to wake up the ST67W611M.
  • UART_Tx and UART_Rx are used for both loading the ST67W611M and for RF testing (MFG).

2. How to read OTP information in the ST67W611M

The chip is preprogrammed with one-time programmable (OTP) data at the factory.

This information can be retrieved by executing the following script: \Projects\ST67W6X_Utilities\Binaries\NCP_get_chip_info.bat

NCP_get_chip_info output

3. How to flash the ST67W611M

The ST67W611M network coprocessor must be loaded with a mission or manufacturing binary.

The hardware setup consists of:

  • One PC running the QConn_Flash tool
  • Any host STM32 board.

Note:

  1. NUCLEO-U575ZI-Q is used as a host example in this wiki.
  2. X-CUBE-ST67W61 package contains binaries for the boards included in the package. The associated source code and project are located in \Projects\$BOARD_NAME\Utilities\NCP\NCP_Loader
  3. If the host board is not included in X-CUBE-ST67W61, the NCP_Loader project must be migrated.
  • One X-NUCLEO-67W61M1

The interface between the boards is shown below:

ST67W611M flashing hardware setup:

The NUCLEO-U575ZI-Q is loaded with Bootloader.bin. This binary performs the following actions:

  1. BOOT pin is set to 1 before the CHIP_EN is asserted.
  2. STM32U5 is set in UART transparent mode. For example, STLINK Tx is copied to ST67W611M Rx, and ST67W611M Tx is copied to STLINK Rx.
Bootloader.bin timing diagram.
Info white.png Information
The red LED blinks and then remains steady on the Nucleo board, indicating that the bootloader.bin is running properly.

TheQConn_Flash tool can then load the binary into the ST67W611M NCP.

Note:

The ST67W611M can be flashed in standalone mode if the timing diagram above is reproduced and that the PC is connected to the ST67W611M UART terminal.

In this case, open a console terminal and navigate to the directory \Projects\ST67W6X_Utilities\Binaries.
Then, execute the following command:

QConn_Flash\QConn_Flash_Cmd.exe --port COMX --config NCP_Binaries\mission_flash_prog_cfg.ini --efuse=NCP_Binaries\efusedata.bin

4. How to flash and run manufacturing (MFG) mode

The manufacturing mode is used to measure RF performance of the ST67W611M.

The following figure shows the MFG mode hardware setup.

MFG mode Hardware Setup:

Once thest67w611m_mfg_v2.0.75.bin is loaded (see How to flash the ST67W611M), the UART_bypass.bin must be flashed into the STM32U575.

UART_bypass.bin timing diagram

UART_bypass.bin performs the following actions:

  1. CHIP_EN assertion: Asserts CHIP_EN while BOOT is maintained at 0.
  2. UART transparent mode: Sets STM32U575 in UART transparent mode. For example, STLINK Tx is copied to ST67W611M Rx and ST67W611M Tx is copied to STLINK Rx.

Note: The script NCP_update_mfg.bat located at Projects\ST67W6X_Utilities\Binaries automates the above process in X-CUBE-ST67W61.

The Qconn RCT tool can be used to perform RF test.

QConnRCT manufacturing tool

Note: The ST67W611M manufacturing mode can be run in standalone, provided that the timing diagram above is reproduced.

5. How to flash and run mission mode

The mission mode, also known as regular mode, features the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth® Low Energy capability.

Note: Unlike the previous setup, the UART is no longer used. Instead, the communication bus is the SPI bus.

Mission mode hardware setup


The binaryst67w611m_mission_t01_v2.0.75.bin has been loaded in ST67W611M (see How to flash the ST67W611M).

Any application in the project X-CUBE-ST67W61 software package can be compiled and flashed in the STM32U575 to drive the ST67W611M in mission mode.

Mission mode timing diagram

Note: the script NCP_update_mission_profile.bat located in \Projects\ST67W6X_Utilities\Binaries in X-CUBE-ST67W61 automates the above process.

For example, the ST67W6X_CLI project should look like this:

ST67W6X_CLI TeraTerm Screenshot