Introduction

In this lab, we will use the Network Terminal example in the SimpleLink™ Wi-Fi® CC32xx Software Development Kit as a tool to learn the flow of a basic Wi-Fi application before we dig into the code. The Network Terminal example demonstrates the various range of networking capabilities which the SimpleLink Wi-Fi CC32xx/CC31xx device family provides.

The purpose of this lab is to familiarize users with Wi-Fi and tools such as Code Composer Studio, by importing existing examples into the IDE and utilizing the debugger. The lab contains several tasks:

Task 1: Building and loading the Network terminal example

Task 2: Get familiar with the Network Terminal commands

Task 3: Use commands to demonstrate basic Wi-Fi applications

Prerequisites

Software

Hardware

Instead of using a CC32xx LaunchPad, the following hardware can also be used:

Note

Some exercises in this lab require two SimpleLink Wi-Fi LaunchPads or BoosterPacks. A subset can be completed with one LP/BP.

Task 1: Building and loading the Network Terminal example

CC31xx Hardware Setup

If you are setting up a CC31xx BoosterPack for the first time, see the Out of Box Experience for the CC3135 or CC3120.

  1. In CCS, open the TI Resource Explorer (View → Resource Explorer)

  2. Follow the steps below to import the network_terminal example depending on which device you are using.

    • Be sure you select your desired project "flavor" (CC3235S-LAUNCHXL, MSP_EXP432P401R, TI-RTOS, Free-RTOS, CCS, GCC, etc.).

    • The image below shows the CC3220 TI-RTOS CCS example for this lab: network_terminal_CC3220SF_LAUNCHXL_tirtos_ccs

      Expand the folders under the SimpleLink CC32xx SDK as shown to select the network_terminal example, then click the Import to IDE icon at the top-right

      TI Resource Explorer

      Expand the folders under the SimpleLink SDK Wi-Fi Plugin as shown to select the network_terminal example, then click the Import to IDE icon at the top-right

      TI Resource Explorer

  3. Build the project by selecting Build Project from the Project menu or right-clicking the name of the project. It may take a couple minutes to build.

  4. You'll need two devices for some of the lab exercises, so you will want to flash the Network Terminal application to two LaunchPads. (If you only have one LaunchPad, you can read through the first two exercises and then skip to exercise 3.)

    We will be using the SysConfig ImageCreator tool to flash the application. Plug in one LaunchPad, build the project, then select the Flash button from the top menu. Once it is complete, plug in the second LaunchPad, rebuild the project, and select the Flash button again.

    Why do we have to rebuild the project? The SysConfig ImageCreator tool auto-detects the MAC address of the LaunchPad in order to create a development image for that device. To learn more about development images, check out the Device Overview in the Out of Box Experience.

    Load the application to your first host MCU LaunchPad in CCS by clicking the green bug in the top menu. Once it is complete, you can unplug the first LaunchPad and repeat with the second LaunchPad.

  5. Open a UART terminal for each LaunchPad on your device's COM port. We want to use the XDS110 Class Application/User UART port with the following parameters:

    UART Configuration
    Baud rate: 115200
    Data: 8 bit
    Parity: None
    Stop: 1 bit
    Flow control: None

Task 2: Get familiar with the Network Terminal commands

For simplicity, we divide the application's functionality into four different silos. Each silo contains several commands accessible by the user via command line interface.

Silo Description
WLAN Contains link layer functions like scan, connect, etc.
Socket Shows variety of socket API and responsible for sending and receiving data.
NetApp Demonstrates the usage of networking applications.
Transceiver Gives the user a direct interface to the NWP radio for RF tests, raw sockets (L1) and more.

Available commands

You can type help into the terminal at any time to see a complete list of available commands.

WLAN commands

  • scan: Retrieves scan results from network processor’s (NWP) scan cache
  • setpolicy: Defines the device’s scan behavior and starts background scans
  • wlanconnect: Connects device to an AP
  • wlandisconnect: Disconnect from AP
  • wlan_ap_start: Configures the device to operate in AP mode
  • wlan_ap_stop: Set device in Station mode
  • createfilter: Creates an RX filter. RX filters are a set of rules and actions imposed on each packet received from the air
  • enablefilter: Enables all defined filters
  • disablefilter: Disables all defined filters
  • deletefilter: Deletes all defined filters
  • enablewowlan: Defines a pattern-based filter, then sends host MCU to Low Power Deep Sleep (LPDS). Once the pattern filter triggers, the NWP would wake the host MCU from LPDS using host IRQ as a wake up source.
  • p2pstart: Sets the NWP in discoverable Peer to Peer mode and connects to another visible P2P device

Socket commands

  • send: Demonstrates opening a TCP or UDP socket, sending data in packets, and closing socket
  • recv: Demonstrates opening a listening socket, receiving data in packets, and closing socket

NetApp commands

  • ping: Pings specific host name or IP, and prints statistics to terminal
  • mdnsadvertise: Advertises a service over mDNS
  • mdnsquery: Runs mDNS query for services over local LAN

Transceiver commands

  • radiotool: Starts the Radio Tool. This allows users to run several radio-related tests for RX and TX operations

Learn more about the commands

You can learn more about any command and see an example of usage by typing [command] -help into the terminal or see the network_terminal README.

Task 3: Use commands to demonstrate basic Wi-Fi applications

In these exercises, you can grab a partner or flash the same application to both LaunchPads. We will refer to the partners or devices as User 1 and 2.

Backspaces

This terminal application does not support backspaces. If you mistype a command, you will have to retry it.

Exercise 1

User 1: Set up your device as an open Access Point. Once a Station connects and pings you, send a number of packets to the station and wait for them to be received by the Station. Once the Station has completed and disconnected, set the device to Station mode.
User 2: You are acting as a Station. Scan for an AP, and connect to User 1's AP. Ping the AP, then listen for incoming packets. Once completed, disconnect from the AP.

Hint: When communicating using sockets, the server must be set up before the client.

User 1: wlan_ap_start -s "demoAP" -t OPEN
User 2: scan -n 20
User 2: wlanconnect -s "demoAP" -t OPEN
User 2: ping -h <server IP address>
User 1: send -s -p 5001
User 2: recv -c <server IP address> -p 5001
User 2: wlandisconnect
User 1: wlan_ap_stop

Congratulations! You just set up your first Wi-Fi Access Point and communicated with a Station.

Exercise 2

Try the same exercise as above, but make User 1's AP a secured network!

User 1: wlan_ap_start -s "demoAP" -t WPA/WPA2 -p "password"
User 2: scan -n 20
User 2: wlanconnect -s "demoAP" -t WPA/WPA2 -p "password"
User 2: ping -h <server IP address>
User 1: send -s -p 5001
User 2: recv -c <server IP address> -p 5001
User 2: wlandisconnect
User 1: wlan_ap_stop

Exercise 3

As a station, connect to an AP with internet access (a hotspot or router, for example). Ping a popular website, such as google.com or ti.com. Send 5 Echo-request packets with a 2 second delay interval.

scan -n 20
wlanconnect -s "demoAP" -t WPA/WPA2 -p "password"
ping -h www.ti.com -c 5 -i 2
wlandisconnect

Use your own AP's SSID and password in the wlanconnect command

Exercise 4

Start the Radio tool by calling the radiotool command and run the RX task on any channel. RX testing is used for gathering Wi-Fi statistics for a specified channel.

Take a look at the RX statistics breaking down the traffic the SimpleLink device sees broadcasting on the specific channel (example below). This traffic comes from broadcasting Wi-Fi networks in the area. The RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) histogram shows the power present in a received radio signal, and the rate histogram shows the data rate in Mbps.

For more details on the radio tool in this example, see the network_terminal README.

*********************************Rx Statistics**********************************
Received Packets: 20266
Average RSSI for management: -74 Average RSSI for other packets: -83

    -----------------------   RSSI Histogram   -----------------------

-40dBm to -87dBm (below and above RSSI will appear in the first and last cells)

           10   20   30   40   50   60   70   80   90   100
         |----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----|
  -40dBm                                                    (0.06%)
         |----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----|
  -49dBm                                                  (1.59%)
         |----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----|
  -58dBm                                                  (0.52%)
         |----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----|
  -68dBm***************                                   (30.60%)
         |----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----|
  -77dBm***********************                           (46.09%)
         |----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----|
  -87dBm**********                                        (21.14%)
         |----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----|
              10   20   30   40   50   60   70   80   90   100

    -----------------------   Rate Histogram   -----------------------

           10   20   30   40   50   60   70   80   90   100
         |----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----|
0          *                                                 (3.09%)
         |----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----|
1                                                            (0.03%)
         |----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----|
2                                                            (0.03%)
         |----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----|
3                                                            (0.03%)
         |----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----|
4          **********************************************    (93.70%)
         |----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----|
5                                                            (0.86%)
         |----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----|
6                                                            (0.03%)
         |----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----|
7                                                            (0.06%)
         |----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----|
8          *                                                 (2.13%)
         |----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----|
9                                                            (0.00%)
         |----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----|
10                                                           (0.00%)
         |----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----|
11                                                           (0.00%)
         |----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----|
12                                                           (0.04%)
         |----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----|
13                                                           (0.00%)
         |----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----|
14                                                           (0.00%)
         |----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----|
15                                                           (0.00%)
         |----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----|
16                                                           (0.00%)
         |----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----|
17                                                           (0.00%)
         |----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----|
18                                                           (0.00%)
         |----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----|
19                                                           (0.00%)
         |----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----|
              10   20   30   40   50   60   70   80   90   100

                     The data was sampled during 97337mSec
*******************************End Rx Statistics********************************

Technical support

For any questions you might have, please search on the TI SimpleLink Wi-Fi E2E Forum.

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