WHC Wi-Fi WPAoH Host-Side Driver

Linux (cfg80211) Host-Side Driver

Driver Porting

WHC Host is currently tested and validated on Linux kernels 5.4 and 5.10. If you encounter compilation issues on other kernel versions, please contact us.

Note

SPI initiates data transfer immediately after CS pin is pulled low and CLK is detected. Corner cases may occur during bus busy states.

• Testing shows adding a 7μs delay between CS low and host CLK push ensures safe data transmission.

• Older SPI drivers without spi_delay support may require direct code modification.

Prerequisites

Install dependencies on Linux:

sudo apt-get install build-essential
sudo apt install dhcpcd hostapd dhcpd

1. In directory /component/wifi/whc/whc_host_linux, run the following cmd. nan and p2p is an optional parameter and should be added only when Wi-Fi NAN and Wi-Fi P2P needs to be enabled.

   SDIOSPIUSB

   ./whc_setup.sh sdio [nan] [p2p]
   

2. Select 1 or 2 based on the host operation mode

   choose target host mode:
   1) WPAoH host with cfg80211
   2) WPAoD host without cfg80211
   choose target host mode:
   

3. Select the target IC based on the chip model and interface type.

   SDIOSPIUSB

   If the chip is configured to Boot from SDIO , select the FW_DOWNLOAD option.

   When FW_DOWNLOAD is enabled, place the firmware binary files (RTL8851FS_FW_1.bin and RTL8851FS_FW_2.bin) in the /opt/images/ directory on the host. The host driver will automatically download these images to the device during boot. The firmware file path can be modified in common/fwdl/whc_hal_rtlxxx.c.

4. Copy whc_host_linux to Linux kernel source tree

5. Interface Activation

   • Linux PC: Skip this step

   • Raspberry Pi:

   SDIOSPIUSB

   Configure SDIO via dtoverlay.

   For Raspberry Pi 4:

   sudo dtoverlay sdio poll_once=off
   

   For Raspberry Pi 5:

   sudo dtoverlay sdio
   

6. Open new terminal and compile

   cd {driver_path}/whc_host_linux
   make
   

7. Driver Loading

   SDIOSPIUSB

   Module Path: /whc_host_linux/common/sdio/whc_sdio.ko

   sudo su
   cp sdio/whc_sdio.ko /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/
   depmod
   modprobe whc_sdio
   

   After successful loading, run ifconfig to verify Wi-Fi devices.

   Sample Output:

   • Station mode MAC prefix: 00:e0:4c

   • SoftAP mode MAC prefix: 00:e1:4c

   

Normal Mode Verification

• Stop NetworkManager and DHCP services to avoid conflicts

  Ubuntu System Note: When connecting via command line, you stop NetworkManager and DHCP services to avoid conflicts

  sudo systemctl stop NetworkManager dhcpcd.service
  sudo systemctl disable NetworkManager
  

• Create configuration file /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf

  ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
  network={
      ssid="HUAWEI-JX2UX5_HiLink_5G"
      psk="12345678"
  }
  

• Start WPA connection

  wpa_supplicant -D nl80211 -i wlanX -c /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf -dd > /var/wifi_log
  

• Obtain IP address

  dhcpcd wlanX
  

• Configuring SoftAP

  1. Create configuration file /etc/hostapd/hostapd.conf

  driver=nl80211
  logger_syslog=-1
  logger_syslog_level=2
  hw_mode=g
  channel=6
  ssid=aaa_test
  wpa=2
  wpa_passphrase=12345678
  wpa_key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
  wpa_pairwise=CCMP
  

  2. Create DHCP configuration file /etc/udhcpd_wlanX.conf

  start 192.168.43.20
  end 192.168.43.254
  interface wlanX
  opt dns 192.168.43.1
  option subnet 255.255.255.0
  opt router 192.168.43.1
  

  3. Start SoftAP

  hostapd /etc/hostapd/hostapd.conf -i wlanX
  

  4. Set AP IP address

  ifconfig wlanX 192.168.43.1 netmask 255.255.255.0
  

  5. Start DHCP service

  udhcpd -f /etc/udhcpd_wlanX.conf
  

Note

wlanX is the name of the wireless interface device, execute ifconfig -a in the terminal to retrieve its information

Device-Side TCP/IP Keep-Alive Verification

• Stop NetworkManager and DHCP services to avoid conflicts

  Ubuntu System Note: When connecting via command line, you stop NetworkManager and DHCP services to avoid conflicts

  sudo systemctl stop NetworkManager dhcpcd.service
  sudo systemctl disable NetworkManager
  

• Create configuration file /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf

  ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
  network={
      ssid="HUAWEI-JX2UX5_HiLink_5G"
      psk="12345678"
  }
  

• Start WPA connection

  wpa_supplicant -D nl80211 -i wlanX -c /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf -dd > /var/wifi_log
  

• Obtaining IP Address

  1. Launch Cust Path demo

  cd ${SDK}/component/wifi/whc/whc_host_linux/app
  sudo ./whc_cust_path_demo
  

  2. Execute initialization

  > init
  

  3. Enter the following command in the demo to instruct Ameba to obtain an IP address

  > dhcp
  

  4. Based on the IP address information returned by Ameba, configure the IP address and default gateway in the terminal

  # Configure the IP address for wlanX
  sudo ip addr add 192.168.x.x/24 dev wlanX
  
  # Enable the wlanX interface
  sudo ip link set wlanX up
  
  # Configure the default gateway IP address
  sudo ip route add default via 192.168.x.x dev wlanX
  

• Test network connectivity

  ping 192.168.x.x
  

Note

wlanX is the name of the wireless interface device, execute ifconfig -a in the terminal to retrieve its information

RTOS Host-Side Driver

Driver Porting

Programming Guide for Ameba as WHC Host

1. Environment Setup

   Execute the configuration command

   (Top) -> CONFIG WHC INTF -> WHC_MODE
   ----Configuration----
         ( ) WHC_IPC
         ( ) WHC_DEV
         (X) WHC_HOST
   
   (Top) -> CONFIG WHC INTF -> WHC HOST config
   ----Configuration----
         (X) Support WHC CMD PATH
         (X) Support WHC WIFI API PATH
   

2. Firmware Compilation

   Generate target files:

   ameba.py build
   

   Output files:

   • boot.bin

   • app.bin

3. Firmware Burning

   Use the dedicated burning tool to write the firmware to the development board

Third-party Platform Porting

When using other Host chips, the component/os/freertos directory must be ported to the target system.

Functional Verification

• Enter the following command in the serial terminal to perform a WiFi scan

  AT+WLSCAN
  

• Enter the following command in the serial terminal to establish a wireless connection

  AT+WLCONN=ssid,ap_test,pw,12345678
  

  Note

  ap_test represents the target AP’s SSID, 12345678 is the target AP’s password. Omit password parameter for open networks.

• Test network connectivity

  AT+WLPING=192.168.x.x
  

CUST_PATH Guide

In WPAoH mode, if custom communication between Host and Device is required beyond standard Wi-Fi/BT/Socket programming, the CUST_PATH can be utilized.