RN-111B-EVAL
IGRN111B-EVAL 3/10/2009
WiFly evaluation Kit
Features
•
Contains all hardware and software
components required to configure and setup
Roving Networks WiFly 802.11 modules.
•
Supprts Windows based computers via
serial or USB interface.
•
Simple ASCII command interface for
configuration and programming of the WiFly
module
Description
The evaluation kit allows you to configure and program the WiFly 802.11 module. The kit can be used for
development and field configuration of WiFly enabled products. The evaluation kit includes the hardware
required to connect to the WiFly module though the USB or serial port of your computer. The evaluation kit
includes:
•
•
evaluation board –links your computer to the WiFly module
USB cable – connects the evaluation board to the host computer
•
•
Serial cable – connects the evaluation board to the host computer
Power cord – powers the evaluation board when using the serial cable (Not used for USB setups)
•
•
•
10pin (2x5) 050” board to board cable – connects the WiFly module to the evaluation board
WiFly module – RN111B-R (Reverse polarity SMA )
Antenna - 4” antenna with reverse polarity SMA
In addition to the hardware in the WiFly evaluation Kit you will need a x86 compatible computer with either a
USB port or serial port running Windows XP or Vista. The WiFly evaluation kit may work with other versions of
Windows, however this document only covers the Windows XP and Vista operation.
The WiFly device is configured with a simple ASCI command set. The evaluation board physically connects
your computer to the WiFly module, communication to the WiFly module is through a standard COM port on
you computer using a simple terminal emulator such as TeraTerm or through the WiFly utility. (see diagram
below) A full description WiFly commands can be found in the WiFly Users Manual.
Getting Started
Host Computer
WiFly
Module
Terminal
Emulator
USB
or
Serial C able
Ten pin
Ribbon cable
Evaluation
Board
COM
Port
or
WiFly
Utility
809 University Avenue • Los Gatos, CA 95032 • Tel (408) 395-6539 • info@RovingNetworks.com
RN-111B-EVAL
IGRN111B-EVAL 3/10/2009
All software and documentation for the WiFly Module and evaluation kit can be found on the Roving Networks
website on the support page.
You will need your computer, an internet connection, the SSID for your WiFi access point, the passkey(s) for
your WiFi access point if your network is security enabled.
With your computer connected to the internet go to the Roving Networks website support page and download
and WiFly setup wizard or FTDI drivers. The WiFly setup wizard will install the Wifly Utility and the drivers.
Follow the directions in the WiFly setup wizard and be sure the wizard finishes successfully before proceeding.
NOTE: The WiFly utility is only for convenience, the WiFly module can be completely configured from a
terminal emulator. If you do not use WiFly utility you will need to install the FTDI device drivers. These can be
found on the Roving Networks website on the support page.
You will need a simple terminal emulator program. We suggest TeraTerm. This is also available for download
from the Roving Networks website. WARNING: Don not use HyperTerm, it has several bugs that make it
unusable for this application.
Setup and Configuration
This is a two step process:
1. Connecting the hardware through the USB or serial connection
2. Configuring the WiFly module to access the WiFi network
Once complete the WiFly module is associated with the network and has acquired an IP address. The WiFly
module can then be programmed and network connections established.
NOTE: Before proceeding the drivers must be installed on your computer.
Step 1: Setting up the hardware
The evaluation board can be connected to the host computer using either the USB or the serial interface
port on your computer.
USB Connection:
1. Connect the USB extension cable to the
development board.
2. Connect the 10pin ribbon cable to the
WiFly module and evaluation board. When
looking from above, red side of the ribbon
should be towards the edge of the module.
3. Connect the other end of the 10pin ribbon
cable to the WiFly Module, again the red
side of the ribbon cable should be on the
outside edge of the module.
4. Verify that the jumper is set for USB mode,
perpendicular to the length of the
evaluation board (See figure 1)
5. Plug the USB cable into the computer.
Fig. 1 USB cable setup and jumper setting
809 University Avenue • Los Gatos, CA 95032 • Tel (408) 395-6539 • info@RovingNetworks.com
RN-111B-EVAL
IGRN111B-EVAL 3/10/2009
Serial Connection:
1. Connect the Serial cable to the
development board. The red side of the
ribbon cable should be towards the near
edge of the evaluation board.
2. Connect the 10pin ribbon cable to the
WiFly module and evaluation board.
When looking from above, red side of
the ribbon should be towards the edge
of the module
3. Connect the other end of the 10pin
ribbon cable to the WiFly Module, again
the red side of the ribbon cable should
be on the outside edge of the module.
4. Move the jumper from USB to serial
mode. The jumper should be inline with
the length of the evaluation board (See
figure 2)
5. Plug in the power connector to the
evaluation board
Fig. 2 Serial cable setup and jumper setting
6. Plug the serial cable into the computer.
7. If your computer has a mail DB9
connector you will need a male to male, null modem cable to complete the connection.
If the hardware is successfully connected, if the green LED on the evaluation board is on and the red LED
on the WiFly module is on (not associated) while the green LED is blinking fast (not connected).
Step 2: Configuring the WiFly Module
The most basic configuration requires only the name (SSID) and channel of the wireless network. The
WiFly module can only associate with one network at a time. It is recommended that you first configure
the WiFly module using an open access point to simplify the setup.
Using the WiFly Utility to configure the WiFly module
NOTE: The WiFly utility only recognizes the USB
connector setup. If you are using the serial connection
you will need to us a terminal emulator program for
configuration and setup.
The WiFly Utility simplifies the task configuring the WiFly
module by detecting the COM port that the USB serial
device is connected to and providing graphical interface
for the WiFly programming language.
1. Start the WiFly Utility
If the USB cable is plugged in and the drivers are
load correctly Windows should recognize the new
809 University Avenue • Los Gatos, CA 95032 • Tel (408) 395-6539 • info@RovingNetworks.com
RN-111B-EVAL
IGRN111B-EVAL 3/10/2009
hardware as “USB serial port” or “USB WiFly programmer.” NOTE: If you have not installed the WiFly
Utility, the Windows operating system will not recognize the new hardware. If this is the case, cancel
the “Found New Hardware” dialog and disconnect the USB cable, then run the WiFly setup wizard.
2. Configuring the WiFly module
• Enter the name (SSID) and Channel of your network
• The utility requires you enter a remote IP address and port number. This does not have to be a
valid IP address on your network. Set the port to 2000
• If your network has security you must provide the security codes by selecting the Authentication
Type and enter the Key Number or Phase
•
Optionally if you are not using DHCP or just want to assign a static IP address
o Deselect IP Address Dynamically Assigned
o Enter the Static IP address
o Enter the Subnet Mask
o Enter the IP address of the Gateway
•
Enter a name for this configuration at the top of the window in the Save Settings field.
•
Click on Update
The WiFly module is successfully configured if the red LED is off and the green light is flashing slowly.
To verify the connection, switch to the Status tab in the WiFly Utility. There you should see the actual
IP address assigned to the WiFly module, the signal strength and other information. At this point you
can go to the Tools tab in the WiFly utility and ping the Wifly module by providing its IP address.
Now that the WiFly is configured it will retain these setting and every time it is powered up will attempt
to associate with the same network.
Using a terminal emulator to configure the WiFly module
Instead of using the WiFly Utility, a terminal emulator can be used to configure the WiFly module. This
has the advantage that once the module is configured the complete set of WiFly commands is available to
the user.
NOTE: If you have not installed the WiFly
utility or the FDTI device drivers Windows
will not recognize the new hardware when it
is plugged into your computer. To resolve
this either running the WiFly setup wizard or
install the FDTI drivers directly.
1. Determine the COM port the USB Serial
port is connected on. This can be found
by opening the “Device Manager” which
is part of the system tools in Windows.
In the Device Manager browse and
expand the selection for Ports (COM &
LPT) In the example to the right the
USB serial port is COM9
809 University Avenue • Los Gatos, CA 95032 • Tel (408) 395-6539 • info@RovingNetworks.com
RN-111B-EVAL
IGRN111B-EVAL 3/10/2009
2. Next open up the terminal emulator using COM port found in the previous step. If using TeraTerm,
select Serial and choose the proper COM Port from the pull down list.
3. From within the terminal window, put the
WiFly module into command mode by typing
$$$ in the terminal window. You should get
CMD back confirming you are in command
mode.
4. Next type show net to display the current
network settings.
NOTE: After each command completes you
will see a prompt that looks like
where X.XX indicates the version of firmware
running on the module In the example to the
right the version is 1.23
5. Set the SSID with the command set wlan
ssid network_name where network_name is the name of your WiFi network
6. Set the network channel with the set wan channel N where N is the channel that your WiFi network
NOTE: Commonly the channel number is 1, 6 or 11. If you do not know the channel number you can
find it using the scan option in the WiFly, see “Finding Available Networks” below.
7. Next save the configuration to flash using the save command
8. Now reboot the WiFly module by typing reboot to have your changes take effect.
Upon rebooting the WiFly module will attempt to associate with the WiFi network and acquire an IP
address. The WiFly module is successfully configured if the red LED is off (associated) and the green light
is flashing slowly (IP address acquired).
You can also verify the connection status by going into command mode and typing show net to display
the network information and get ip to display the IP address.
You can test the connection by pinging the IP address of the WiFy module from an external command
window.
Finding Available Networks
Use the scan feature in the WiFly module to find the name (SSID) and channel of available networks. To
start the scan you must have your terminal emulator connected and the WilFy module must be in
command mode.
• Type scan at the WiFly command prompt for a list of WiFi networks within range
809 University Avenue • Los Gatos, CA 95032 • Tel (408) 395-6539 • info@RovingNetworks.com
RN-111B-EVAL
IGRN111B-EVAL 3/10/2009
Connecting to security enable networks
Networks running WEP or WPA security require setting the pass key prior to associating with the WiFi
network. The authentication and pass keys are entered via the WiFly command interface with the
following commands.
set wlan auth sets the authentication level. 0= disabled, 1=WPA-PSK, 2=WPA2-PSK,
3=WEP-128.
set wlan key sets the WEP key. The key parameter must be
EXACTLY 13 bytes (26 ASCII chars). Data is expected in HEX format, “0x” should NOT be
included.
Example : “set w k 112233445566778899AABBCCDD”
Hex digits > 9 can be either upper or lower case.
set wlan num sets the default WEP key to use. 1-4 is the valid range.
Example : “set w n 2” sets the default key to 2.
set wlan phrase sets the passphrase for WPA security modes.
1-64 chars. The passphrase can be alpha and numeric, and is used along with the ssid
generate a unique 32 byte Pre-shared key (PSK), which is then hashed into a 256 bit number.
However, if exactly 64 chars are entered, it is assumed that this entry is already anASCII HEX
representation of the 32 byte PSK and no such processing is done.
Example : “set w p password” sets the phrase.
Here is an example of connecting to a WPA-2 secure access point.
809 University Avenue • Los Gatos, CA 95032 • Tel (408) 395-6539 • info@RovingNetworks.com
RN-111B-EVAL
IGRN111B-EVAL 3/10/2009
Trouble Shooting
WiFly Utility error “Can not find sensor: Timeout”
The evaluation board is not connected. Check to make sure the jumpers are correctly set for
USB or Serial connection.
WiFly Utility error “Command scan: Timeout”
The Wifly module is not able to find any networks in range. Check that the WiFly utility
Channel field is set to Auto Find. Make sure the network access point as good signal
strength
WiFly Utility error “No Networks Found”
The Wifly module can not connect to the networks. Possible problems include, no access
points available, check with wireless device manager. Incorrect or missing WEP key, confirm
access point is either open (no security) or you have the right authentication level set and the
correct pass phrase or key.
WiFly module red LED remains on after setting SSID and channel
The Wifly module can not connect to the networks. Possible problems include, not saving
the configuration before rebooting, enter command mode and verify settings. Incorrect or
missing WEP/WPA keys, confirm access point is either open (no security) or you have the
right authentication level set and the correct pass phrase or key.
WiFly Module red LED is off, but green LED is flash quickly
The WiFy module is associated with the network but was unable to get an IP address. Check
the DHCP is ON in WiFly configuration. If using a static IP address make sure the sub-net
mask and the gateway IP addresses are set correctly using the get ip command
Copyright © 2009 Roving Networks. All rights reserved.
The Bluetooth trademark and logo are registered trademarks of Bluetooth SIG, Inc. All other trademarks are
property of their respective owners.
809 University Avenue • Los Gatos, CA 95032 • Tel (408) 395-6539 • info@RovingNetworks.com
RN-111B-EVAL
IGRN111B-EVAL 3/10/2009
Roving Networks reserves the right to make corrections, modifications, and other changes to its products,
documentation and services at any time. Customers should obtain the latest relevant information before
placing orders and should verify that such information is current and complete.
Roving Networks assumes no liability for applications assistance or customer’s product design. Customers are
responsible for their products and applications which use Roving Networks components. To minimize
customer product risks, customers should provide adequate design and operating safeguards.
Roving Networks products are not authorized for use in safety-critical applications (such as life support) where
a failure of the Roving Networks product would reasonably be expected to cause severe personal injury or
death, unless officers of the parties have executed an agreement specifically governing such use.
809 University Avenue • Los Gatos, CA 95032 • Tel (408) 395-6539 • info@RovingNetworks.com