WICED workflow

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Anonymous
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Hi, we are currently investigating the option of using WICED chips in our design. I have some questions regarding how the WICED chip's are actually used and programmed.

I am not familiar with the terminology used in WICED community so I will use the following one (correction of my terminology is welcomed):

  • WICED chip - the actual wifi mac/phy/radio chip (e.g. BCM43362 or BCM43364)
  • WICED module - the wiced chip integrated with host MCU (e.g. BCM943362WCD4 or BCM943364WCD1). Somewhere referenced as "platform"
  • WICED eval board - evaluation board including WICED module and support circuity for debuging (e.g. BCM943362WCD4_EVB or BCM943364WCD1_EVB)

My questions are as follows:

  • In case of programming using the SDK the application is executed in WICED chip's ROM or WICED module's MCU?
    • If in WICED module's MCU then what is the purpose of controller (ARM M3) on WICED chips? Can I reprogram it too or it is just for internal purpose of the chip executing firmware in from ROM?
  • Can I use my own host MCU and communicate directly with WICED chip. Is there any support in the SDK? Is the SDIO/SPI protocol documentation available (commands/registers...)
  • What are "partner modules" and what is the difference between WICED module and partner module?
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You can buy certain partners module, wipe it clean and start fresh using the WICED SDK And the partners platform files.

The partners usually ship their modules pre-programed so people don't have to do much development work.

Does this help?

View solution in original post

5 Replies
MichaelF_56
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It's important to understand that WICED™ generally indicates a black box module (simple external serial interface expected) where a Cypress wireless radio is used in conjunction with a small MCU combined with a lightweight RTOS like FreeRTOS or ThreadX. Cypress really only makes the chips that go in these production/certified partner modules.  In addition, we produce an SDK and a Dev Kit customers can use for development.  However, our module partners (see table in the 2016 IoT Solutions Guide​), which build the actual production modules you would use, often will also supply their own development boards and lower barrier to entry SW development environments.

In addition to WICED, we also have partners that support Linux "Radio Only" modules.  For these modules, one develops on a higher end Cortex A type processor and uses a Linux Driver package to interface (normally SDIO) to the radio module which is provided by the CPU manufacture, which in most cases is NXP/Freescale i.MX based.

The gray area between these two is that some module partners will actually support development on your own MCU using the WICED SW stack.  Vendors like Inventek Systems​ refers to this type of implementation as "Virtual WICED"

There is a thread here on the topic: WICED vs Virtual WICED

For the most part, the traditional WICED MCU and pre-existing Linux implementations discussed above and represented here Wi-Fi/Bluetooth for Linux and Android​ and here Murata Wi-Fi/Bluetooth for Linux and Android​, are really all that's supported here on the forum by Cypress AEs.  For other non traditional implementations, you will need to engage with the module partner themselves (Partners), or through one of our regional franchised Distributors

Anonymous
Not applicable

Thank you for clarification the background of the WICED.

So regarding to my first question I guess the SW produced with the help of WICED SDK will be actually executed in WICED module's MCU. In case of production the WICED module will be replaced with the partners module and I will need to adjust my application software (built on top of SDK) to this partners module interface.

On other hand, in case I needed to built my own platform ( == partner module) I would like to know whether I can adjust also the firmware in WICED chip's controller (M3 core in aforementioned chips) using the SDK, or it is solely in control of Cypress developers and burned into ROM memory.

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You can buy certain partners module, wipe it clean and start fresh using the WICED SDK And the partners platform files.

The partners usually ship their modules pre-programed so people don't have to do much development work.

Does this help?

Anonymous
Not applicable

I does, thanks,

And what about the possibility to program the BCM43362/4 chip's internal ARM M3 core (not the host processor). Is it possible?

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No can do. That is proprietary FW and uCode in there.