CYW94343: WICED Studio 6.2 vs STM32 connectivity pack (WHL): Size of the firmware

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jbiemar
Level 1
Level 1
5 questions asked First reply posted 10 sign-ins

Hello,

When I build a firmware with WHL, I have 3 large files that are used by WHD to update the cypress module CYW94343.

  • "wifi_firmware_image_data";"0x080605d4";"0x080605d4";"409,96 KB"
  • "brcm_patchram_buf";"0x080c8a54";"0x080c8a54";"34,46 KB"
  • "wifi_firmware_clm_blob_data";"0x080c6dbc";"0x080c6dbc";"7,05 KB"

Because of those files, it's impossible to flash the FW on a STM32 with only 512Kbytes without external flash. From what I understand, firmware image data are only "patch".

With WICED there isn't any of these file and I can flash the test board CYW94343WWCD1 with only 512KB of flash. Flash and static RAM reservation are:

snip.wifi_connection_manager-CYW94343WWCD1_EVB
----------------------------------|---------|---------|
                                  |         |  Static |
              Module              |  Flash  |   RAM   |
----------------------------------+---------+---------|
App                               |    1598 |      40 |
connection_manager                |    8856 |    5816 |
crc                               |    1060 |       0 |
DHCP_Server                       |    1454 |     132 |
DNS                               |      92 |      44 |
Host MCU-family library           |   16422 |    2690 |
Interrupt Vectors                 |     388 |       0 |
libc                              |   24803 |    3372 |
mbedTLS                           |   18388 |       0 |
Networking                        |    3611 |   19536 |
NetX-Duo - Interfaces & Stacks    |       0 |      16 |
Other                             |   55400 |     677 |
Packet Buffers                    |       0 |   22470 |
platform                          |    1456 |     288 |
RAM Initialisation                |    3196 |       0 |
resources                         |      44 |       0 |
Ring_Buffer                       |     112 |       0 |
SPI_Flash_Library_CYW94343WWCD1_EV|     512 |       0 |
Startup Stack & Link Script fill  |      76 |       9 |
Supplicant - BESL                 |   21323 |    5858 |
ThreadX                           |    8624 |     400 |
TLV                               |     216 |       0 |
WICED                             |    4315 |    1028 |
Wiced_RO_FS                       |     566 |       0 |
WWD                               |   20127 |    3208 |
----------------------------------+---------+---------|
TOTAL (bytes)                     |  189443 |   65584 |
----------------------------------|---------|---------|

 

Do you have any information about this? Is WICED don't update the CYW94343 and keep stock firmware?

Thank you

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1 Solution
cniclaes
Level 3
Level 3
10 replies posted 10 sign-ins 5 replies posted

Hi,

Thanks for your response (I'm responding for my colleague jbiemar).

I made some tests with WICED 6.6 and BCM94343WWCD2 platform. This platform is using a 8 Mbits external serial Flash, which explains why the flash footprint "seems" small (about 90K for wifi scan app). WICED is not showing the size of the "filesystem" resources during compilation and so the filesystem.bin file created (428K) is not visible at first eye.

By editing the platform makefile (/43xxx_Wi-Fi/platforms/BCM94343WWCD2/BCM94343WWCD2.mk) and changing"RESOURCES_LOCATION ?= RESOURCES_IN_WICEDFS" by "RESOURCES_LOCATION ?= RESOURCES_IN_DIRECT_RESOURCES", the flash size grow up to 520K, which is compatible with what we see with STM32 Connectivity Expansion Pack.

So basically the memory requirements are the same between the two environments.

The huge memory usage due to firmware patches is a major drawback of CY4343W and similar chips. Now we know that 1Mbytes is the minimum required Flash size for almost any application, we understand why module manufacturer are embedding additional SPI Serial Flash in there design. I don't know how to do it, but clearly it would be great if Infineon could warn potential customer about such memory requirements.

Best Regards!

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2 Replies
Charles_Lai
Moderator
Moderator
Moderator
500 replies posted 250 solutions authored 250 sign-ins

Hi,

CYW4343W is to be supported continuously in the latest WICED Studio 6.6. Try with WICED Studio 6.6 and board BCM94343WWCD2.

And STM32 Connectivity Expansion Pack uses different settings by default. You can trim it down to get a smaller firmware.

Best regards

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cniclaes
Level 3
Level 3
10 replies posted 10 sign-ins 5 replies posted

Hi,

Thanks for your response (I'm responding for my colleague jbiemar).

I made some tests with WICED 6.6 and BCM94343WWCD2 platform. This platform is using a 8 Mbits external serial Flash, which explains why the flash footprint "seems" small (about 90K for wifi scan app). WICED is not showing the size of the "filesystem" resources during compilation and so the filesystem.bin file created (428K) is not visible at first eye.

By editing the platform makefile (/43xxx_Wi-Fi/platforms/BCM94343WWCD2/BCM94343WWCD2.mk) and changing"RESOURCES_LOCATION ?= RESOURCES_IN_WICEDFS" by "RESOURCES_LOCATION ?= RESOURCES_IN_DIRECT_RESOURCES", the flash size grow up to 520K, which is compatible with what we see with STM32 Connectivity Expansion Pack.

So basically the memory requirements are the same between the two environments.

The huge memory usage due to firmware patches is a major drawback of CY4343W and similar chips. Now we know that 1Mbytes is the minimum required Flash size for almost any application, we understand why module manufacturer are embedding additional SPI Serial Flash in there design. I don't know how to do it, but clearly it would be great if Infineon could warn potential customer about such memory requirements.

Best Regards!