How does it work?
LP WiFi Click as its foundation uses the DA16200MOD-AA, a highly integrated ultra low power Wi-Fi module with the best RF performance and a comfortable development environment from Renesas. It consists of the DA16200 SoC, 4MB flash memory, RF components including a crystal oscillator, RF lumped filter and an onboard 2.4GHz chip antenna. Such low power operation can extend the battery life for a year or more, depending on the application, even when the board is continuously connected to the Wi-Fi network. This module also features strong IoT security, including WPA3 and TLS for authentication and encryption at Wi-Fi and higher stack layers.
The DA16200MOD has an integrated RTC block (36-bit real-time counter), with a 32.768kHz clock source necessary for the free-running counter in the RTC block of the SoC, which provides power management and function control for low power operation. The RTC block is always powered ON when an onboard switch labeled as POWER is set to the appropriate ON position during normal operation, which optimizes power consumption and is used for power ON/OFF purposes. Also, the upper left header of the board, labeled as RTC Block Pads, is connected to the internal RTC block to connect and receive external event signals from an external device like a sensor.
LP WiFi Click communicates with MCU using the UART interface as its default communication protocol. Users can use other interfaces such as SPI and I2C to improve and communicate with peripherals. It should be noted that the DA16200 module comes with firmware that only supports UART communication with the host microcontroller, and I2C with peripherals such as sensors (SPI interface is not supported by default and can be enabled by firmware update).
Additional options that this board has are certain buttons and headers. The onboard pushbuttons are labeled as RESET, and WPS represents a Factory reset button and WiFi Protected Setup (WPS) button. As for the headers, the first one marked with TX and RX signals is suitable for debugging purposes using the UART interface, while the second lets you add a small but bright and crisp OLED display to your design by connecting it on the upper-right header with I2C signals suitable for controlling the OLED.
This Click board™ can be operated only with a 3.3V logic voltage level. The board must perform appropriate logic voltage level conversion before use with MCUs with different logic levels. However, the Click board™ comes equipped with a library containing functions and an example code that can be used, as a reference, for further development.
Dialog SDK and support
The LP WiFi Click is coming already programmed with the default AT command firmware. Developers interested in creating and loading custom firmware on the DA16200 can do so by using the UART_0 interface (J3 header) available on the left side for module programming. For debugging your custom firmware you can use either JTAG (J1 header) or the SWD (J2 header) debugging interfaces.
The DA16200 is a highly integrated ultra-low power Wi-Fi system on chip (SoC) that allows users to develop the Wi-Fi solution and store application on a single chip, that way creating a standalone device without any additional microcontroller needed.
To get started with development first you should learn how to setup development environment for the DA16200 SDK, you can do that by reading DA16200 FreeRTOS SDK Startup Guide. After that, you are ready to start development / customization relying on the document describing the SDK API with the peripheral device drivers and interfaces, called FreeRTOS SDK Programmer Guide.
For all additional questions and support for firmware customization as well as application development, users can contact the official Technical Support of Renesas Semiconductor.
Specifications
Type
WiFi
Applications
Can be used for highly integrated and cost-effective IoT applications such as security systems, door locks, pet and asset trackers, sprinkler systems, connected lighting, wearables, and other IoT devices
On-board modules
DA16200MOD-AAC4WA32 – highly integrated ultra low power Wi-Fi module from Renesas
Key Features
Ultra low power consumption, best RF performance, full offload, integrated chip antenna, various interfaces, WiFi alliance certifications, advanced security, battery life extension, and more
Interface
GPIO,I2C,SPI,UART
Feature
No ClickID
Compatibility
mikroBUS™
Click board size
L (57.15 x 25.4 mm)
Input Voltage
3.3V
Pinout diagram
This table shows how the pinout on LP WiFi Click corresponds to the pinout on the mikroBUS™ socket (the latter shown in the two middle columns).
Onboard settings and indicators
Label | Name | Default | Description |
---|---|---|---|
LD1 | PWR | – | Power LED Indicator |
SW1 | POWER | Left | Power Switch |
J1 | – | Unpopulated | JTAG Interface for debugging |
J2 | – | Unpopulated | SWD Interface for debugging |
J3 | – | Unpopulated | UART Interface for firmware update |
J4 | – | Unpopulated | RTC Block Header |
J5 | – | Unpopulated | OLED Header |
T1 | WPS | – | WiFi Protected Setup (WPS) Button |
T2 | RESET | – | Factory Reset Button |
LP WiFi Click electrical specifications
Description | Min | Typ | Max | Unit |
---|---|---|---|---|
Supply Voltage | – | 3.3 | – | V |
Operating Frequency Range | – | 2.4 | – | GHz |
RF Performance: TX Power | – | >+20 | – | dBm |
RF Performance: RX Sensitivity | – | >-100 | – | dBm |
Current Consumption in Active State (TX) | – | 200 – 280 | – | mA |
Current Consumption in Active State (RX) | – | 28.1 – 37.4 | – | mA |
Current Consumption in Low Power State | – | 0.2 | – | uA |
Operating Temperature Range | -40 | +25 | +85 | °C |
Software Support
We provide a library for the LP WiFi Click as well as a demo application (example), developed using MikroElektronika compilers. The demo can run on all the main MikroElektronika development boards.
Package can be downloaded/installed directly from NECTO Studio Package Manager(recommended way), downloaded from our LibStock™ or found on Mikroe github account.
Library Description
This library contains API for LP WiFi Click driver.
Key functions:
lpwifi_cfg_setup
– Config Object Initialization function.lpwifi_init
– Initialization function.lpwifi_default_cfg
– Click Default Configuration function.
Example description
This example reads and processes data from LP WiFi clicks.
void application_task ( void ) { lpwifi_process( ); lpwifi_log_app_buf( ); }
The full application code, and ready to use projects can be installed directly from NECTO Studio Package Manager(recommended way), downloaded from our LibStock™ or found on Mikroe github account.
Other Mikroe Libraries used in the example:
- MikroSDK.Board
- MikroSDK.Log
- Click.LPWiFi
Additional notes and informations
Depending on the development board you are using, you may need USB UART click, USB UART 2 click or RS232 click to connect to your PC, for development systems with no UART to USB interface available on the board. The terminal available in all MikroElektronika compilers, or any other terminal application of your choice, can be used to read the message.
mikroSDK
This Click board™ is supported with mikroSDK – MikroElektronika Software Development Kit. To ensure proper operation of mikroSDK compliant Click board™ demo applications, mikroSDK should be downloaded from the LibStock and installed for the compiler you are using.
For more information about mikroSDK, visit the official page.