chipKITTM WiFi Shield Reference Manual Revision: February 7, 2013 Note: This document applies to REV C of the board. 1300 NE Henley Court, Suite 3 Pullman, WA 99163 (509) 334 6306 Voice | (509) 334 6300 Fax Overview The chipKITTM WiFi Shield is an interface board designed for use with Digilent's chipKIT line of microcontroller boards such as the Uno32TM, uC32TM, or Max32TM. The chipKIT line is a family of microcontroller boards based on the high performance Microchip PIC32 family of microcontrollers. The chipKIT WiFi Shield provides chipKIT microcontroller boards the ability to connect to and communicate with IEEE 802.11 compatible wireless networks. The WiFi Shield also provides a micro-SD card connector for use with micro-SD flash memory cards. The chipKIT MPIDE SD library can be used to read/write files stored on the micro-SD card. chipKIT WiFi Shield with MRF24WB0MA WiFi Module The WiFi Shield is intended for use with the Digilent network libraries, DNETcK and DWIFIcK, available for free download from the Digilent web site. These libraries make use of and include a custom version of the Microchip Applications Library licensed from Microchip. Early versions of the WiFi Shield use the Microchip MRF24WB0MA WiFi module. Later versions use the improved MRF24WG0MA WiFi module. Features include: * IEEE 802.11b/g-compliant RF transceiver * serialized unique MAC address * data rates up to 11Mbps for 802.11b and 54Mbps for 802.11g possible * WEP, WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK security * integrated PCB antenna * radio regulation certification for the United States (FCC), Canada (IC), and Europe (ETSI) * micro SD card connector * four user accessible LEDs Doc: 502-231 chipKIT WiFi Shield with MRF24WG0MA WiFi Module page 1 of 4 Copyright Digilent, Inc. All rights reserved. Other product and company names mentioned may be trademarks of their respective owners. chipKITTM WiFi Shield Reference Manual Functional Description Overview Depending on the production version, the chipKIT WiFi Shield provides support for either IEEE 802.11b or IEEE 802.11b/g wireless networks. It is compatible with 802.11b/g/n networks, and is designed for use with chipKITTM and chipKITTM compatible microcontroller boards. The initial production version of the WiFi Shield uses the Microchip MRF24WB0MA WiFi module. This modules supports IEEE 802.11b networks at 1 and 2 Mbps data rates. Later productions versions of the WiFi Shield use the improved Microchip MRF24WG0MA module. This module provides IEEE 802.11b/g support for embedded applications at data rates of 1, 2, 5.5 and 11 Mbps for 802.11b or 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, and 54 Mbps for 802.11g. memory card using the chipKIT MPIDE SD library. The discrete LEDs are connected to four digital I/O pins on the chipKIT microcontroller board and can be accessed using the pinMode() and digitalWrite() functions in the MPIDE software. Refer to the chipKit WiFi Shield schematic, available on the Digilent web site, for detailed information about the circuits on the board. 802.11b/g Interface The 802.11b/g compatible WiFi interface on the chipKIT WiFi Shield is provided by a Microchip MRF24Wx0MA WiFi module. This module provides the radio transceiver, antenna, and 802.11 compatible network firmware. The production version of the board can be determined by reading the part number of the MRF24Wx0MA module from the sticker or engraved on the metal shield of the module. The MRF24Wx0MA firmware provides the 802.11 network protocol software support. The DNETcK and DWIFIcK libraries provide the TCP/IP network protocol support that works with the 802.11 protocol support provided by the WiFi module. The WiFi Shield is intended to be used with the Digilent network libraries, DNETcK and DWIFIcK, available for free download from the Digilent web site. The DNETcK and DWIFIcK libraries are intended for use with the chipKIT MPIDE development environment. These libraries contain Microchip Applications Library code licensed for use by Digilent from Microchip. The primary communications interface with the WiFi module is a 4 wire SPI bus. The MRF24Wx0MA WiFi module supports SPI clock speeds up to 25MHz. An active low RESET signal can be used to reset the WiFi module, and an external interrupt signal, INT, is used by the module to signal to the host microcontroller that it needs servicing by the microcontroller software. To use the chipKIT WiFi Shield outside of the MPIDE development environment, the Microchip Applications Library, available from www.microchip.com, can be used as a starting point to create custom library code to work with the WiFi Shield. The MRF24Wx0MA provides the following additional control signals: write protect (WP); HIBERNATE; RESET; and INT. The WiFi shield also provides a micro-SD card connector and four discrete LEDs. The microSD card connector provides the ability to access files stored on a micro-SD size flash www.digilentinc.com More detailed information about the operation of the MRF24Wx0MA can be obtained from the manufacturer data sheet available from the Microchip web site. page 2 of 4 Copyright Digilent, Inc. All rights reserved. Other product and company names mentioned may be trademarks of their respective owners. chipKITTM WiFi Shield Reference Manual SD Card Interface The micro-SD card connector provides the ability to access data stored on micro-SD sized flash memory cards. SD memory cards are accessed via the same SPI bus as is used to access the WiFi module. The SD card uses a separate select line from that used by the WiFi module to enable API access to the SD card. The chipKIT MPIDE SD library can be used to access files stored on a micro-SD card. The correct header file must be used depending on the version of the module on the WiFi Shield. When using a WiFi Shield with the MRF24WB0MA module, use the following statement: #include <WiFiShieldOrPmodWiFi.h> When using a WiFi Shield with the MRF24WG0MA module, use the following statement: Library Software #include <WiFiShieldOrPmodWiFi_G.h> The chipKIT WiFi Shield is intended for use with the Digilent chipKIT network libraries DNETcK and DWIFIcK. The DNETcK library provides TCP/IP protocol support for all chipKIT compatible network interfaces supported by Digilent products, including the WiFi Shield. The DWIFIcK library provides the additional library support required for connecting to and operating with the Microchip MRF24Wx0MA wireless network modules. The Digilent chipKIT network libraries are available for download from the Digilent web site: www.digilentinc.com. These libraries make use of a custom version of the Microchip Application Library. It is necessary to accept the Microchip Application Library license agreement before downloading the library. The DWIFIcK library supports both the MRF24WB0MA and MRF24WG0MA modules. There are reference examples demonstrating the use of these libraries in the library download. There are more extensive examples available on the Digilent web site as well. Signal Pin Assignments uC32/ Uno32 Pin # 2 3 4 5 6 9 10 11 12 13 34 35 36 Max32 Pin # 2 3 4 5 6 9 10 11 12 13 78 79 80 Connector Signal Pin # J2-05 J2-07 J2-09 J2-11 J2-13 J1-03 J5-05 J5-04 J5-01 J5-03 J1-02 J1-04 J1-06 INT - external interrupt from MRF24WB0MA LED1 SDCS - SPI select for SD card LED2 LED3 LED4 CS - SPI select for MRF24Wx0MA MOSI - data in (SDI) for MRF24Wx0MA and SD card MISO - data out (SDO) for MRF24Wx0MA and SD card SCK - SPI clock for MRF24Wx0MA and SD card HIBERNATE WP RESET CHIPKIT and the CHIPKIT Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microchip Technology Incorporated in the U.S. and other countries, and are used under license. www.digilentinc.com page 3 of 4 Copyright Digilent, Inc. All rights reserved. Other product and company names mentioned may be trademarks of their respective owners. chipKITTM WiFi Shield Reference Manual Declaration of Conformity In accordance with EN ISO/IEC 17050-1:2010 Manufacturers Name: Manufacturers Address: Application of Council Directives: Low Voltage EMC Standards: EMC Digilent, Inc. 1300 NE Henley Court Pullman, WA 99163 U.S.A. 2006/95/EC 2004/108/EC EN55022:2010 EN55024:2010 IEC 60950-1:2005 EN 60950-1:2006 Safety Product Name: chipKIT WiFi Shield Product Model Number: Digilent Product Category: Digilent P/N 210-231 Serial Peripheral Devices We, the undersigned, hereby declare that the equipment specified above conforms to the above Directives and Standards. Location: Date: _Pullman, WA______ _June 18, 2012_____ www.digilentinc.com Signature: __________ Full Name (print): Clint Cole Title: President___________ page 4 of 4 Copyright Digilent, Inc. All rights reserved. Other product and company names mentioned may be trademarks of their respective owners. Mouser Electronics Authorized Distributor Click to View Pricing, Inventory, Delivery & Lifecycle Information: Digilent: 410-231P-KIT