WiLink8 Advanced Features
Trademarks
WiLink is a trademark of Texas Instruments Incorporated.
Wi-Fi is a registered trademark of Wi-Fi Alliance.
Bluetooth is a registered trademark of Bluetooth SIG, Inc and used by Motorola, Inc. under license.
All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
1 Introduction
WiLink8 devices support additional features beyond the basic Wi-Fi modes like STA, AP and MESH. Table 1-1 details the features that are supported by the device and provides a brief description of the same. Subsequent sections provide the details of enabling these features. Some of the features are covered in detailed through other user's guides and the links are provided along with the feature description. Additionally, WiLink™ 8 WLAN Features User's Guide provides details on the performance measures for each of these features.
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Peer-to-Peer(P2P) Mode | |
| Multi BSSID (mBSSID) | Running 2 BSS simultaneously on the same device |
| AP DFS Master | Supports AP DFS Master capabilities (FCC/ETSI/TELEC) |
| AP ELP | Power-save mechanism at the Soft-AP that reduces the power-consumption |
| AP + P2P | AP + P2P GO/CL Multi Role Support |
| WoWOW Support | Wake on WLAN for Wilink8 |
| Suspend/Resume | Suspend and Resume WLAN to optimize power |
| WL18xx 5GHZ Antenna Diversity | Antenna Diversity for 5GHz Band |
| Precise Time Synchronization Over WLAN | Accurate time synchronization between WL8 Wi-Fi Devices |
| WiLink™ 8 WLAN Software - 802.11s Mesh | Connect WL18xx devices in Mesh topology |
1.1 Acronyms Used in This Document
| Acronym | Definition |
|---|---|
| AP | Access Point |
| DFS | Dynamic Frequency Switching |
| ELP | Enhanced Low Power |
| P2P | Peer-to-Peer |
| GO/CL | P2P Group Owner and client modes |
| STA | Station |
| WoW | Wake-on-Wireless |
| DPDT | Double Pole Double Throw |
| GPIO | General Purpose Input/output |
| CLI | Command Line Interface |
2 Peer to Peer (P2P) Mode
The purpose of P2P is to establish a direct WLAN connection between two devices without involving a router or AP for its operation. The P2P is known in Android devices as Wi-Fi Direct and can be operated from the Wi-Fi menu. Usually, the P2P role exists concurrently with the WLAN station role, which causes Android devices to operate in a WLAN multi-role state.
Figure 2-1 P2P Network Topology. P2P is a WLAN role that typically has a short lifespan, in contrast to station or AP WLAN roles that exist from the moment that they are started until they are explicitly terminated by the user. The P2P role is mainly used by a Miracast function in Android OS, for example, for mirroring the Android smartphone screen on other device, such as a smart TV or smart phone that has a WLAN module and supports Miracast functionality.
P2P may exist in three states: device, client, and GO. P2P functionality, after a connection, is similar to the WLAN station and AP functionality. However, P2P has supplementary functional behaviors that distinguish it from a standard station and AP operation, and allows different services to be used. P2P also has its own power save behavior that allows an additional battery.
