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User's Guide

SWRU382–November 2014

WL1837MODCOM8I WLAN MIMO and Bluetooth

Module

Evaluation Board for TI Sitara™ Platform

The WL1837MODCOM8I is a Wi-Fi

dual-band, Bluetooth, and BLE module evaluation board (EVB) with

the TI WL1837 module (WL1837MOD). The WL1837MOD is a certified WiLink™ 8 module from TI that

offers high throughput and extended range along with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth coexistence in a power-

optimized design. The WL1837MOD offers A 2.4- and 5-GHz module solution with two antennas

supporting industrial temperature grade. The module is FCC, IC, ETSI/CE, and TELEC certified for AP

(with DFS support) and client. TI offers drivers for high-level operating systems, such as Linux

Android™, WinCE, and RTOS.TI.

Contents

1 Overview ...................................................................................................................... 3

1.1 General Features ................................................................................................... 3

1.2 Key Benefits ......................................................................................................... 3

1.3 Applications.......................................................................................................... 4

2 Board Pin Assignment ...................................................................................................... 4

2.1 Pin Description ...................................................................................................... 5

2.2 Jumper Connections ............................................................................................... 7

3 Electrical Characteristics.................................................................................................... 7

4 Antenna Characteristics..................................................................................................... 8

4.1 VSWR ................................................................................................................ 8

4.2 Efficiency............................................................................................................. 8

4.3 Radio Pattern........................................................................................................ 9

5 Circuit Design ................................................................................................................ 9

5.1 EVB Reference Schematics....................................................................................... 9

5.2 Bill of Materials (BOM)............................................................................................ 10

6 Layout Guidelines .......................................................................................................... 11

6.1 Board Layout....................................................................................................... 11

7 Ordering Information ....................................................................................................... 16

List of Figures

1 WL1837MODCOM8I EVB (Top View) .................................................................................... 3

2 EVB Top View................................................................................................................ 4

3 EVB (Bottom View) .......................................................................................................... 5

4 Antenna VSWR Characteristics............................................................................................ 8

5 Antenna Efficiency........................................................................................................... 8

6 EVB Reference Schematics................................................................................................ 9

7 WL1837MODCOM8I Layer 1 Layout .................................................................................... 11

8 WL1837MODCOM8I Layer 2 Layout .................................................................................... 11

9 WL1837MODCOM8I Layer 3 Layout .................................................................................... 12

10 WL1837MODCOM8I Layer 4 Layout .................................................................................... 12

11 Module Layout Guidelines (Top Layer).................................................................................. 13

Sitara, WiLink are trademarks of Texas Instruments.

Bluetooth is a registered trademark of Bluetooth SIG, Inc.

Android is a trademark of Google, Inc.

Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

Wi-Fi is a registered trademark of Wi-Fi Alliance.

SWRU382–November 2014 WL1837MODCOM8I WLAN MIMO and Bluetooth

Module Evaluation Board

for TI Sitara™ Platform

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Summary of content (20 pages)

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User's Guide SWRU382 – November 2014 WL1837MODCOM8I WLAN MIMO and Bluetooth® Module Evaluation Board for TI Sitara™ Platform The WL1837MODCOM8I is a Wi-Fi® dual-band, Bluetooth, and BLE module evaluation board (EVB) with the TI WL1837 module (WL1837MOD). The WL1837MOD is a certified WiLink™ 8 module from TI that offers high throughput and extended range along with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth coexistence in a poweroptimized design. The WL1837MOD offers A 2.
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www.ti.com 12 Module Layout Guidelines (Bottom Layer) .............................................................................. 13 13 Trace Design for the PCB Layout ........................................................................................ 14 14 Layer 1 Combined With Layer 2.......................................................................................... 14 15 Top Layer – Antenna and RF Trace Routing Layout Guidelines 16 17 .............................................
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Overview www.ti.com 1 Overview Figure 1 shows the WL1837MODCOM8I EVB. Figure 1. WL1837MODCOM8I EVB (Top View) 1.1 General Features The WL1837MODCOM8I EVB includes the following features: • WLAN, Bluetooth, and BLE on a single module board • 100-pin board card • Dimensions: 76.0 mm (L) x 31.0 mm (W) • WLAN 2.4- and 5-GHz SISO (20- and 40-MHz channels), 2.
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Overview • • • 1.3 www.ti.com Available as an easy-to-use FCC-, ETSI-, and Telec-certified module Lower manufacturing costs saves board space and minimizes RF expertise. AM335x Linux and Android reference platform accelerates customer development and time to market.
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Board Pin Assignment www.ti.com Figure 3 shows the bottom view of the EVB. Figure 3. EVB (Bottom View) 2.1 Pin Description Table 1 describes the board pins. Table 1. Pin Description No. Name Type Description 1 SLOW_CLK I Slow clock input option (default: NU) 2 GND G Ground 3 GND G Ground 4 WL_EN I WLAN enable 5 VBAT P 3.6-V typical voltage input 6 GND G Ground 7 VBAT P 3.6-V typical voltage input 8 VIO P VIO 1.8-V (I/O voltage) input 9 GND G Ground 10 N.C.
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Board Pin Assignment www.ti.com Table 1. Pin Description (continued) No. 6 Name Type Description 21 N.C. No connection 22 GND 23 N.C. 24 SDIO_CMD 25 N.C. 26 SDIO_D0 27 N.C. 28 SDIO_D1 29 N.C. 30 SDIO_D2 31 N.C. 32 SDIO_D3 33 N.C. 34 WLAN_IRQ 35 N.C. 36 N.C. 37 GND 38 N.C. No connection 39 N.C. No connection 40 N.C. No connection 41 N.C. No connection 42 GND 43 N.C. No connection 44 N.C. No connection 45 N.C. No connection 46 N.C.
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Board Pin Assignment www.ti.com Table 1. Pin Description (continued) No. 2.2 Name Type I Description 68 BT_UART_IF_RX Bluetooth HCI UART receive input 69 N.C. 70 BT_UART_IF_CTS 71 N.C. 72 BT_UART_IF_RTS 73 N.C. 74 RESERVED1 75 N.C. 76 BT_UART_DEBUG O Bluetooth Logger UART output 77 GND G Ground 78 GPIO9 I/O General-purpose I/O 79 N.C. No connection 80 N.C. No connection 81 N.C. No connection 82 N.C. No connection 83 GND 84 N.C. No connection 85 N.C.
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Antenna Characteristics www.ti.com 4 Antenna Characteristics 4.1 VSWR Figure 4 shows the antenna VSWR characteristics. Figure 4. Antenna VSWR Characteristics 4.2 Efficiency Figure 5 shows the antenna efficiency. Figure 5.
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Antenna Characteristics www.ti.com 4.3 Radio Pattern For information on the antenna radio pattern and other related information, see productfinder.pulseeng.com/product/W3006. 5 Circuit Design 5.1 EVB Reference Schematics Figure 6 shows the reference schematics for the EVB.
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Circuit Design 5.2 www.ti.com Bill of Materials (BOM) Table 2 lists the BOM for the EVB. Table 2. BOM Item (1) 10 Package Reference Qty Mfr 1 TI WL1837 Wi-Fi / Bluetooth module Description WL1837MODGI Part Number 13.4 mm x 13.3 mm x 2.0 mm U1 1 Jorjin 2 XOSC 3225 / 32.768KHZ / 1.8 V / ±50 ppm 7XZ3200005 3.2 mm × 2.5 mm × 1.0 mm OSC1 1 TXC 3 Antenna / Chip / 2.4 and 5 GHz W3006 10.0 mm × 3.2 mm × 1.5 mm ANT1, ANT2 2 Pulse 4 Mini RF header receptacle U.FL-R-SMT-1(10) 3.
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Layout Guidelines www.ti.com 6 Layout Guidelines 6.1 Board Layout Figure 7 through Figure 10 show the four layers of the WL1837MODCOM8I EVB. Figure 7. WL1837MODCOM8I Layer 1 Layout Figure 8.
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Layout Guidelines www.ti.com Figure 9. WL1837MODCOM8I Layer 3 Layout Figure 10. WL1837MODCOM8I Layer 4 Layout Figure 11 and Figure 12 show instances of good layout practices.
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Layout Guidelines www.ti.com Figure 11. Module Layout Guidelines (Top Layer) Figure 12. Module Layout Guidelines (Bottom Layer) Table 3 describes the guidelines corresponding to the reference numbers in Figure 11 and Figure 12. Table 3. Module Layout Guidelines Reference Guideline Description 1 Keep the proximity of ground vias close to the pad. 2 Do not run signal traces underneath the module on the layer where the module is mounted.
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Layout Guidelines www.ti.com Figure 13 shows the trace design for the PCB. TI recommends using a 50-Ω impedance match on the trace to the antenna and 50-Ω traces for the PCB layout. Figure 13. Trace Design for the PCB Layout Figure 14 shows layer 1 with the trace to the antenna over ground layer 2. Figure 14. Layer 1 Combined With Layer 2 Figure 15 and Figure 16 show instances of good layout practices for the antenna and RF trace routing. NOTE: RF traces must be as short as possible.
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Layout Guidelines www.ti.com Figure 15. Top Layer – Antenna and RF Trace Routing Layout Guidelines Figure 16. Bottom Layer – Antenna and RF Trace Routing Layout Guidelines Table 4 describes the guidelines corresponding to the reference numbers in Figure 15 and Figure 16. Table 4. Antenna and RF Trace Routing Layout Guidelines Reference Guideline Description 1 The RF trace antenna feed must be as short as possible beyond the ground reference. At this point, the trace starts to radiate.
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Ordering Information www.ti.com Figure 17 shows the MIMO antenna spacing. The distance between ANT1 and ANT2 must be greater than half the wavelength (62.5 mm at 2.4 GHz). Figure 17. MIMO Antenna Spacing Follow these supply routing guidelines: • For power supply routing, the power trace for VBAT must be at least 40-mil wide. • The 1.8-V trace must be at least 18-mil wide. • Make VBAT traces as wide as possible to ensure reduced inductance and trace resistance.
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IMPORTANT NOTICE Texas Instruments Incorporated and its subsidiaries (TI) reserve the right to make corrections, enhancements, improvements and other changes to its semiconductor products and services per JESD46, latest issue, and to discontinue any product or service per JESD48, latest issue. Buyers should obtain the latest relevant information before placing orders and should verify that such information is current and complete.
PAGE 18
Manual Information to the End User The OEM integrator has to be aware not to provide information to the end user regarding how to install or remove this RF module in the user’s manual of the end product which integrates this module. The end user manual shall include all required regulatory information/warning as show in this manual. Federal Communication Commission Interference Statement This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules.
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exempts de licence. L'exploitation est autorisée aux deux conditions suivantes: (1) l'appareil ne doit pas produire de brouillage, et (2) l'utilisateur de l'appareil doit accepter tout brouillage radioélectrique subi, même si le brouillage est susceptible d'en compromettre le fonctionnement."  CAN ICES-3(B)/ NMB-3(B)  The device could automatically discontinue transmission in case of absence of information to transmit, or operational failure.
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(2) The transmitter module may not be co-located with any other transmitter or antenna. (3) This radio transmitter may only operate using an antenna of a type and maximum (or lesser) gain approved by Texas Instrument. Antenna types not included in the list, having a gain greater than the maximum gain indicated for that type, are strictly prohibited for use with this transmitter. Antenna Gain (dBi) @ 2.4GHz Antenna Gain (dBi) @ 5GHz 3.2 4.