Wi-Fi module for STM32 with smooth integration?

[Southbranch]

Hi!

I am going over options for choosing a Wi-Fi module for a custom PCB-board. I am keen on keeping the software integration smooth and thus I was hoping to find a module with existing drivers (examples) for STM32.

I think interface like: SPI, USART, I2C would be preferable.

So far I have been looking into:

• Murata LBE-series Wi-Fi® Modules / Wi-Fi® + Bluetooth® Modules | Connectivity Modules | Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
• ISM43362 (I believe is used by ST-board you recommended)
• SPWF01SA21 (previously use by ST-board but now obsolete)
• WizFi360 | WIZnet Document System
• NINA-W10 series (open CPU) | u-blox (also has BLE)

Any hints would be highly appreciated!

Thanks in advance

[Andrei Chichak]

Check for availability. Digikey is showing 0 for any ISM43362.

I used an ESP8266 as a WiFi front end to an STM32F405. NOT RECOMMENDED.

I'd buy one of each of your candidates and see what it takes to get anything going. Seriously stupid interface design on the part of the module can make a cheap module extremely expensive to work with.

[Haithem Rahmani]

Hi,

the STM32 Cube_FW U5, recently released, is providing a ready to use WiFi Driver for the MXCHIP emw3080. the driver is fully validated with Azure RTOS NetXDuo TCP/IP stacks and a set of projects are available.

Hope it Helps.

regards

haithem.

[Southbranch]

Hi Andrei,

Thanks, good points..!

Yes a complicated interface (both software and hardware) could really make things get complicated and expensive...

[Southbranch]

Thanks Haithem!

This chip itself looks impressive and there is also another version, EMV3380, that supports both BLE and built-in vs. external antenna option (great!). However, the drivers seems to be dependent on Azure RTOS, thus narrowing down to a few supported STM32 MCU:s e.g. H7 and L5 for a custom PCB.

Have you seen any "bare-bone" driver example without any RTOS involved that can be used through the HAL interface?

Kind regards

[Southbranch]

Adding to my last comment:

Azure NetX seems to be needed for the driver. Does that mean the chip does not have its own built-in ip-stack?

[S.Ma]

Maybe check MX Chip website and github for code examples. Also for the communication interface selection depends on application bit rate (audio?)

[Southbranch]

Thank you,

The MX Chip seems to be an interesting product. But it also seems to have a "world of its own" with built in GPIO:s, JTAG debugger, software packs, toolchains etc. Perhaps this is a good choice for a small mass consumer product where everything needed already comes inside the module.

My application is more of the a low scale industry type with needs of special peripherals. Therefore, I am working on custom STM32-board and was hoping to find a simple wi-fi chip/module to add to the PCB. My STM32 board takes care of all the business logic and handles GPIO:s etc and thus the module itself can be as simple as possible and hopefully being able to use interfaces like USART (e.g. AT-commands), SPI etc.