WINC Devices – Integrated Serial Flash Memory Download Procedure

Introduction

The WINC1500 or WINC3400 firmware update project will be available in the path \wireless_wifi\utilities\wifi\winc. The latest firmware update project contains the new firmware images as well as the batch script and Shell script files used to download the firmware into Wi-Fi Network Controller (WINC) through SPI/UART.

Firmware update project

The ATWINC1500 and ATWINC3400 WiFi devices require firmware to be loaded into flash memory. The ATWINC1500 and ATWINC3400 devices are preloaded with the firmware, however it would be useful to update the latest firmware to take advantage of fixes and new features.

Download wireless repository from Github

Install MPLAB® X Integrated Development Environment (IDE). After the installation, open the MPLAB IDE and launch H3 content manager from the IDE

Please provide the framework path with the local system path.

This displays a new window as shown below.

Using this window, user can download either all the packages or only the wireless packages with its required dependencies.

To download the wireless packages and its dependencies:

Scroll down and select wireless_wifi, wireless_apps_winc1500 and wireless_apps_winc3400.
Click Download Selected

It requests permission to download its dependencies. Click OK

In the License Window

Select Accept All License
Click Close

Go to the local system path and check if the following packages are downloaded correctly

The firmware upgrade tool for WINC devices will be available in : \wireless_wifi\utilities\wifi\winc

Hardware Setup for SAMD21 Xplained Pro Evaluation Kit

SAM D21 Xplained Pro Evaluation Kit (ATSAMD21-XPRO) - SAMD21 is used as a HostMCU
ATWINC1500 Xplained PRO Evaluation Kit (ATWINC1500-XPRO) - Wi-Fi SPI slave device connected to SAMD21 HostMCU device
The ATWINC1500 device is attached to EXT1 of the SAMD21 Xplained Pro kit.
Plug a micro-USB cable from Windows computer to the debug USB port of the SAM D21 Xplained Pro Evaluation kit

Hardware Setup for SAME54 Xplained Pro Evaluation Kit

SAM E54 Xplained Pro Evaluation Kit - SAME54 is used as a HostMCU
ATWINC1500 Xplained PRO Evaluation Kit (ATWINC1500-XPRO) - Wi-Fi SPI slave device connected to SAMD21 HostMCU device
The ATWINC1500 device is attached to EXT1 of the SAME54 Xplained Pro kit.
Plug a micro-USB cable from Windows computer to the debug USB port of the SAM E54 Xplained Pro Evaluation kit

Hardware setup for SAMA5D27 SOM1-Ek1 board

Install JLink Program / Debug utility from Segger (https://www.segger.com/downloads/jlink/) for SOM1-Ek1 board JLink Debugger / Programmer
SAMA5D27 SOM1-Ek1 board - SAMA5D27 is used as the host MCU.
Connect the WINC1500 WiFi 7 Click board to the MBus1 connector.
Connect the USB port (J10) on SOM1-Ek1 board to the computer using micro USB cable.

Serial Bridge Application

As the WINC device is connected to host MCU through SPI interface, upgrading the WINC serial flash via the host MCU would be an easier solution. Since, WINC provides transparent access to host MCU, the WINC serial flash can be read/written from host MCU. The host MCU can program the serial (SPI) flash without the need for operational firmware in the WINC. The host MCU running the serial bridge firmware is connected between computer and WINC SPI to download the firmware to WINC serial flash. winc_programmer_UART (PC) <—-> samd21_xplained_pro_serial_bridge.elf(Host) <—-> WINC SPI device

Serial Bridge Application for Harmony 3

Open MPLAB
Go to File Menu and select Open Project
In the next window, select the Serial bridge project from \wireless_wifi\apps\serial_bridge\firmware and click Open Project
Build the project
The click Make and Program Device button.

Programming the application into SAMA5D27 SOM1-Ek1 board

In SAMA5D27 SOM1-Ek1 board the Serial Bridge application will be programmed into the RAM. So do not reset the board after programming the application. If the user wants to program the application into SD card and run it from SD Card, please follow the below mentioned steps:

Replace the Linker Script "ddr.ld" which is available in "wireless_wifi\apps\serial_bridge\firmware\src\config\sam_a5d27_som1_winc1500" with the Linker script "https://github.com/Microchip-MPLAB-Harmony/csp_apps_sam_a5d2/blob/master/apps/uart/uart_echo_interrupt/firmware/src/config/sam_a5d27_som1_ek/ddr.ld"
Clean and Build the project
Copy the harmony MPU bootstrap binary (boot.bin) from "wireless_wifi\apps\serial_bridge\firmware\at91bootstrap_sam_a5d27_som1_ek.X\binaries" onto the SD card
Copy the application binary (harmony.bin) from "wireless_wifi\apps\serial_bridge\firmware\sam_a5d27_som1_winc1500.X\dist\sam_a5d27_som1_winc1500\production" onto the SD card.
Insert the SD card into SDMMC slot (J12) on the board.
Connect the Debug USB port on the board to the computer using a micro USB cable
Reset the board to run the application

Hardware Setup

Power On Sequence
- To perform a serial flash download using the ATWINC1500 built-in UART, it is mandatory that the ATWINC1500 chip is in the right bootloader state.
- To do so, the HostMCU must power up the ATWINC1500 chip and then perform the reset sequence as defined in the ATWINC1500 datasheet
UART Pin Assignment
- Pin assignment of WINC1500 module UART are described in the following table.
- On ATWINC1500 Xplained Pro, TX and RX are available on through holes labeled “DEBUG_UART” for easy identification.
ATWINC1500 module pin name ATWINC1500 Xplained Pro pin name Function

J14 UART_TX TXD

J19 UART_RXD RXD

Ensure that the HostMCU is powered up and ATWINC1500 built-in UART is connected to PC via a serial to USB converter.

ATWINC1500 module pin name	ATWINC1500 Xplained Pro pin name	Function
J14	UART_TX	TXD
J19	UART_RXD	RXD

General Information on Firmware Update

The firmware upgrade tool for the WINC devices contains,

Scripts
Binary Tools

Scripts

The "winc" folder in \wireless_wifi\utilities\wifi path contains the following two scripts.

winc_flash_tool.cmd

This script is for the firmware upgrade in Windows and it uses the "image_tool" and "winc_programmer_uart/i2c" to build and program the firmware binary image to the WINC devices.

winc_flash_tool.cmd Usage

Usage	Command Example
To erase the entire flash	winc_flash_tool.cmd /p COM3 /d <device_name> /v <version> /e
To create and program the Firmware Image	winc_flash_tool.cmd /p COM3 /d <device_name> /v <version> /e /x /i prog /w
To create and program the All-in-one(AIO) Image	winc_flash_tool.cmd /p COM3 /d <device_name> /v <version> /e /x /i aio /w
To create OTA Image	winc_flash_tool.cmd /p COM3 /d <device_name> /v <version> /i ota
Writing to "Root certificate" region	winc_flash_tool.cmd /p COM3 /d <device_name> /v <version> /i root /w
Writing to "HTTP files" region	winc_flash_tool.cmd /p COM3 /d <device_name> /v <version> /i http /w
To read the entire flash	winc_flash_tool.cmd /p COM3 /d <device_name> /v <version> /r

<device_name> : WINC3400/WINC1500 <version> : Firmware version of winc3400/winc1500

Arguments	Details
/p	Serial port for UART mode
/d	WINC device type
/s	Aardvark serial number
/v	Firmware version number
/e	Erase entire device before programming
/x	Read XO offset before creating programming image
/i	Image type:prog - Programmer formataio - All in one image, raw binary ota - OTAroot - Root certificates in programmer format http - HTTP files in programmer format
/w	Write to device
/f	Filename of image file to create
/r	Read entire flash from device

Commands Logs

1.
To create and program the Firmware Image.
- Expected output log for the command:
  
  winc_flash_tool.cmd /p COM3 /d winc1500 /v 19.7.6 /e /x /i prog /w
2.
To create OTA Image
- Expected output log for the command:
  
  winc_flash_tool.cmd /p COM3 /d winc1500 /v 19.7.6 /i ota
3.
To create and program the All-in-one(AIO) Image
- Expected output log for the command:
  
  winc_flash_tool.cmd /p COM3 /d winc1500 /v 19.7.6 /e /x /i aio /w
4.
Writing to "Root certificate" region
- Expected output log for the command:
  
  winc_flash_tool.cmd /p COM3 /d winc1500 /v 19.7.6 /i root /w
5.
Writing to "HTTP files" region
- Expected output log for the command:
  
  winc_flash_tool.cmd /p COM3 /d winc1500 /v 19.7.6 /i http /w
6.
To read the entire flash
- Expected output log for the command:
  
  winc_flash_tool.cmd /p COM3 /d winc1500 /v 19.7.6 /r

winc_flash_tool.sh

This script is for the firmware upgrade in Linux and it uses the "image_tool" and "winc_programmer_uart/i2c" to build and program the firmware binary image to the WINC devices.

winc_flash_tool.sh usage

Usage	Command Example
To erase the entire flash	winc_flash_tool.sh -p TTYS0 -d <device_name> -v <version> -e
To create and program the Firmware Image	winc_flash_tool.sh -p TTYS0 -d <device_name> -v <version> -e -x -i prog -w
To create and program the All-in-one(AIO) Image	winc_flash_tool.sh -p TTYS0 -d <device_name> -v <version> -e -x i aio -w
To create OTA Image	winc_flash_tool.sh -p TTYS0 -d <device_name> -v <version> -i ota
Writing to "Root certificate" region	winc_flash_tool.sh -p TTYS0 -d <device_name> -v <version> -i root -w
Writing to "HTTP files" region	winc_flash_tool.sh -p TTYS0 -d <device_name> -v <version> -i http -w
To read the entire flash	winc_flash_tool.sh -p TTYS0 -d <device_name> -v <version> -r

Arguments	Details
-p	Serial port for UART mode
-d	WINC device type
-s	Aardvark serial number
-v	Firmware version number
-e	Erase entire device before programming
-x	Read XO offset before creating programming image
-i	Image type:prog - Programmer formataio - All in one image, raw binary ota - OTAroot - Root certificates in programmer format http - HTTP files in programmer format
-w	Write to device
-f	Filename of image file to create
-r	Read entire flash from device

ATWINC1500/ATWINC3400 Binary Tools

The script files internally use the following tools to build and program the image.

1.
image_tool - Builds firmware binary image
2.
winc_programmer_uart/i2c – Program the built firmware binary image to the WINC device using UART or I2C interface.

Building Firmware Image

image_tool located in \wireless_wifi\utilities\wifi\winc\tools is used to build binary images for ATWINC devices.
It collects all the binaries for each section and combine it in to one firmware called wincXXXX_X.X.X.bin.
The image_tool arrange the section according to the flash memory orgianization of ATWINC1500/ATWINC3400
The image_tool collects the information from the flash_image XML file.
Refer flash_image.config XML for how the flash memory is divided.
User needs to update the flash_image.config for updating the root certificate or adding custom provisioning pages
The configuration XML file(flash_image.config) can be found under wireless_wifi\utilities\wifi\winc\files\wincXXXX\X.X.X directory

image_tool Usage

Usage	Command Example
To create firmware image	image_tool.exe -c <version>\flash_image.config -c gain_tables\gain.config -o <device_name>_<version>.bin -of prog
Writing to a specific region(eg: Root certificate)	image_tool.exe -c <version>\flash_image.config -c gain_tables\gain.config <device_name>_<version>.bin -of prog -r “root certificates"
To create OTA firmware image	image_tool.exe -c <version>\flash_image.config -o <device_name>_<version>.bin -of winc_ota -s ota

Arguments	Details
-c	Configuration files Microchip recommends to use the default configuration files which is flash_image.config
-o	Output name of the binary image files ATWINC1500: winc1500_X.X.X.bin ATWINC3400: winc3400_X.X.X.bin
-of	The image_tool supports 4 output formats raw - Raw binary image. winc_ota - WINC OTA format.prog - Format suitable for programming.log - Textual log information
-r	Specifies a region to process. More than one region can be specified with repeated use of this option. If used only the regions specified will be processed.

For more information, enter image_tool help command:image_tool -h

Commands Logs

1.
Creating Firmware Image
- Expected output log for the command:
  
  image_tool.exe -c 19.7.6\flash_image.config -c gain_tables\gain.config -o winc1500_19.7.6.bin -of prog
2.
Writing to a Specific Region
- Expected output log for the command:
  
  image_tool.exe -c 19.7.6\flash_image.config -c gain_tables\gain.config winc1500_19.7.6.bin -of prog -r “root certificates"
3.
Creating OTA Firmware Image
- Expected output log for the command:
  
  image_tool.exe -c 19.7.6\flash_image.config -o winc1500_19.7.6.bin -of winc_ota -s ota

Programming Firmware Image

winc_programmer_uart/i2c tool located in src/firmware/firmware is used to program the binary images for ATWINC1500/ATWINC3400 devices using UART or I2C interface. it does the following primary jobs:

Erase the ATWINC1500/ATWINC3400 memory
Read the firmware from ATWINC1500/ATWINC3400
Write the firmware to ATWINC1500/ATWINC3400
Verify the written firmware.

winc_programmer_uart Tool Usage

Usage	Command Example
Erase ATWINC1500/ATWINC3400 flash memory	winc_programmer_uart.exe -p COM16 -d <device_name> -e -pfw <version>\firmware\programmer_firmware.bin
Write the created binary image to ATWINC1500/ATWINC3400 flash memory	winc_programmer_uart.exe -p COM16 -d <device_name> -i <device_name>_<version>.bin -if prog -w -pfw <version>\firmware\programmer_firmware.bin
Verify the written image in ATWINC1500/ATWINC3400 device	winc_programmer_uart.exe -p COM16 -d <device_name> -i <device_name>_<version>.bin -if prog -r -pfw <version>\firmware\programmer_firmware.bin
Single command (including all the above operations)	winc_programmer_UART.exe -p COM16 -d <device_name> -e -i <device_name>_<version>.bin -if prog -w -r -pfw <version>\firmware\programmer_firmware.bin

Arguments	Details
-p	Port number of the connected HostMCU COM Port Command to find the Port number: test_edbg
-d	ATWINC device: winc1500 or winc3400
-e	To erase the ATWINC1500/ATWINC3400 device flash memory before writing the firmware image
-w	To write the firmware image
-r	To read the firmware image
-if	Input format: winc_ota - WINC OTA format, raw - A raw binary image, prog - Format suitable for programming.
-pfw	programming firmware : WINC firmware used to program the device.

For more information enter winc_programmer_uart help command: winc_programmer_uart.exe -h

Commands logs

1.
Erase WINC memory
- Expected output log for the command:
  
  winc_programmer_uart.exe -p COM3 -d winc1500 -e -pfw 19.7.6\firmware\programmer_firmware.bin
2.
Write Firmware Image to WINC
- Note: Before executing this command, user should create the firmware image of required version (winc1500_version.bin) using image_tool.
- Expected output log for the command:
  
  winc_programmer_uart.exe -p COM3 -d winc1500 -i winc1500_19.7.6.bin -if prog -w -pfw 19.7.6\firmware\programmer_firmware.bin
3.
Read Firmware Image from WINC memory
- Expected output log for the Command:
  
  winc_programmer_uart.exe -p COM3 -d winc1500 -r -pfw 19.7.6\firmware\programmer_firmware.bin
4.
Verify the Written Image
- Expected output log for the command:
  
  winc_programmer_uart.exe -p COM3 -d winc1500 -i winc1500_19.7.6.bin -if prog -r -pfw 19.7.6\firmware\programmer_firmware.bin
5.
Consolidated Single Command: This command does all the all the above operations in a single command.
- Note: Before executing this command, user should create the firmware image of required version (winc1500_version.bin) using image_tool.
- Expected output log for the command:
  
  winc_programmer_UART.exe -p COM3 -d winc1500 -e -i winc1500_19.7.6.bin -if prog -w -r -pfw 19.7.6\firmware\programmer_firmware.bin

Download Failure Troubleshooting

Here are the troubleshooting tips for a specific error while downloading using batch script.

1.
The script Failed To Find Any COM Port

The winc_programmer_uart.exe expects a COM port as an argument. If the expected COM port is not found, then it will provide the below error.

How to fix it:
- Make sure ATWINC1500/ATWINC3400 COM port is listed in the device manager.
- Make sure ATWINC1500/ATWINC3400 COM port is not opened by any other application. For verification, try to open and close the COM port with a terminal application.
- low quality USB cable or low quality serial to USB converter (built-in UART) can introduce garbage on the UART line thus failing the detection of the ATWINC1500/ATWINC3400 COM port. Try a different cable.
- When performing a “built-in UART download”, it is expected that the ATWINC1500/ATWINC3400 bootloader is in a particular state that can only be achieved after doing a clean power up and reset sequence. Hence, before doing a download always ensure that a clean power up and reset sequence has been made.
- Make sure that no other extension board (ex: IO1…) is connected to the Xplained Pro board while performing the download.
- Make sure the project path is not exceeding Windows maximum 260 characters path length.
2.
Failed To Initialize Programmer: Invalid Chip ID

The Failed to initialize programmer with Invalid chip ID error typically happens when there is garbage or noise on the UART line preventing from reading the correct chip ID value. How to fix it:
- Try connecting the PC and the ATWINC1500/ATWINC3400 with a different cable. A clean power up and reset sequence of the ATWINC1500/ATWINC3400 is necessary to start over with the ATWINC1500/ATWINC3400 bootloader in the appropriate state.
3.
Failed To Initialize Programmer: Waiting For Chip Permission

After printing the correct chip ID of the ATWINC1500/ATWINC3400, the winc_programmer_UART tool programs a small binary (programmer firmware) to assist with ATWINC1500/ATWINC3400 flash programming. At this stage the winc_programmer_UART will change the UART baud rate from 115200 to 500000 to speed up the actual transfer of the firmware image. Once the baud rate change is made, the chip permission is verified to ensure the UART connection is reliable. Failing at this stage means that the current setup does not support such a high baud rate. How to fix it:
- It is recommended to try connecting the PC and the ATWINC1500/ATWINC3400 with a different cable. Also a clean power up and reset sequence of the ATWINC1500/ATWINC3400 is necessary to start over with the ATWINC1500/ATWINC3400 bootloader in the appropriate state.