WFA Certification for NXP-based Wireless Modules on i.MX 8M Quad EVK Running Linux OS

Document Information

1 About this document

1.1 Purpose and scope

This document describes the test setup and procedure used for WFA certification of Wi-Fi features like 802.11ax, 802.11ac, 802.11n, protected management frames (PMF), WPA3, and security vulnerability detection of NXP-based wireless devices. This document applies to NXP-based wireless modules connected to i.MX 8M Quad EVK running Linux OS, and configured as a station (STA). The instructions apply to other similar platforms and wireless devices.

The users should be familiar with [1] and [2].

1.2 Considerations

The readers should have some knowledge of Wi-Fi terminologies and certification. The document is based on the latest version of WFA test plan.

2 Test setup

Figure 1 illustrates the test setup.

3 WFA certification test procedure

This section shows the sequence of operations to run in order to test the Wi-Fi features.

3.1 Set up the serial console

Set up the test. See Section 2.

Follow these steps to setup the serial console and access the i.MX 8M Quad device terminal:

• Open the serial console and login into the device

ubuntu@ubuntu-desktop:/# sudo minicom -s -D /dev/ttyUSBx

ttyUSB0 or ttyUSB01 are the serial devices. The minicom setup configuration is given below:

A Serial Device : /dev/ttyUSBx
E Bps/Par/Bits : 115200 8N1
F Hardware Flow Control : No
G Software Flow Control : No

Note: The baud rate is set to 115200 in the given minicom setup configuration.

• Save and exit.

3.2 Copy the required files

• Connect the device to the control network
• Give the control network IP to the wired interface
• Use SCP to copy NXP_WTS_AGENT_IMX_bin repository to i.MX 8M Quad EVK board.

The command on Linux host is as follows:

# scp -r <absolute_path>/NXP_WTS_AGENT_IMX_bin root@192.168.X.X:/home/root/

Where 192.168.X.X is the board IP which you set in the previous step.

• Set the permission to the files within NXP_WTS_AGENT_IMX_bin repository copied to i.MX 8M Quad EVK board using the command:

chmod 777 -Rf *

• Copy the driver file set [bin_wlan/*] to NXP_WTS_AGENT_IMX_bin repository
• Copy the firmware file set [FW_Image/*] to /lib/firmware/nxp/repository of i.MX 8M Quad EVK board

3.3 Cross compilation of WTS DUT agent

This section shows how to cross compile the certification agent for Linux Yocto.

• For how to set up the toolchain, refer to the section i.MX 8M evaluation platform with Yocto in [3].
• Extract the content of the zip file.

ubuntu@ubuntu-desktop:/# unzip NXP_WTS_QTT_AGENT_R2_1.zip

• Source the toolchain.

ubuntu@ubuntu-desktop:/# source /opt/fsl-imx-wayland/5.10-hardknott/environment-setup-cortexa53-crypto-poky-linux

• Go to WTS-R-2.1 directory.

ubuntu@ubuntu-desktop:/# cd WTS-R-2.1/

• Extract the content of the zip file.

ubuntu@ubuntu-desktop:/# unzip NXP_WTS_AGENT_SRC_R2.1.zip

• Open Makefile.inc file and disable static compile.

ubuntu@ubuntu-desktop:/# gedit Makefile.inc
#CC = gcc

• Compile the source code.

ubuntu@ubuntu-desktop:/# make

At the end of the compilation, the directory NXP_WTS_AGENT_IMX_bin is created at the current path. The files in NXP_WTS_AGENT_IMX_bin directory are used on the target android platform.

3.4 Load the driver

Use the cd command to go to NXP_WTS_AGENT_IMX_bin repository where the driver files are located on i.MX board.

Note: By default the turbo mode is enabled in the firmware. But turbo mode must be disabled for all the certification programs because turbo mode requires to update wmm parameters as per the specification. See Section 3.4.1.

Run the shell script load.sh script to install the driver located in NXP_WTS_AGENT_IMX_bin repository.

./load.sh

Note: The shell script changes with the device and respective features being tested. Refer to the program specific data for the script to use.

Check the version of the build with the following command:

./mlanutl mlan0 version

3.4.1 Disable Turbo mode

• Edit turbo_mode.conf configuration file to change the value for turbo mode enablement.

#File: turbo_mode.conf
## WMM turbo mode config command
turbo mode set={
# do NOT change this line
CmdCode=0x0016
Action:2=1
# 1
OID:2=0x27
Size:2=128
Value:128=5
# 1
SET
# OID WMM TURBO MODE
Enable turbo mode 1; 2
Enable turbo mode 2; otherwise,
disable turbo mode
}

• Use mlanutl utility to update the settings for turbo mode

Command syntax:

./mlanutl <wireless interface> hostcmd <conf file name> <config structure name>

Command example:

root@imx8mnevk:~# ./mlanutl mlan0 hostcmd config/turbo_mode.conf turbo_mode_set

Command output example:

HOSTCMD RESP: CmdCode=0x16, Size=0x8e, SeqNum=0x26, Result=0000
payload: len=134
01 00 27
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
00 80 00 05 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
00 00
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
00 00 00 00 00 00

3.5 Start Sigma

Sigma automation test suite formerly named Wi-Fi Test Suite (WTS) is an automation frame work provided by Wi-Fi Alliance. All the test bed devices including Access Points, test bed STAs, Sniffers and Traffic generator are controlled through the Unified CAPI (Control API) Console (UCC). The CA and DUT control agents (wfa_ca and wfa_dut) are components of the automation test suite.

3.5.1 Start Sigma for the DUT agent (wfa_dut)

• Open an ssh terminal to access the i.MX 8M Quad EVK board
• Go to NXP_WTS_AGENT_IMX_bin repository where you have copied wfa_dut and wfa_ca agents earlier
• Get the DUT agent version

wfa_dut -v (version)

• Run the command to start wfa_dut DUT agent:

Syntax:./wfa_dut <interface> <dut_port> <program_index>

Note: Refer to the program index table to parse the program index of the certification program to execute.

Example

./wfa_dut lo 8000 3 // starts VHT-STAUT program for DUT port number 8000 and lo interface

3.5.2 Start Sigma for the CA control agent (wfa_ca)

• Open another ssh terminal
• Go to NXP_WTS_AGENT_IMX_bin repository where you have copied wfa_ca component files earlier
• Run the command to start wfa_ca CA agent:

Syntax:./wfa_ca.sh <control interface>

Example

./ca.sh eth0 // starts the control agent for eth0

4 Certification program execution

This section shows how to execute the certification programs for the set of Wi-Fi features.

4.1 11AX/6E certification program

11AX/6E certification program is used to test the compliance of 802.11ax/6E Wi-Fi feature.

• Use the cd command to go to NXP_WTS_AGENT_IMX_bin directory where the driver files are located. See Section 3.2.
• Run the shell script to load the driver

/load.sh

• Start Sigma for the DUT agent

./wfa dut lo 8000 1

• Start Sigma for the CA agent

./ca.sh eth0

4.2 11AC certification program

11AC certification program is used to test the compliance of 802.11ac Wi-Fi feature.

• Use the cd command to go to NXP_WTS_AGENT_IMX_bin repository where the driver files are located. See Section 3.2.
• Run the shell script ./load.sh to load the driver

/load.sh

• Start Sigma for the DUT agent

./wfa dut lo 8000 3

• Start Sigma for the CA agent

./ca.sh eth0

4.3 11N certification program

11N certification program is used to test the compliance of 802.11n Wi-Fi feature

• Use the cd command to go to NXP_WTS_AGENT_IMX_bin repository where the driver files are located. See Section 3.2.
• Run the shell script ./load.sh to load the driver

./load.sh

• Start Sigma for the DUT agent

./wfa dut lo 8000 7

• Start Sigma for the CA agent

/ca.sh eth0

Note: The following commands need to be executed manually before running the test cases N-5.2.2 and N-5.2.48.

4.4 WPA3 certification program

WPA3 pre-cert program is used to test the compliance of WPA3 Wi-Fi feature

• Use the cd command to go to NXP_WTS_AGENT_IMX_bin repository where the driver files are located. See Section 3.2.
• Run the shell script ./load.sh to load the driver

/load.sh

• Start Sigma for the DUT agent

./wfa_dut lo 8000 15

• Start Sigma for the CA agent

./ca.sh eth0

4.5 PMF certification program

PMF certification program is used to test the compliance of PMF Wi-Fi feature

4.5.1 Test with WTS tool

• Use the cd command to go to NXP_WTS_AGENT_IMX_bin repository where the driver files are located. See Section 3.2 "Copy the required files".
• Run the shell script ./load.sh to load the driver

/load.sh

• Start Sigma for the DUT agent

./wfa_dut lo 8000 11

• Start Sigma for the CA agent

/ca.sh eth0

4.5.2 Test with Quicktrack tool

• Download NXP_WTS_QTT_AGENT_R2_1 source code from [4].
• Unzip the downloaded source code and navigate to QTT-R-2.1 source code.
• Cross-compile the NXP_Linux_QTT_ControlApp_R2.1 for your platform.
• Copy the cross-compiled app binary on your platform.
• Copy the downloaded source code to /home/root directory on the i.MX 8M platform
• Create wpa_supplicant directory in etc directory

mkdir /etc/wpa_supplicant

• Copy wpa_supplicant binary in /etc/wpa_supplicant/directory

cp /usr/sbin/wpa_supplicant /etc/wpa_supplicant/

• Start the agent

./app -p 9004

• Assign the IP address to i.MX 8M platform as per the QTT configuration.

4.6 SVD (VU) certification program

SVD (VU) certification program is used to test the compliance of security vulnerability detection Wi-Fi feature.

Follow the steps below to test with Quicktrack tool.

• Download NXP_WTS_QTT_AGENT_R2_1 source code from [4].
• Unzip the downloaded source code and navigate to QTT-R-2.1 source code.
• Cross-compile the NXP_Linux_QTT_ControlApp_R2.1 for your platform.
• Copy the cross-compiled app binary on your platform.
• Create wpa_supplicant directory in etc directory

mkdir /etc/wpa_supplicant

• Copy wpa_supplicant binary in /etc/wpa_supplicant/directory

cp /usr/sbin/wpa_supplicant /etc/wpa_supplicant/

• Start the agent

./app -p 9004

• Assign the IP address to i.MX 8M platform as per the QTT configuration.

5 Abbreviations

6 References

1. Reference manual – RM00297: Linux Software Reference Manual for NXP Wireless Connectivity [link]
2. User manual – UM11483: Getting Started with NXP-based Wireless Modules on i.MX 8M Quad EVK Running Linux OS [link]
3. User manual – UM11675: How to Download and Build NXP Wi-Fi Drivers [link]
4. Software – NXP_WTS_QTT_AGENT_R2_1 source code on NXP website [link]

7 Contact information

Use the following links for more product details, queries and support.

• Home page: www.nxp.com
• Web support: nxp.com/support
• NXP community: community.nxp.com
• iMX community: community.nxp.com/community/imx

8 Note about the source code in the document

The example code shown in this document has the following copyright and BSD-3-Clause license:

Copyright 2021-2025 NXP Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials must be provided with the distribution.
3. Neither the name of the copyright holder nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

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