nRF9160 and nRF7002 Wi-Fi controller connection

Question

I am in the process of designing a pcb with nRF9160 and nRF7002 to be able to use the network via LTE and / or Wi-Fi. In addition, I will use the GSM module for notifications. 
 I know that I must connect both modules (nRF7 and nRF9) with the QSPI bus, what about the nRF7 control signals? The BUCKEN and HOST_IRQ pins are required and additionally I must have control over the time of switching on the voltage on the IOVDD pin in accordance with the documentation. What about pins SW_CTR01, SW_CTRL1, COEX_GRANT, COEX_REQ, COEX_STATUS0? I know that they are used when we share the radio with bluetooth modules. Should I be concerned with them when connecting the nRF7 module to the nRF9 or should I leave them unconnected?

Charlie · Accepted Answer

Hi Pawel,

I think you can refer to Wi-Fi: Shell — nRF Connect SDK 2.4.0 documentation (nordicsemi.com), which provides full functions of WiFi based on nRF9160DK+nRF7002EK.

The following files show how they are connected:

nrf\boards\shields\nrf7002ek\nrf7002ek.overlay

/* Copyright (c) 2023 Nordic Semiconductor ASA
 *
 * SPDX-License-Identifier: LicenseRef-Nordic-5-Clause
 */
#include <freq.h>
#include "nrf7002ek_coex.overlay"

&arduino_spi {
	status = "okay";
	cs-gpios = <&arduino_header 16 GPIO_ACTIVE_LOW>; /* D10 */

	nrf700x: nrf7002@0 {
		compatible = "nordic,nrf700x-spi";
		status = "okay";
		reg = <0>;
		spi-max-frequency = <DT_FREQ_M(8)>;

		iovdd-ctrl-gpios = <&arduino_header 6 (GPIO_ACTIVE_HIGH | GPIO_PULL_DOWN)>;    /* D0 */
		bucken-gpios = <&arduino_header 7 (GPIO_ACTIVE_HIGH | GPIO_PULL_DOWN)>;        /* D1 */
		host-irq-gpios = <&arduino_header 13 GPIO_ACTIVE_HIGH>;     /* D7 */
	};
};

nrf\samples\wifi\shell\boards\nrf9160dk_nrf9160_ns.overlay

/*
 * Copyright (c) 2022 Nordic Semiconductor ASA
 *
 * SPDX-License-Identifier: LicenseRef-Nordic-5-Clause
 */

/* Use high drive mode on SPI pins that handle communication with nRF7002
 * so that SCK frequency > 4 MHz can be used. */
&spi3_default {
	group1 {
		nordic,drive-mode = <NRF_DRIVE_H0H1>;
	};
};

/* Disabled because of conflicts on P0.00 and P0.01 - Arduino pins D0 and D1
 * (iovdd-ctrl-gpios and bucken-gpios in nrf7002ek_nrf7002, respectively). */
&uart1 {
	status = "disabled";
};

&arduino_header {
        gpio-map = <0 0 &gpio0 14 0>,
                   <1 0 &gpio0 15 0>,
                   <2 0 &gpio0 16 0>,
                   <3 0 &gpio0 17 0>,
                   <4 0 &gpio0 18 0>,
                   <5 0 &gpio0 19 0>,
                   <6 0 &gpio0 0 0>,
                   <7 0 &gpio0 1 0>,
                   <8 0 &gpio0 2 0>,
                   <9 0 &gpio0 3 0>,
                   <10 0 &gpio0 4 0>,
                   <11 0 &gpio0 5 0>,
                   <12 0 &gpio0 6 0>,
                   <13 0 &gpio0 7 0>,
                   <14 0 &gpio0 8 0>,
                   <15 0 &gpio0 9 0>,
                   <16 0 &gpio0 10 0>,
                   <17 0 &gpio0 11 0>,
                   <18 0 &gpio0 12 0>,
                   <19 0 &gpio0 13 0>,
                   <20 0 &gpio0 30 0>,
                   <21 0 &gpio0 31 0>;
};

Best regards,

Charlie

nRF9160 and nRF7002 Wi-Fi controller connection

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