Realtek Wi-Fi SDK for Android JB 4.

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ver. 1.0.0

Contents
Release History ............................................................................................................. 2
Introduction .................................................................................................................. 3
1. Copy Necessary Files into SDK .......................................................................... 4
2. Platform Related Files ......................................................................................... 4
2.1. BoardConfig.mk ....................................................................................... 4
2.2. init.xxx.rc .................................................................................................. 6
2.3. Others ........................................................................................................ 8
3. System Resource Configurations ........................................................................ 9
4. libhardware_legacy ............................................................................................ 10
5. wpa_supplicant_8............................................................................................... 11
6. Driver Configurations for Android JB ............................................................. 12
7. FAQ ..................................................................................................................... 13
7.1. Wi-Fi (STA mode) .................................................................................. 14
7.1.1. Why Wi-Fi can’t enable? ........................................................... 14
7.2. Portable Wi-Fi hotspot (AP mode) ....................................................... 14
7.2.1. Why Portable Wi-Fi hotspot can’t enable? ............................. 14
7.3. Wi-Fi Direct (P2P mode) ....................................................................... 15
7.3.1. There is no Wi-Fi Direct UI shown? ......................................... 15
7.3.2. Wi-Fi Direct can’t scan any peer? ............................................ 15

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Release History
1.0.0 2013/10/11 1. First formal release
1.1. realtek_wifi_SDK_for_android_JB_4.3_20131011.tar.gz
1.2. wpa_supplicant_8_jb_4.3_rtw_r9301.20131011.tar.gz

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SDK packages
 hardware/realtek/*
Folder to store config files, private code from Realtek.

 hardware/libhardware_legacy/wifi/Android.mk
Reference codes for applying wifi_realtek.c

※ For wpa_supplicant_8_jb_4.3_rtw_r9301.20131011.tar.gz or newer version, see

wpa_supplicant_hostapd folder of our SW release package or consult our contact window.

Introduction
This document provides a simple guide to help engineers to apply Realtek Wi-Fi
solution onto their Android JB 4.3 system. For now, we have supported the following
two scenarios:

 STA/AP – Switch between STA mode and AP mode

 (STA+P2P)/AP – Switch between STA+P2P(Wi-Fi Direct) concurrent
mode and AP mode

To port Realtek Wi-Fi driver onto Android 4.3 platform, you can go through the
following guide with reference codes within our driver package's
realtek_wifi_SDK_for_android_JB_4.3_20131011.tar.gz.

Because Android's SDK may differ from platform to platform, our reference
codes may not be applied on every platform without modifications. You should check
if our reference code is suitable for you to use.

In this document, ANDROID_SDK is the path of top folder of the target Android
SDK; this term is used in the following paragraphs.

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1. Copy Necessary Files into SDK
After unzipping realtek_wifi_SDK_for_android_JB_4.3_20131011.tar.gz, copy
the following folder into ANDROID_SDK/hardware/ folder:
 hardware/realtek

2. Platform Related Files

2.1. BoardConfig.mk
To apply Realtek Wi-Fi solution onto your Android JB system, you need to
define some compile-time variables in BoardConfig.mk of your platform. In general,
the BoardConfig.mk file is located in:
ANDROID_SDK /device/<soc_vendor_name>/<board_name>/
Take TI panda board for example:
ANDROID_SDK /device/ ti/panda/ BoardConfig.mk

Please define the following compile-time variables below:

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 BOARD_WIFI_VENDOR := realtek
ifeq ($(BOARD_WIFI_VENDOR), realtek)
WPA_SUPPLICANT_VERSION := VER_0_8_X
BOARD_WPA_SUPPLICANT_DRIVER := NL80211
CONFIG_DRIVER_WEXT :=y
BOARD_WPA_SUPPLICANT_PRIVATE_LIB := lib_driver_cmd_rtl
BOARD_HOSTAPD_DRIVER := NL80211
BOARD_HOSTAPD_PRIVATE_LIB := lib_driver_cmd_rtl

BOARD_WLAN_DEVICE := rtl8192cu
#BOARD_WLAN_DEVICE := rtl8192du
#BOARD_WLAN_DEVICE := rtl8192ce
#BOARD_WLAN_DEVICE := rtl8192de
#BOARD_WLAN_DEVICE := rtl8723as
#BOARD_WLAN_DEVICE := rtl8723au
#BOARD_WLAN_DEVICE := rtl8189es
#BOARD_WLAN_DEVICE := rtl8723bs
#BOARD_WLAN_DEVICE := rtl8723bu

WIFI_DRIVER_MODULE_NAME := "wlan"
WIFI_DRIVER_MODULE_PATH := "/system/lib/modules/wlan.ko"
WIFI_DRIVER_MODULE_ARG := "ifname=wlan0 if2name=p2p0"

WIFI_FIRMWARE_LOADER := ""
WIFI_DRIVER_FW_PATH_STA := ""
WIFI_DRIVER_FW_PATH_AP := ""
WIFI_DRIVER_FW_PATH_P2P := ""
WIFI_DRIVER_FW_PATH_PARAM := ""
endif

 BOARD_WIFI_VENDOR := realtek
To distinguish the platform Wi-Fi device from products of other vendors, we
define variable BOARD_WIFI_VENDOR as realtek. This is for compile-time choices
to be applied for Realtek Wi-Fi solutions.

 WPA_SUPPLICANT_VERSION := VER_0_8_X
For Android JB, please set WPA_SUPPLICANT_VERSION as VER_0_8_X to

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use wpa_supplicant_8.

 BOARD_WPA_SUPPLICANT_DRIVER := NL80211
 BOARD_WPA_SUPPLICANT_PRIVATE_LIB := lib_driver_cmd_ rtl
 BOARD_HOSTAPD_DRIVER := NL80211
 BOARD_HOSTAPD_PRIVATE_LIB := lib_driver_cmd_rtl
We use NL80211 as the driver interface for wpa_supplicant and hostapd to
communicate with driver and provide lib_driver_cmd_rtl as the private library.

 BOARD_WLAN_DEVICE
Realtek provide a variety of Wi-Fi solutions to choose. For now,
BOARD_WLAN_DEVICE is not used for any purpose but we suggest setting this
variable for your Wi-Fi solution you used.

 WIFI_DRIVER_MODULE_NAME
 WIFI_DRIVER_MODULE_PATH
 WIFI_DRIVER_MODULE_ARG
These three variables will be used in libhardware_legacy (wifi.c/wifi_realtek.c)
to do insmod and remmod. The value of WIFI_DRIVER_MODULE_NAME should
match the value of MODULE_NAME specified in our driver’s Makefile at
compile-time. Please refer to “Platform Setting Section in Detail” of:
document/Quick_Start_Guide_for_Driver_Compilation_and_Installation.pdf

 WIFI_FIRMWARE_LOADER :=””
 WIFI_DRIVER_FW_PATH_STA :=””
 WIFI_DRIVER_FW_PATH_AP :=””
 WIFI_DRIVER_FW_PATH_P2P :=””
 WIFI_DRIVER_FW_PATH_PARAM :=””
Because our driver has FW embedded inside, and will automatically load FW at
NIC initialization process, there is no need to set these 5 variables, just keep them
empty.

2.2. init.xxx.rc
For Wi-Fi to operate properly, we need some daemons to be defined as service
inside init.xxx.rc. In general, the init.xxx.rc file is located in:
ANDROID_SDK/device/<soc_vendor_name>/<board_name>/
Take TI panda board for example:
ANDROID_SDK/device/ti/panda/init.omap4pandaboard.rc.

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 Please add the service definitions below:
 wpa_supplicant
service rtw_suppl_con /system/bin/wpa_supplicant \
-ip2p0 -Dnl80211 -c /data/misc/wifi/p2p_supplicant.conf -e/data/misc/wifi/entropy.bin -N \
-iwlan0 -Dnl80211 -c/data/misc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf
class main
socket wpa_wlan0 dgram 660 wifi wifi
disabled
oneshot

service rtw_suppl /system/bin/wpa_supplicant -iwlan0 -Dnl80211

-c/data/misc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf
socket wpa_wlan0 dgram 660 wifi wifi
class main
disabled
oneshot

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 dhcpcd
service dhcpcd_wlan0 /system/bin/dhcpcd -aABKL
class main
disabled
oneshot

service dhcpcd_p2p /system/bin/dhcpcd -aABKL

class main
disabled
oneshot

service iprenew_wlan0 /system/bin/dhcpcd -n

class main
disabled
oneshot

service iprenew_p2p /system/bin/dhcpcd -n

class main
disabled
oneshot

2.3. Others
For topics mentioned here, you can add the following code segments in any .mk
file which your platform will use. Take TI panda board for example:
ANDROID_SDK /device/ ti/panda/device.mk.

 Set wifi.interface
To specify the wifi interface name in Android, a system property named
“wifi.interface” is used. For Realtek Wi-Fi driver, Wi-Fi interface name is assigned
with “wlan%d”. In general, you should set wifi.interface as “wlan0”.

PRODUCT_PROPERTY_OVERRIDES += \
wifi.interface=wlan0

 Add android.hardware.wifi.direct.xml
If you want to use Wi-Fi Direct (P2P) functionality, please add the rule in the
PRODUCT_COPY_FILES variable to copy the permission definition file of Wi-Fi

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Direct to the /system/etc/permissions/ folder of your system image.

PRODUCT_COPY_FILES += \
frameworks/native/data/etc/android.hardware.wifi.direct.xml:system/etc/permissions/android.hard
ware.wifi.direct.xml

Make sure your driver is configured for STA+P2P concurrent mode or you may
encounter error when you open the Wi-Fi. Please refer to “7. Driver Configurations
for Android JB”

3. System Resource Configurations

You should set the following four resource configurations for your platform to
configure the network function and enable the corresponding UI interface. In general,
you can set the following configurations in your platform dependent config.xml file.
Take TI panda board for example:
ANDROID_SDK/device/ti/panda/overlay/frameworks/base/core/res/res/values/c
onfig.xml
Or the global config.xml file:
ANDROID_SDK/frameworks/base/core/res/res/values/config.xml

 networkAttributes
To define the system’s available network interfaces, make sure the wifi and
wifi_p2p interface items is defined in the networkAttributes resource configuration in
the config.xml. For example:

<string-array translatable="false" name="networkAttributes">

<item>"wifi,1,1,1,-1,true"</item>
<item>"bluetooth,7,7,0,-1,true"</item>
<item>"ethernet,9,9,2,-1,true"</item>
<item>"wifi_p2p,13,1,0,-1,true"</item>
</string-array>

 radioAttributes
To define the system’s available network interfaces, we need to define interface
items for wifi in the radioAttributes resource configuration. For example:

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 <string-array translatable="false" name="radioAttributes">
<item>"1,1"</item>
<item>"7,1"</item>
<item>"9,1"</item>
</string-array>

 config_tether_wifi_regexs
The interfaces set here are tetherable Wi-Fi interfaces which will be used as
interfaces for Wi-Fi LAN port. We use 'wlan0' by default when our Wi-Fi is set as
softap mode. So it needs to set 'wlan0' here. For example:

<string-array translatable="false" name="config_tether_wifi_regexs">

<item>"wlan0"</item>
</string-array>

 config_tether_upstream_types
The connection types set here are used as the interfaces for WAN port to connect
to internet. For example, adding Wi-Fi and Ethernet:

<integer-array translatable="false" name="config_tether_upstream_types">

<item>1</item>
<item>9</item>
</integer-array>

At least one item should be declared here to enable the “Tehtering&portable

hotspot” option of WirelessSettings in Settings.apk.

To know the definition and set other upstream connection types, please refer to
ANDROID_SDK/frameworks/base/core/java/android/net/ConnectivityManager.java.

4. libhardware_legacy
The libhardware_legacy library includes functionality for Wi-Fi to operate. We
have made modifications and extensions for our Wi-Fi solutions. To apply this, please
modify ANDROID_SDK/hardware/libhardware_legacy/wifi/Android.mk to include
wifi_realtek.c instead of wifi.c into LOCAL_SRC_FILES. For example:

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 ifeq ($(BOARD_WIFI_VENDOR), realtek)
LOCAL_SRC_FILES += ../realtek/wlan/libhardware_legacy/wifi/wifi_realtek.c
else
LOCAL_SRC_FILES += wifi/wifi.c
endif

5. wpa_supplicant_8
We provide wpa_supplicant_8_jb_4.3_rtw_r9301.20131011.tar.gz or newer
version in the wpa_supplicant_hostapd/ of our SW release package. You can:

 Compare and merge with your own wpa_supplicant_8

Compare and merge from wpa_supplicant_8_jb_4.3_rtw by your own. For both
ANDROID_SDK/external/wpa_suppliant_8/wpa_supplicant/Android.mk and
ANDROID_SDK/external/wpa_suppliant_8/hostapd/Android.mk, you should notice
that the two macros REALTEK_WIFI_VENDOR and ANDROID_P2P should be
added into L_CFLAGS. For example:

ifeq ($(BOARD_WLAN_DEVICE), bcmdhd)

L_CFLAGS += -DANDROID_P2P
endif

ifeq ($(BOARD_WIFI_VENDOR), realtek)

L_CFLAGS += -DREALTEK_WIFI_VENDOR
L_CFLAGS += -DANDROID_P2P
Endif

# Use Android specific directory for control interface sockets

Here is the description of the specific macros:

MACRO Description
ANDROID_P2P Android’s wpa_supplicant_8 patch. Must
REALTEK_WIFI_VENDOR General purpose patch made by Realtek. Must

 Use the wpa_supplicant_8_jb_4.3_rtw instead of the original

A. Backup and remove the original external/wpa_supplcant_8/ folder
B. Extract and copy the wpa_supplicant_8_jb_4.3_rtw tar file to the external/

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 folder of your Android SDK.
C. Rename wpa_supplicant_8_jb_4.3_rtw as wpa_supplicant_8.

※ We have enabled the two macros ANDROID_P2P and REALTEK_WIFI_VENDOR by default.

6. Driver Configurations for Android JB

Android JB support two scenarios for Wi-Fi solution:
 STA/AP – Switch between STA and AP mode
 (STA+P2P)/AP – Switch between STA+P2P concurrent and AP mode
The configuration of driver to fit the requirement of each scenario, see the
following table:
MACRO STA /AP (STA+P2P)/AP Kernel ver.
CONFIG_IOCTL_CFG80211 Defined Defined ver. >= 2.6.35
RTW_USE_CFG80211_STA_EVENT Defined Defined ver. >= 3.2.0
CONFIG_CONCURRENT_MODE Undefined Defined -
CONFIG_P2P_IPS Don’t Care Defined -
CONFIG_WFD Don’t Care Must for Miracast -
RTW_ENABLE_WIFI_CONTROL_FUNC Must for platform device/driver mechanism

 RTW_USE_CFG80211_STA_EVENT is used for driver to indicate new

cfg80211 STA event which is required by wpa_supplicant_8 of Android JB. Linux
kernel supports this feature after kernel 3.2. For kernel version between 3.0 and 3.2,
please refer to the patch file:
linux-3.0.42_STATION_INFO_ASSOC_REQ_IES.diff

 RTW_ENABLE_WIFI_CONTROL_FUNC is used to register platform driver

callbacks. If your platform needs those callbacks, please define this macro to register
platform driver callback functions. For example, these functions include:

static struct platform_driver wifi_device = {

.probe = wifi_probe,
.remove = wifi_remove,

By default, the probe callback is used to set up Wi-Fi power and remove callback
is used to close Wi-Fi power.

Please modify both the include/autoconf.h and the specific autoconf file(needed
for compound driver release) for your Wi-Fi product.

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 Chip type Autoconf file to modify
RTL8192CU-series autoconf_rtl8192c_usb_linux.h
RTL8192CE-series autoconf_rtl8192c_pci_linux.h
RTL8192DU-series autoconf_rtl8192d_usb_linux.h
RTL8192DE-series autoconf_rtl8192d_pci_linux.h
RTL8723AS-series autoconf_rtl8723a_sdio_linux.h
RTL8723AU-series autoconf_rtl8723a_usb_linux.h
RTL8723BS-series autoconf_rtl8723b_sdio_linux.h
RTL8189ES-series autoconf_rtl8189e_sdio_linux.h
RTL8188EU-series autoconf_rtl8188e_usb_linux.h
RTL8723BS-series autoconf_rtl8723b_sdio_linux.h
RTL8723BU-series autoconf_rtl8723b_usb_linux.h

For example, if you want to configure RTL8192CU-series driver (ex:

RTL8188CUS, RTL8192CU) to fit the scenario of (STA+P2P)/AP, make sure the
macros: CONFIG_IOCTL_CFG80211, RTW_USE_CFG80211_STA_EVENT and
CONFIG_CONCURRENT_MODE, CONFIG_P2P_IPS in both include/autoconf.h
and autoconf_rtl8192c_usb_linux.h(needed for compound driver release) are defined.
As following:
#define CONFIG_IOCTL_CFG80211
#ifdef CONFIG_IOCTL_CFG80211
#define RTW_USE_CFG80211_STA_EVENT
//#define CONFIG_CFG80211_FORCE_COMPATIBLE_2_6_37_UNDER
//#define CONFIG_DEBUG_CFG80211 1
#endif
…
#define CONFIG_CONCURRENT_MODE
…
#define CONFIG_P2P_IPS

To compile our Wi-Fi driver, please refer to the following document for more
infomations:
document/Quick_Start_Guide_for_Driver_Compilation_and_Installation.pdf

7. FAQ

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7.1. Wi-Fi (STA mode)
7.1.1. Why Wi-Fi can’t enable?
The whole Wi-Fi enabling procedure includes the following three main check
points. Please check in sequence:
 Is network interface(s) created?
 insmod driver success
 Wi-Fi device is recognized
 wlan0 (and p2p0) is created

 Does wpa_supplicant run successfully?

 wpa_supplicant.conf (and p2p_supplicant.conf) exists and is correct
 Service definition of wpa_supplicant exists and is correct
 Binary file wpa_supplicant exists and is executable

 Do connections of communication socket setup?

 Make sure the communication socket settings is matched below:
 ctrl_interface in:
/data/misc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf
(and /data/misc/wifi/p2p_supplicant.conf)
 Service definition of wpa_supplicant
 Paths of communication socket in wifi.c (or wifi_realtek.c)

7.2. Portable Wi-Fi hotspot (AP mode)

7.2.1. Why Portable Wi-Fi hotspot can’t enable?
The whole Portable Wi-Fi hotspot enabling procedure includes the following
three main check points. Please check in sequence:
 Is network interface created?
 insmod driver success
 Wi-Fi device is recognized
 wlan0 is created

 Does netd and hostapd run successfully?

 /data/misc/wifi/hostapd.conf exists and is correct
 Binary file netd and hostapd exist and are executable

 Does dnsmasq run successfully?

 Binary file dnsmasq exist and are executable

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7.3. Wi-Fi Direct (P2P mode)
7.3.1. There is no Wi-Fi Direct UI shown?
Please refer to “Add android.hardware.wifi.direct.xml” in chapter 2.3. Others
to enable Wi-Fi Direct functionality of Android JB.

7.3.2. Wi-Fi Direct can’t scan any peer?

First, make sure you have workable Wi-Fi Direct device nearby. Make them into
Wi-Fi Direct scanning state. Push “SEARCH FOR DEVICES” button also in our
device and wait for a while.
If there is still no peer shown the problem is usually caused by wrong service
definition of wpa_supplicant services. Please refer to “wpa_supplicant” in chapter
2.2. init.xxx.rc to check your service definition of wpa_supplicant.

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