Coexistence Overview for AW611/IW611 Coexistence Overview for AW611/IW611

Coexistence Overview for AW611/IW611

AN13375

AW611/IW611, Wi-Fi radio, Bluetooth radio, coexistence, real time arbitration, interference avoidance, traffic priority, rules, central hardware Packet Traffic Arbiter (PTA), local hardware arbiter, coexistence software, request/grant

NXP B.V.

Coexistence Overview for AW611/IW611

21 Apr 2025 — The coexistence architecture has three major components: • Central hardware Packet Traffic Arbiter (PTA): arbitrates between on-chip Wi-Fi and Bluetooth ...

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Document DEVICE REPORTAN13375

AN13375
Coexistence Overview for AW611/IW611
Rev. 2.0 -- 21 April 2025

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Keywords

AW611/IW611, Wi-Fi radio, Bluetooth radio, coexistence, real time arbitration, interference avoidance, traffic priority, rules, central hardware Packet Traffic Arbiter (PTA), local hardware arbiter, coexistence software, request/grant

Abstract

Provides an overview of coexistence between Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radios in combo wireless devices.

NXP Semiconductors

AN13375
Coexistence Overview for AW611/IW611

1 Scope
This document provides an overview of coexistence between Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radios in AW611/IW611. NXP's coexistence solution provides real time arbitration between on-chip radios on a per-packet basis.

AN13375
Application note

All information provided in this document is subject to legal disclaimers.
Rev. 2.0 -- 21 April 2025

NXP Semiconductors

AN13375
Coexistence Overview for AW611/IW611

2 Coexistence architecture overview
The coexistence architecture has three major components:
· Central hardware Packet Traffic Arbiter (PTA): arbitrates between on-chip Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radios. Controls the front end components such as RF switches.
· Local hardware arbiter: arbitrates the packets between Bluetooth and Bluetooth Low Energy (LE). · Coexistence software: configures PTA and works with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth firmware.

Coexistence software

Firmware Wi-Fi radio

Firmware Bluetooth radio

Traffic arbitration configuration

Request/grant

Central hardware packet traffic arbiter (PTA)

Request/grant

Figure 1.Coexistence subsystem

Control path Radio front end

AN13375
Application note

All information provided in this document is subject to legal disclaimers.
Rev. 2.0 -- 21 April 2025

NXP Semiconductors

AN13375
Coexistence Overview for AW611/IW611

3 Coexistence mechanism
NXP's coexistence mechanism is a combination of interference avoidance and arbitration between Wi-Fi and Bluetooth/Bluetooth LE radios.
Interference avoidance is the coordination between the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth/Bluetooth LE radios in order to avoid over-lapping frequency usage. The coordination helps Bluetooth to adapt the AFH map and avoid hopping into the Wi-Fi channel, reducing the interference to each other.
In addition to interference avoidance, the central hardware PTA provides real-time arbitration between the WiFi and Bluetooth/Bluetooth LE radios on a per-packet basis. This arbitration can be statically enabled/disabled. The individual radios post a request to the central hardware PTA to access the radio front end. The hardware PTA grants access to the individual radios based on the configured priorities and on the grant rules.
3.1 Traffic priority
Wi-Fi traffic priority is assigned based on the frame type and subtype of the Wi-Fi packets. On AW611/IW611, the priority assignment based on traffic category is also implemented.
Bluetooth/Bluetooth LE traffic priority is assigned based on the chosen profiles or operations.
The firmware statically configures the priorities for the Wi-Fi, Bluetooth/Bluetooth LE traffic. The firmware also sets the arbitration rules in the central hardware PTA and local hardware arbiter.1
3.2 Arbitration request to the central hardware PTA
The Wi-Fi subsystem asserts a request with traffic priority and traffic direction to the central hardware PTA arbiter in the following situations:
· An incoming 802.11 packet is detected · Any 802.11 packet transmission · A fixed latency packet is expected (ACK/block ACK)
The Bluetooth subsystem asserts a request to the central hardware PTA in order to transmit or receive. The request is accompanied with priority, traffic direction, and frequency information.

1 Any change to the current settings requires a firmware update.

AN13375
Application note

All information provided in this document is subject to legal disclaimers.
Rev. 2.0 -- 21 April 2025

NXP Semiconductors

AN13375
Coexistence Overview for AW611/IW611

3.3 Central hardware PTA grant rules
The central hardware PTA grants access based on the relative priority of the incoming requests when traffic collisions occur. This situation is illustrated in the following example.
Example of traffic interference Context: A2DP streaming on Bluetooth radio and web browsing/email/file download on Wi-Fi radio. In this context, and as illustrated in Figure 2;
· A2DP traffic is Bluetooth priority Level 3 within the Bluetooth controller · Wi-Fi web-browsing traffic has priority level 1 within the Wi-Fi controller Relative priority assignment - Based on the relative priority assignment in PTA, Bluetooth priority level 3 is higher compared to Wi-Fi priority level 1.
Conflict resolution - The central hardware PTA grants the traffic access to: · A2DP and stops the Wi-Fi traffic that causes an interference/conflict · Wi-Fi traffic when there is no interference/conflict with A2DP

High relative priority

Bluetooth activity Priority level 3 Wi-Fi activity Priority level 3

Central hardware PTA grants Bluetooth activity level 3

Bluetooth activity Priority level 2 Wi-Fi activity Priority level 2

Bluetooth activity Priority level 1 Wi-Fi activity Priority level 1

Low relative priority

Bluetooth activity Priority level 0 Wi-Fi activity Priority level 0

Central hardware
PTA

Figure 2.Central hardware PTA relative priority assignment example

AN13375
Application note

All information provided in this document is subject to legal disclaimers.
Rev. 2.0 -- 21 April 2025

NXP Semiconductors

AN13375
Coexistence Overview for AW611/IW611

4 Coexistence operating mode - Antenna configuration
4.1 Shared antenna application
In a shared antenna application, one antenna is shared between the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth/Bluetooth LE radios. Access to the antenna is through an RF switch. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth do not have simultaneous access to the antenna. The central hardware PTA manages the arbitration between Wi-Fi and Bluetooth access to the antenna and controls the switch in real time.
4.2 Dedicated antenna application
In applications where Wi-Fi and Bluetooth each have a dedicated antenna, the central hardware PTA arbitrates between the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth/Bluetooth LE radios based on AW611/IW611 specification. The need for arbitration between Wi-Fi and Bluetooth depends on the antenna isolation, the target output powers, and the operating environments. The arbitration setup can be reviewed for each product implementation.

AN13375
Application note

All information provided in this document is subject to legal disclaimers.
Rev. 2.0 -- 21 April 2025

NXP Semiconductors

5 Revision history

Table 1.Revision history Document ID AN13375 v.2.0 AN13375 v.1.0

Release date 21 April 2025 6 October 2021

AN13375
Coexistence Overview for AW611/IW611
Description · Changed the document access to public. · Initial release

AN13375
Application note

All information provided in this document is subject to legal disclaimers.
Rev. 2.0 -- 21 April 2025

NXP Semiconductors

AN13375
Coexistence Overview for AW611/IW611

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AN13375
Application note

All information provided in this document is subject to legal disclaimers.
Rev. 2.0 -- 21 April 2025

NXP Semiconductors

Contents

Scope ................................................................ 2

Coexistence architecture overview ................3

Coexistence mechanism .................................4

3.1

Traffic priority ..................................................... 4

3.2

Arbitration request to the central hardware

PTA .................................................................... 4

3.3

Central hardware PTA grant rules ..................... 5

Coexistence operating mode - Antenna

configuration .................................................... 6

4.1

Shared antenna application ............................... 6

4.2

Dedicated antenna application .......................... 6

Revision history ...............................................7

Legal information .............................................8

AN13375
Coexistence Overview for AW611/IW611

Please be aware that important notices concerning this document and the product(s) described herein, have been included in section 'Legal information'.

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