USB and WiFi interfaces

Question

Hello,

I use 2019.2 Vivado, Vitis and Petalinux versions to build my design and Linux configuration. My design includes USB 3.0 interface and WiFi (wilc driver 15.2). I successfully connect Ultra96v2 board to WiFi and get remote access to the board via SSH (I use OpenSSH) if there is no external USB devices. It works well if I plug USB 3.0 device to J9 USB connector. However, I SSH gets hang if I plug USB device to J8 connector. SSH comes back after unplugging USB device from J8 connector. What can cause this issue?

Thank you,

Vladimir

narrucmot · Answer

Hi Vladimir,

This is a known issue with the Ultra96 board. The issue is that the USB 3.0 transceivers, when active (something is plugged into the J8 and/or possibly J9 USB host connectors), emit enough EMI to interfere with the WiFi and cripple its throughput. This would certainly affect ssh and WiFi traffic. An alternative, if possible, is to use a USB-to-Ethernet adapter like these:

USB 3.0 to GbE AdapterUSB 3.0 to GbE Adapter

https://www.amazon.com/TRENDnet-Ethernet-Chromebook-Specific-TU3-ETG/dp/B00FFJ0RKE/

You could also enable USB gadget Ethernet, but that is a bit more complicated. I will be posting a blog about how to do that soon.

Hope this helps.

--Tom

USB and WiFi interfaces

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