Ai-BW20 Series Module

Document revision history

Version	Date	**Created/**revised	Author	Approved
V1.1.0	2023.1.14	Initial release	Zhuo Lingmin	Chen Shougao
V1.1.1	2024.12.18	Update	Han Luyao

I. Overview

Ai-BW20-12F is a dual-band Wi-Fi + BLE SoC module developed by Shenzhen Ai-Thinker Technology Co., Ltd. based on the RTL8711 series. It supports dual-band (2.4 GHz or 5 GHz) 802.11a/b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth 5.0. BW20-12F integrates dual-core MCUs: an ARM V8.1 (Cortex-M4F–compatible) high-performance MCU up to 330 MHz, and an ARM V8M (Cortex-M0–compatible) low-power MCU. The module offers rich peripherals including UART/GPIO/ADC/PWM/IIC/SPI/SDIO/IR/SWD/USB, and is widely applicable to IoT, mobile devices, wearables, and smart home.

Features

• Supports 802.11a/b/g/n
• Supports dual-band 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz
• Supports HT20/HT40 modes
• Supports Bluetooth 5.0
• Supports BLE Long Range
• Bluetooth high-power mode
• Supports LE data length extension
• Supports link-layer privacy
• Supports hardware crypto engines
• Dual-core MCU, up to 330 MHz
• Rich I/O: 17 flexible configurable pins
• Wi-Fi and Bluetooth share the same antenna
• Supports secondary development and Linux programming

Cloud information

• Universal MCU_SDK for quick start

• Supports AP+BLE device provisioning (Android and iOS)

• Supports module OTA and MCU OTA

• Supports LAN and WAN communication

• The UART used for module–MCU communication is the module’s uart0; pins are RX and TX on the module. See Pin definitions. These pins are primarily for MCU communication.

• Module log output uses uart1; the pin is IO5, which outputs log information.

• You can change the module–MCU UART baud rate via AT command:

  • Format: AT+UARTCFG=9600
  • Response:
    • OK: Set successfully; takes effect after module reset
    • ERR: AT command failed; baud rate not set

• After power-on, the module outputs device information on the TX pin, as shown below:

  • Normal boot print:

    

  • Abnormal boot — device credentials not flashed

    

• To test module device provisioning independently over the UART protocol, complete the following protocol exchange.

  • Module post-boot initialization flow

    

  • Module–MCU communication protocol

    • Heartbeat reply

      5A A5 20 00 00 01 00 20

    • Product info reply (payload varies by product)

      5A A5 20 01 00 2E 7B 22 70 69 64 22 3A 22 50 4B 68 79 51 34 62 49 22 2C 22 76 65 72 22 3A 22 31 2E 30 2E 30 22 2C 22 66 6C 61 67 22 3A 22 5A 4D 58 58 22 7D F8

      Product info fields:

      Product KEY: PKhyQ4bI

      MCU version: 1.0.0

      Product flag: ZMXX

    • Module work mode reply

      5A A5 20 02 00 00 21

    • Module status query

      5A A5 20 03 00 00 22

• After entering device provisioning mode, the module enables an AP hotspot and BLE advertising concurrently. Format:

  axy_ProductFlag-ProductID_p1_MAC

II. Module & development board materials

• ​ For details, see: Ai-Thinker Realtek BW series module portal