Ai-M61 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

The Ai-M61 series module (hereinafter “the module”) is a Wi-Fi 6 & Bluetooth dual-mode module developed by Shenzhen Ai-Thinker Technology Co., Ltd., based on the BL618 processor. It supports Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n/ax and BLE 5.3. BL618 integrates a low-power 32-bit RISC-V CPU up to 320 MHz, with rich peripherals including DVP, MJPEG, Display, Audio Codec, USB 2.0, SDU, Ethernet (EMAC), SD/MMC (SDH), SPI, UART, I2C, I2S, PWM, GPDAC, GPADC, ACOMP, and GPIO. It is widely applicable to A/V multimedia, IoT, mobile devices, wearables, and smart home.

Features

• Supports IEEE 802.11 b/g/n/ax
• Supports BLE 5.3
• Supports Thread
• Supports Wi-Fi/BLE/Thread coexistence
• Wi-Fi security: WPS/WEP/WPA/WPA2/WPA3
• Supports 20/40 MHz bandwidth, 1T1R, up to 229.4 Mbps
• Supports STA, SoftAP, STA+SoftAP, and sniffer modes
• 32-bit RISC-V CPU with FPU and DSP, up to 320 MHz
• 532 KB SRAM, 128 KB ROM, 4 Kb eFuse
• Integrated RF Balun, PA/LNA
• Supports secure boot and secure debug
• Supports XIP QSPI On-The-Fly AES decryption (OTFAD)
• Supports TrustZone
• Supports AES-CBC/CCM/GCM/XTS
• Supports MD5, SHA-1/224/256/384/512
• Supports TRNG (true random number generator)
• Supports PKA (public-key accelerator) for RSA/ECC
• Supports Wi-Fi fast connect for BLE
• Universal AT commands for quick start
• Supports secondary development with Windows and Linux environments

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 IO18, 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. Selection, module & development board materials

• ​ For details, see: Ai-Thinker Ai-M61 series module portal