en:developers:summits:berlin-2009:notes

Notes

Notes

full-mac support

Need more capability info for card's supported features
add request IEs to cfg80211_connected() & to nl80211 event
add wpa version, cipher suites etc. from IW_AUTH to CONNECT cmd
add cfg80211_register_netdev(netdev)
add cfg80211_register_iwpriv(netdev, handlers) to support vendor drivers moving to cfg80211, MUST be done BEFORE cfg80211_register_netdev

test mode

   {
        .cmd = NL80211_CMD_TESTMODE,
        .dumpit = NULL,
        .doit = NULL,
        .policy = NULL,
        .flags = GENL_ADMIN_PERM,
   }

testmode.dumpit = driver_ops.testmode_dumpit etc.
no API rules
compiled out by default, hard to enable, depends on CONFIG_DEBUG?
small example tool in userspace?
new multicast ID, nl80211_test_event(skb), maybe overwrite the CMD

antenna settings

new antenna settings API needed

rate control (and userspace API)

for debug: set of bitrates, legacy & ht (this is generic)
* optionally with _MAC attribute for per-station setting (e.g. for fixed links in a mesh)
* also export this information back in station info in nl80211
noop bitrate algorithm for TI 1271 chip
need generic HT rate algorithm
need simpler rate control algorithm due to CPU usage (PID?)
want API for switching algorithm, export list of names, select by name
stick with debugfs for more advanced per algo control/debug
we want to have multicast bitrate control (e.g. by looking through station list)
have allowed-multicast-rates bitmap
add ht bitrate reporting to GIWRATE, just export the speed

wext deprecation

* publish community statement that we no longer want wext

action frame processing

* receive action frame multicast group per interface
* use _FRAME attribute for the frames
* send action frame, TA verified in cfg80211
* commitment for handling action frames when mcast group is used
* restrict group to one process (is that even possible?)
* require extra commitment command, but commitment goes away once process dies, closes socket, unbinds mcast group
* frame should be buffered during scan
* (maybe later: location frame, add channel attribute in send cmd?)
* good capability handling for all of this
* filter (-EINVAL) when wrong frame is transmitted (e.g. != public-action before association, != action while associated…)

channel stats/noise reporting

* channel statistics (currently channel use, maybe noise floor later)
* add flag to request this while starting a scan
* remove iwconfig noise report

ROAMING (moving within ESS)

* good bg scan algorithm
* export roaming capabilities of driver/device combination (mac80211==none, iwm==full)
* link quality event?
* * signal change
* * packet loss
* * rate going down
* * beacon loss this needs configurable thresholds from userspace

Table of Contents

Notes

full-mac support

test mode

antenna settings

rate control (and userspace API)

wext deprecation

action frame processing

channel stats/noise reporting

ROAMING (moving within ESS)