NOTE: this page is for archival only, see the note at the end of the page.

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

This is a static dump of the wiki, taken after locking it in January 2015. The new wiki is at https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/.
versions of this page: last, v2, v1