1.\"- 2.\" Copyright (c) 2002-2004 Sam Leffler, Errno Consulting 3.\" All rights reserved. 4.\"" 5.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without 6.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions 7.\" are met: 8.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright 9.\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer, 10.\" without modification. 11.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce at minimum a disclaimer 12.\" similar to the "NO WARRANTY" disclaimer below ("Disclaimer") and any 13.\" redistribution must be conditioned upon including a substantially 14.\" similar Disclaimer requirement for further binary redistribution. 15.\" 3. Neither the names of the above-listed copyright holders nor the names 16.\" of any contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived 17.\" from this software without specific prior written permission. 18.\" 19.\" NO WARRANTY 20.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS 21.\" ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT 22.\" LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF NONINFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTIBILITY 23.\" AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL 24.\" THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, 25.\" OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF 26.\" SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS 27.\" INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER 28.\" IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) 29.\" ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF 30.\" THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. 31.\" 32.\" $FreeBSD$ 33.\"/ 34.Dd December 29, 2004 35.Dt ATH 4 36.Os 37.Sh NAME 38.Nm ath 39.Nd "Atheros IEEE 802.11 wireless network driver" 40.Sh SYNOPSIS 41.Cd "device ath" 42.Cd "device ath_hal" 43.Cd "device ath_rate_onoe" 44.Cd "device wlan" 45.Sh DESCRIPTION 46The 47.Nm 48driver provides support for wireless network adapters based on 49the Atheros AR5210, AR5211, and AR5212 chips. 50Chip-specific support is provided by the Atheros Hardware Access Layer 51(HAL), that is packaged separately. 52.Pp 53Supported features include 802.11 and 802.3 frames, power management, BSS, 54IBSS, and host-based access point operation modes. 55All host/device interaction is via DMA. 56.Pp 57The 58.Nm 59driver encapsulates all IP and ARP traffic as 802.11 frames, however 60it can receive either 802.11 or 802.3 frames. 61Transmit speed and operating mode is selectable 62and depends on the specific chipset. 63AR5210-based devices support 802.11a operation with transmit speeds 64of 6 Mbps, 9 Mbps, 12 Mbps, 18 Mbps, 24 Mbps, 36 Mbps, 48 Mbps, and 54 Mbps. 65AR5211-based devices support 802.11a and 802.11b operation with transmit 66speeds as above for 802.11a operation and 671Mbps, 2Mbps, 5.5 Mbps and 11Mbps for 802.11b operation. 68AR5212-based devices support 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g operation 69with transmit speeds appropriate to each. 70All chips also support an Atheros Turbo Mode (TM) that operates in 71the 5Ghz frequency range with 2x the transmit speeds. 72Some chips also support Turbo mode in the 2.4Ghz range with 802.11g. 73(These modes are, however, only interoperable with other Atheros-based devices.) 74The actual transmit speed used is dependent on signal quality and the 75.Dq "rate control" 76algorithm employed by the driver. 77All chips support WEP encryption. 78The AR5212 has hardware support for the AES-CCM, TKIP, and Michael cryptographic 79operations required for WPA. 80To enable encryption, use 81.Xr ifconfig 8 82as shown below. 83.Pp 84By default, the 85.Nm 86driver configures the card for BSS operation (aka infrastructure 87mode). 88This mode requires the use of an access point (base station). 89.Pp 90The 91.Nm 92driver also supports the standard IBSS point-to-point mode 93where stations can communicate amongst themselves without the 94aid of an access point. 95.Pp 96The driver may also be configured to operate in hostap mode. 97In this mode a host may function as an access point (base station). 98Access points are different than operating in IBSS mode. 99They operate in BSS mode. 100They allow for easier roaming and bridge all Ethernet traffic such 101that machines connected via an access point appear to be on the local 102Ethernet segment. 103.Pp 104For more information on configuring this device, see 105.Xr ifconfig 8 . 106.Pp 107Devices supported by the 108.Nm 109driver come in either Cardbus or mini-PCI packages. 110Wireless cards in Cardbus slots may be inserted and ejected on the fly. 111.Sh HARDWARE 112The following cards are among those supported by the 113.Nm 114driver: 115.Pp 116.Bl -column -compact "Samsung SWL-5200N" "AR5212" "Cardbus" "a/b/g" 117.It Em "Card Chip Bus Standard" 118.It "Aztech WL830PC AR5212 CardBus b/g" 119.It "Cisco AIR-CB21AG AR5115 Cardbus a/b/g" 120.It "Cisco AIR-PI21AG AR5115 PCI a/b/g" 121.It "D-Link DWL-A650 AR5210 CardBus a" 122.It "D-Link DWL-AB650 AR5211 CardBus a/b" 123.It "D-Link DWL-A520 AR5210 PCI a" 124.It "D-Link DWL-AG520 AR5212 PCI a/b/g" 125.It "D-Link DWL-AG650 AR5212 CardBus a/b/g" 126.It "D-Link DWL-G520B AR5212 PCI b/g" 127.It "D-Link DWL-G650B AR5212 CardBus b/g" 128.It "Elecom LD-WL54AG AR5212 Cardbus a/b/g" 129.It "Elecom LD-WL54 AR5211 Cardbus a" 130.It "Fujitsu E5454 AR5212 Cardbus a/b/g" 131.It "Fujitsu FMV-JW481 AR5212 Cardbus a/b/g" 132.It "Fujitsu E5454 AR5212 Cardbus a/b/g" 133.It "HP NC4000 AR5212 PCI a/b/g" 134.It "I/O Data WN-AB AR5212 CardBus a/b" 135.It "I/O Data WN-AG AR5212 CardBus a/b/g" 136.It "I/O Data WN-A54 AR5212 CardBus a" 137.It "Linksys WMP55AG AR5212 PCI a/b/g" 138.It "Linksys WPC51AB AR5211 CardBus a/b" 139.It "Linksys WPC55AG AR5212 CardBus a/b/g" 140.It "NEC PA-WL/54AG AR5212 CardBus a/b/g" 141.It "Netgear WAG311 AR5212 PCI a/b/g" 142.It "Netgear WAB501 AR5211 CardBus a/b" 143.It "Netgear WAG511 AR5212 CardBus a/b/g" 144.It "Netgear WG311T AR5212 PCI b/g" 145.It "Netgear WG511T AR5212 CardBus b/g" 146.It "Orinoco 8480 AR5212 CardBus a/b/g" 147.It "Orinoco 8470WD AR5212 CardBus a/b/g" 148.It "Proxim Skyline 4030 AR5210 CardBus a" 149.It "Proxim Skyline 4032 AR5210 PCI a" 150.It "Samsung SWL-5200N AR5212 CardBus a/b/g" 151.It "SMC SMC2536W-AG AR5212 CardBus a/b/g" 152.It "SMC SMC2735W AR5210 CardBus a" 153.It "Sony PCWA-C700 AR5212 Cardbus a/b" 154.It "Sony PCWA-C300S AR5212 Cardbus b/g" 155.It "Sony PCWA-C500 AR5210 Cardbus a" 156.It "3Com 3CRPAG175 AR5212 CardBus a/b/g" 157.El 158.Pp 159An up to date list can be found at 160.Pa http://customerproducts.atheros.com/customerproducts . 161.Sh EXAMPLES 162Join an existing BSS network (ie: connect to an access point): 163.Pp 164.Dl "ifconfig ath0 inet 192.168.0.20 netmask 0xffffff00" 165.Pp 166Join a specific BSS network with network name 167.Dq Li my_net : 168.Pp 169.Dl "ifconfig ath0 inet 192.168.0.20 netmask 0xffffff00 ssid my_net" 170.Pp 171Join a specific BSS network with WEP encryption: 172.Bd -literal -offset indent 173ifconfig ath0 inet 192.168.0.20 netmask 0xffffff00 ssid my_net \e 174 wepmode on wepkey 0x8736639624 175.Ed 176.Pp 177Join/create an 802.11b IBSS network with network name 178.Dq Li my_net : 179.Bd -literal -offset indent 180ifconfig ath0 inet 192.168.0.22 netmask 0xffffff00 ssid my_net \e 181 mode 11b mediaopt adhoc 182.Ed 183.Pp 184Create an 802.11g host-based access point: 185.Bd -literal -offset indent 186ifconfig ath0 inet 192.168.0.10 netmask 0xffffff00 ssid my_ap \e 187 mode 11g mediaopt hostap 188.Ed 189.Pp 190Create an 802.11a host-based access point with WEP enabled: 191.Bd -literal -offset indent 192ifconfig ath0 inet 192.168.0.10 netmask 0xffffff00 ssid my_ap \e 193 wepmode on wepkey 0x1234567890 mode 11a mediaopt hostap 194.Ed 195.Pp 196Create a host-based wireless bridge to fxp0: 197.Bd -literal -offset indent 198Add BRIDGE to the kernel config. 199ifconfig ath0 inet up ssid my_ap media DS/11Mbps mediaopt hostap 200sysctl net.link.ether.bridge.enable=1 201sysctl net.link.ether.bridge.config="ath0 fxp0" 202sysctl net.inet.ip.check_interface=0 203.Ed 204.Pp 205This will give you the same functionality as an access point. 206.Sh DIAGNOSTICS 207.Bl -diag 208.It "ath%d: unable to attach hardware; HAL status %u" 209The Atheros Hardware Access Layer was unable to configure the hardware 210as requested. 211The status code is explained in the HAL include file 212.Pa sys/contrib/dev/ath/ah.h . 213.It "ath%d: failed to allocate descriptors: %d" 214The driver was unable to allocate contiguous memory for the transmit 215and receive descriptors. 216This usually indicates system memory is scarce and/or fragmented. 217.It "ath%d: unable to setup a data xmit queue!" 218The request to the HAL to set up the transmit queue for normal 219data frames failed. 220This should not happen. 221.It "ath%d: unable to setup a beacon xmit queue!" 222The request to the HAL to set up the transmit queue for 802.11 beacon frames 223frames failed. 224This should not happen. 225.It "ath%d: 802.11 address: %s" 226The MAC address programmed in the EEPROM is displayed. 227.It "ath%d: hardware error; resetting" 228An unrecoverable error in the hardware occurred. 229Errors of this sort include unrecoverable DMA errors. 230The driver will reset the hardware and continue. 231.It "ath%d: rx FIFO overrun; resetting" 232The receive FIFO in the hardware overflowed before the data could be 233transferred to the host. 234This typically occurs because the hardware ran short of receive 235descriptors and had no place to transfer received data. 236The driver will reset the hardware and continue. 237.It "ath%d: unable to reset hardware; hal status %u" 238The Atheros Hardware Access Layer was unable to reset the hardware 239as requested. 240The status code is explained in the HAL include file 241.Pa sys/contrib/dev/ath/ah.h . 242This should not happen. 243.It "ath%d: unable to start recv logic" 244The driver was unable to restart frame reception. 245This should not happen. 246.It "ath%d: device timeout" 247A frame dispatched to the hardware for transmission did not complete in time. 248The driver will reset the hardware and continue. 249This should not happen. 250.It "ath%d: bogus xmit rate 0x%x" 251An invalid transmit rate was specified for an outgoing frame. 252The frame is discarded. 253This should not happen. 254.It "ath%d: ath_chan_set: unable to reset channel %u (%u Mhz)" 255The Atheros Hardware Access Layer was unable to reset the hardware 256when switching channels during scanning. 257This should not happen. 258.It "ath%d: unable to allocate channel table" 259The driver was unable to allocate memory for the table used to hold 260the set of available channels. 261.It "ath%d: unable to collect channel list from hal" 262A problem occurred while querying the HAL to find the set of available 263channels for the device. 264This should not happen. 265.It "ath%d: failed to enable memory mapping" 266The driver was unable to enable memory-mapped I/O to the PCI device registers. 267This should not happen. 268.It "ath%d: failed to enable bus mastering" 269The driver was unable to enable the device as a PCI bus master for doing DMA. 270This should not happen. 271.It "ath%d: cannot map register space" 272The driver was unable to map the device registers into the host address space. 273This should not happen. 274.It "ath%d: could not map interrupt" 275The driver was unable to allocate an IRQ for the device interrupt. 276This should not happen. 277.It "ath%d: could not establish interrupt" 278The driver was unable to install the device interrupt handler. 279This should not happen. 280.El 281.Sh SEE ALSO 282.Xr an 4 , 283.Xr arp 4 , 284.Xr ath_hal 4 , 285.Xr card 4 , 286.Xr netintro 4 , 287.Xr pcic 4 , 288.Xr wi 4 , 289.Xr wlan 4 , 290.Xr ifconfig 8 , 291.Xr wicontrol 8 292.Sh HISTORY 293The 294.Nm 295device driver first appeared in 296.Fx 5.2 . 297.Sh CAVEATS 298Different regulatory domains have different default channels for adhoc 299mode. 300See 301.Xr ifconfig 8 302for information on how to change the channel. 303See 304.Xr wicontrol 8 305for information on different regulatory domains. 306Different regulatory domains may not be able to communicate with each 307other with 802.11a as different regulatory domains do not necessarily 308have overlapping channels. 309.Pp 310Revision A1 of the D-LINK DWL-G520 and DWL-G650 are based on an 311Intersil PrismGT chip and are not supported by this driver. 312.Sh BUGS 313Performance in lossy environments is suboptimal. 314The algorithm used to select the rate for transmitted packets is 315very simplistic. 316There is no software retransmit; only hardware retransmit is used. 317Contributors are encouraged to replace the existing rate control algorithm 318with a better one (hint: all the information needed is available to the driver). 319.Pp 320The driver does not fully enable power-save operation of the chip; 321consequently power use is suboptimal. 322.Pp 323The driver honors the regulatory domain programmed into the EEPROM of a 324device and does not support overriding this setting. 325This is done to insure compliance with local regulatory agencies when 326operating as an access point. 327Unfortunately this also means that devices purchased for use in one locale 328may not be usable in another. 329Changes are planned to remove this restriction when operating in station mode. 330