2003-10-13 08:38:20 +04:00
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$NetBSD$
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2003-10-07 10:04:00 +04:00
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$Id: README,v 1.2 2003/07/02 01:55:27 sam Exp $
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WARNING: THIS IS A BETA DISTRIBUTION. THIS SOFTWARE HAS KNOWN PROBLEMS AND
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WARNING: LIMITATIONS THAT WILL BE CORRECTED BEFORE A PRODUCTION RELEASE.
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WARNING: USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!
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Atheros Hardware Access Layer (HAL)
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===================================
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* Copyright (c) 2002, 2003 Sam Leffler.
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* Copyright (c) 2002, 2003 Atheros Communications, Inc.
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* All rights reserved.
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Read the file COPYRIGHT for the complete copyright.
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This code manages much of the chip-specific operation of the Atheros driver.
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The HAL is provided in a binary-only form in order to comply with FCC
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regulations. In particular, a radio transmitter can only be operated at
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power levels and on frequency channels for which it is approved. The FCC
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requires that a software-defined radio cannot be configured by a user
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to operate outside the approved power levels and frequency channels.
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This makes it difficult to open-source code that enforces limits on
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the power levels, frequency channels and other parameters of the radio
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transmitter. See
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http://ftp.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Engineering_Technology/Orders/2001/fcc01264.pdf
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for the specific FCC regulation. Because the module is provided in a
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binary-only form it is marked "Proprietary"; this means when you load
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it you will see messages that your system is now "tainted".
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If you wish to use this driver on a platform for which an ath_hal
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module is not already provided please contact the author. Note that
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this is only necessary for new _architectures_; the HAL is not tied to
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any specific version of your operating system.
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Atheros Hardware
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================
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There are currently 3 generations of Atheros 802.11 wireless devices:
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5210 supports 11a only
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5211 supports both 11a and 11b
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5212 supports 11a, 11b, and 11g
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These parts have been incorporated in a variety of retail products
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including cardbus cards from DLink, Linksys, Netgear, and Proxim; and
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mini-pci cards from some of these same vendors. In addition many
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laptop vendors use Atheros mini-pci cards for their builtin wireless
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support. An (incomplete) list of products that use Atheros parts is:
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Netgear WAG511 D-Link DWL-AG520 Linksys WPC55AG
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Netgear WAB501 D-Link DWL-AG650 Linksys WMP55AG
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D-Link DWL-AB650 Linksys WPC51AB
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In general, if a device is identified as ``11a only'' it is almost
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certain to contain an Atheros 5210 part in it. All retail a+b
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products use the 5211. The latest generation of universal a+b+g
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combo products use the 5212. When in doubt check the PCI vendor
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id with a tool like lspci, the Atheros vendor id is 0x168c; e.g.
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00:13.0 Ethernet controller: Unknown device 168c:0012 (rev 01)
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