55 lines
2.1 KiB
Plaintext
55 lines
2.1 KiB
Plaintext
|
$Id: README,v 1.1 2006/04/02 05:52:17 gdamore Exp $
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Atheros Hardware Access Layer (HAL)
|
||
|
|
===================================
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
* Copyright (c) 2002-2006 Sam Leffler.
|
||
|
|
* Copyright (c) 2002-2006 Atheros Communications, Inc.
|
||
|
|
* All rights reserved.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Read the file COPYRIGHT for the complete copyright.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
This code manages much of the chip-specific operation of the Atheros
|
||
|
|
driver. The HAL is provided in a binary-only form in order to
|
||
|
|
comply with local regulatory agency rules. In the United States
|
||
|
|
the FCC requires that a radio transmitter only be operated at power
|
||
|
|
levels and on frequency channels for which it is approved. The FCC
|
||
|
|
requires that a software-defined radio cannot be configured by a
|
||
|
|
user to operate outside the approved power levels and frequency
|
||
|
|
channels. This makes it difficult to open-source code that enforces
|
||
|
|
limits on the power levels, frequency channels and other parameters
|
||
|
|
of the radio transmitter. See
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
http://ftp.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Engineering_Technology/Orders/2001/fcc01264.pdf
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
for the specific FCC regulation. Because the module is provided
|
||
|
|
in a binary-only form it is marked "Proprietary" on Linux; this
|
||
|
|
means when you load it you will see messages that your system is
|
||
|
|
now "tainted".
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
If you wish to use this driver on a platform for which an ath_hal
|
||
|
|
module is not already provided please contact the author. Note that
|
||
|
|
this is only necessary for new _architectures_; the HAL is not tied to
|
||
|
|
any specific version of your operating system.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Atheros Hardware
|
||
|
|
================
|
||
|
|
There are many generations of Atheros 802.11 wireless devices that
|
||
|
|
are typically referred to by their programming model:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
5210 supports 11a only
|
||
|
|
5211 supports both 11a and 11b
|
||
|
|
5212 supports 11a, 11b, and 11g
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
These parts have been incorporated in a variety of retail products
|
||
|
|
including cardbus cards and mini-pci cards. In addition many laptop
|
||
|
|
vendors use Atheros mini-pci cards for their builtin wireless
|
||
|
|
support.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
The Atheors PCI vendor id is 0x168c. The file ah_devid.h lists most
|
||
|
|
known PCI device id's but is not exhaustive. Some vendors program
|
||
|
|
their own vendor and/or device id's to aid in BIOS-locking mini-pci
|
||
|
|
cards in laptops.
|