2009-04-07 05:26:53 +04:00
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$Id: //depot/sw/branches/sam_hal/README#3 $
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2007-10-04 17:07:51 +04:00
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Atheros Hardware Access Layer (HAL)
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===================================
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2009-04-07 05:26:53 +04:00
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* Copyright (c) 2002-2008 Sam Leffler.
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* Copyright (c) 2002-2008 Atheros Communications, Inc.
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2007-10-04 17:07:51 +04:00
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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
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driver. The HAL is provided in a binary-only form in order to
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comply with local regulatory agency rules. In the United States
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the FCC requires that a radio transmitter only be operated at power
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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
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user to operate outside the approved power levels and frequency
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channels. This makes it difficult to open-source code that enforces
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limits on the power levels, frequency channels and other parameters
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of the radio 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
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in a binary-only form it is marked "Proprietary" on Linux; this
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means when you load it you will see messages that your system is
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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 many generations of Atheros 802.11 wireless devices that
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are typically referred to by their programming model:
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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 and mini-pci cards. In addition many laptop
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vendors use Atheros mini-pci cards for their builtin wireless
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support.
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The Atheors PCI vendor id is 0x168c. The file ah_devid.h lists most
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known PCI device id's but is not exhaustive. Some vendors program
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their own vendor and/or device id's to aid in BIOS-locking mini-pci
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cards in laptops.
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Atheros SoC Hardware
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====================
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In addition to the cardbus/pci devices Atheros makes System on Chip
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(SoC) parts that integrate a MIPS cpu core and one or more MAC and
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radio parts. Binary support for these parts is necessarily built
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for the embedded MIPS processor where the code is to be run.
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Caveats
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=======
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The binary hal builds provided here include no floating point and
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are operating system-independent. However due to toolchain
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peculiarities the .o files may be wrongly rejected by development
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tools. If that happens it may be possible to patch the file header
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so that the native toolchain will accept the files. In particular
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this has been observed for various Linux MIPS installations for the
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SoC parts. If you have issues consult the associated .inc file in
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the public directory; it explains exactly how the binary file was
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created (e.g. toolchain and compilation options).
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