Return-path: Received: from mail-we0-f174.google.com ([74.125.82.174]:45888 "EHLO mail-we0-f174.google.com" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1752210Ab2DCP4l (ORCPT ); Tue, 3 Apr 2012 11:56:41 -0400 Received: by wejx9 with SMTP id x9so2453943wej.19 for ; Tue, 03 Apr 2012 08:56:40 -0700 (PDT) MIME-Version: 1.0 In-Reply-To: References: Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2012 10:56:40 -0500 Message-ID: (sfid-20120403_175644_745987_42FF235B) Subject: Re: Dual-band support for AP mode for AR9280? From: Harshal Chhaya To: Adrian Chadd Cc: linux-wireless Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Sender: linux-wireless-owner@vger.kernel.org List-ID: Adrian, In addition to the questions below, one more big one. The host processor in my design doesn't have a PCIe interface and I will have to use AR7010 (USB to PCIe bridge) chip to interface to the AR9280. Can I still use 'ath9k' or do I have to use 'ath9k_htc'? How stable is the dual-band support for AP mode for AR7010+AR9280 in ath9k_htc? Also, is 'ath9k_devel' a better list for these questions? Thanks, - Harshal On Tue, Apr 3, 2012 at 8:54 AM, Harshal Chhaya wrote: > Adrian, > > Thanks for your response. > > On Fri, Mar 30, 2012 at 9:01 PM, Adrian Chadd wrote: >> On 30 March 2012 14:04, Harshal Chhaya wrote: >>> Hello, >>> >>> The 'ath9k' project page >>> (http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/ath9k) mentions that '2x2 >>> DB 11n' operation is supported for AR9280. A later section says that >>> 'AP mode' is supported. >> >> These are both true. > > Good - thanks for the confirmation. > > Does ath9k already support DFS? > >>> Does the AP mode support full 11n features in a dual-band >>> configuration? Is there a hard limit to the number of clients when the >>> AR9280 is used as an AP? I am currently using an AR9170 (using >>> carl9170 - thanks, Christian) as an AP and found that I had to switch >>> to software encryption to scale beyond 32 clients because of the >>> number of key slots on the chip. >> >> Yes. It's a dual band chip, but you only get to choose one band at a time. > > That's good to know - concurrent dual-band operation isn't a very > important feature for me so this isn't a big problem. > > >> Yes, there are limited keycache slot chips. I don't remember if the >> hardware limit is 32 or 64 clients. > > Do you know if I can disable hw encryption and do only s/w encryption > with ath9k? I realize that there may be a performance impact but I am > willing to sacrifice some performance if I can support more clients. > > >>> And are the numbers in the 'power consumption' analysis >>> (http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/ath9k/power-consumption) >>> for STA mode or AP mode? The 'PS On' configuration implies that this >>> is for an STA mode but I wanted to confirm. >> >> You should always do your own power consumption tests. It differs >> based on operating mode, environment, TX rate selection/power, what >> kind of amplifiers and other circuitry are on the NIC, etc. > > Good point - we will certainly do the power measurements on our own > board but I was curious about the power numbers published on the > website. Since our design is power-constrained I wanted to check if > AR9280 is even an option before we start designing boards. > > Thanks for the help. > > Regards, > - Harshal > > >> Adrian