1 files changed, 88 insertions, 42 deletions
diff --git a/share/man/man4/wlan.4 b/share/man/man4/wlan.4
index d636395..6bfad82 100644
--- a/share/man/man4/wlan.4
+++ b/share/man/man4/wlan.4
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 .\"
 .\" $FreeBSD$
 .\"
-.Dd September 6, 2007
+.Dd April 12, 2008
 .Dt WLAN 4
 .Os
 .Sh NAME
@@ -41,50 +41,96 @@ Where a device does not directly support 802.11 functionality
 this layer fills in.
 The
 .Nm
-is required for the
-.Xr an 4 ,
-.Xr ath 4 ,
-.Xr ipw 4 ,
-.Xr iwi 4 ,
-.Xr ral 4 ,
-.Xr rum 4 ,
-.Xr ural 4 ,
-.Xr wi 4 ,
-.Xr wpi 4 ,
-and
-.Xr zyd 4
-drivers, with other drivers to follow.
+module is required by all native 802.11 drivers as well as the
+.Xr ndis 4
+support.
 .Pp
-The
 .Nm
-module supports multi-mode devices capable of
+supports multi-mode devices capable of
 operating in both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands and supports numerous
-802.11 protocols: 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g.
+802.11 standards: 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n.
 The WPA, 802.11i, and 802.1x security protocols are supported
 through a combination of in-kernel code and user-mode applications.
-The WME and WMM multi-media protocols are supported entirely within
+The WME/WMM multi-media protocols are supported entirely within
 the
 .Nm
 module but require a suitably capable hardware device.
+Likewise the 802.11h specification is supported only by suitably
+capable devices.
 .Pp
-The
+Drivers provide 802.11 functionality through
+.Nm
+interfaces that are created at runtime using interface cloning.
+This is done with the
+.Xr ifconfig 8
+.Cm create
+command or using the
+.Va vaps_IFX
+variable in
+.Xr rc.conf 5 .
+Some drivers support the creation of multiple
+.Nm
+interfaces that share the same underlying device;
+this is the way by which ``multi-bss support'' is provided but it
+can also be used to create WDS links and other interesting applications.
+.Pp
+There are several types of
 .Nm
-module defines several mechanisms by which plugin modules may
-be used to extend functionality.
+interfaces that may be created:
+.Bl -tag -width monitor
+.It Cm sta
+A client station in an infrastructure bss
+(i.e. one that associates to an access point).
+.It Cm hostap
+An access point in an infrastructure bss.
+.It Cm adhoc
+A station in an IBSS network.
+.It Cm ahdemo
+A station operating in ``adhoc demo mode''.
+This is essentially an IBSS station that does not use management
+frames (e.g. no beacons are transmitted).
+An
+.Cm ahdemo
+interface is especially useful for applications that want to transmit
+and receive raw 802.11 packets.
+.It Cm monitor
+An interface used exclusively for capturing 802.11 frames.
+In particular this specified to have read-only properties
+which enables it to be operated on frequencies where one
+would otherwise not be allowed.
+.It Cm wds
+A station that passes 4-address 802.11 traffic for the purpose
+of tunneling traffic over a wireless link.
+Typically this station would share the same MAC address as a
+.Cm hostap
+interface.
+It may be possible to create
+.Cm wds
+interfaces without a companion
+.Cm hostap
+interface but that is not guaranteed; one may need to create a
+.Cm hostap
+interface that does not send beacon frames before
+.Cm wds
+interfaces may be created.
+.El
+.Pp
+More types are planned to support
+802.11s mesh nodes (station and ap).
+Note that an interface's type cannot be changed once it is created.
+.Pp
+.Nm
+defines several mechanisms by which plugin modules may
+be used to extend its' functionality.
 Cryptographic support such as WEP, TKIP, and AES-CCMP are implemented
-as modules that are loaded on demand (if not statically configured
-into a system).
+as standalone modules (if not statically configured into a system)
+that register with
+.Nm .
 Similarly there is an authenticator framework for defining 802.11
 authentication services and a framework for integrating access
 control mechanisms specific to the 802.11 protocol.
 .Sh DEBUGGING
-If the associated interface is marked for debugging with, for example,
-.Pp
-.Dl "ifconfig wi0 debug"
-.Pp
-then messages describing the operation of the 802.11 protocol will
-be sent to the console.
-Complete debugging controls are available using:
+Debugging controls are available using:
 .Pp
 .Dl "sysctl net.wlan.X.debug=mask"
 .Pp
@@ -101,19 +147,15 @@ For example,
 enables debugging messages related to scanning for an access point,
 adhoc neighbor, or an unoccupied channel when operation as an access point.
 The
-.Xr 80211debug
+.Xr wlandebug 8
 tool provides a more user-friendly mechanism for doing the same thing.
+Note that
 .Pp
-Many drivers will also display the contents of each 802.11 frame
-sent and received when the interface is marked with
-both debugging and
-.Cm link2 ;
-e.g.,
+.Dl "sysctl net.wlan.debug=mask"
 .Pp
-.Dl "ifconfig wi0 debug link2"
-.Pp
-Beware however that some management frames may be processed entirely within
-the device and not be received by the host.
+defines the initial value of the debugging flags for each cloned
+.Nm
+interface; this is useful to enable debug messages during interface creation.
 .Sh COMPATIBILITY
 The module name of
 .Nm
@@ -122,8 +164,11 @@ was used to be compatible with
 .Sh SEE ALSO
 .Xr an 4 ,
 .Xr ath 4 ,
+.Xr bwi 4 ,
 .Xr ipw 4 ,
 .Xr iwi 4 ,
+.Xr iwn 4 ,
+.Xr mwl 4 ,
 .Xr netintro 4 ,
 .Xr ral 4 ,
 .Xr rum 4 ,
@@ -137,7 +182,7 @@ was used to be compatible with
 .Xr wpi 4 ,
 .Xr zyd 4
 .Sh STANDARDS
-More information can be found in the IEEE 802.11 Standard.
+More information can be found in the IEEE 802.11 Standards.
 .Sh HISTORY
 The
 .Nm
@@ -152,7 +197,8 @@ software from which this work began.
 brought the code into
 .Fx
 and then rewrote it to support multi-mode devices,
-802.11g, WPA/802.11i, WME, and add the extensible frameworks
+802.11g, 802.11n, WPA/802.11i, WME, multi-bss, and
+add the extensible frameworks
 for cryptographic, authentication, and access control plugins.
 This manual page was written by
 .An Tom Rhodes Aq trhodes@FreeBSD.org .