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diff --git a/sys/contrib/dev/ath/README b/sys/contrib/dev/ath/README new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5d3b7f5 --- /dev/null +++ b/sys/contrib/dev/ath/README @@ -0,0 +1,73 @@ +$Id: //depot/sw/branches/sam_hal/README#2 $ + + +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. + +Atheros SoC Hardware +==================== +In addition to the cardbus/pci devices Atheros makes System on Chip +(SoC) parts that integrate a MIPS cpu core and one or more MAC and +radio parts. Binary support for these parts is necessarily built +for the embedded MIPS processor where the code is to be run. + +Caveats +======= +The binary hal builds provided here include no floating point and +are operating system-independent. However due to toolchain +peculiarities the .o files may be wrongly rejected by development +tools. If that happens it may be possible to patch the file header +so that the native toolchain will accept the files. In particular +this has been observed for various Linux MIPS installations for the +SoC parts. If you have issues consult the associated .inc file in +the public directory; it explains exactly how the binary file was +created (e.g. toolchain and compilation options). |