wvlan_cs(4)

NAME

wvlan_cs - Lucent WaveLAN/IEEE 802.11 device driver

SYNOPSIS

insmod  wvlan_cs.o [irq_list=i,j,...]  [port_type=n] [sta
tion_name=s] [network_name=s]  [channel=n]  [ap_density=n]
[medium_reservation=n]      [frag_threshold=n]     [trans
mit_rate=n] [eth=n] [mtu=n]

DESCRIPTION

wvlan_cs is the low-level Card Services driver for the Lucent WaveLAN/IEEE 802.11 and compatible (the NCR Wave
LAN/IEEE 802.11, the Cabletron RoamAbout 802.11 DS, the
Melco WLI-PCM-L11) wireless ethernet adapters. When this
driver is attached to a card, it allocates the next avail
able device (eth0..eth#). This device name will be passed
on to cardmgr(8) for the card configuration, and reported in the kernel log.

PARAMETERS

irq_list=i,j,...: Specifies the set of interrupts that may be allo
cated by this driver.
port_type=n: Select WaveLAN port type: [1] BSS - Basic Service
Set (default), [2] WDS - Wireless Distribution Sys
tem, [3] Pseudo-IBSS - ad-hoc network (no Access
Point, PtP).
station_name=s: Sets the station name. The default is card-config
ured.
network_name=s: Sets the independent network name in ad-hoc mode.
Sets the desired network (desired ESSID) to connect
to if using an access point. The default is cardconfigured.
channel=n: Channel (frequency) for ad-hoc networks and is use
less if using an access point. Valid range: [0-14]
(depends on local restrictions) and defaults to [3]
ap_density=n: Sets the access point density (sensitivity). This
affects modem and roaming thresholds. [1] low den
sity (default), [2] medium density, [3] high den
sity.
medium_reservation=n: Sets the medium reservation (RTS/CTS frame length),
which affects the number of octets in a message or
fragment above which a RTS/CTS handshake is per
formed. [500] hidden stations, [2347] no RTS/CTS (default). Valid range: [0-2347]
frag_threshold=n: Defines the number of bytes used for the fragmenta
tion boundary for directed messages (Fragmentation
length unicast message transmission). [2346] is
the default, valid range: [256-2346] (even numbers only!).
transmit_rate=n: Transmit rate control. [1] fixed low, [2] fixed
high, [3] auto select high (default), [4] fixed
medium, [5] fixed high, [6] auto select standard,
[7] auto select medium.
eth=n Network device naming. By default [1] devices are: named eth#, set this to [0] to have devices named
wvlan#.
mtu=n Maximum transfer unit. [1500] is the default,: valid range: [256-2296]

WIRELESS EXTENSIONS

Use iwconfig(8) to manipulate wireless extensions. You need a kernel which was compiled with CONFIG_NET_RADIO
set. It is recommended that you run at least Linux kernel
2.2.11 and use wireless_tools 19. Older version do not
support all of the current commands.
ESSID (network ID): Set the network ID of the desired network to connect to
(with access point) or the name of your private ad-hoc
network (no access point).
Mode: Set the operating mode to Ad-Hoc or Managed. In managed mode, the card will try to connect to an Access Point, to
get access to the infrastructure. In Ad-Hoc mode, the card
doesn't require an Access Point and can communicate
directly with its peers.
Frequency & channels: Channel (frequency) for ad-hoc networks. The frequency is
changed immediately and is only changeable in ad-hoc net
work mode. You may enter a frequency value in the 2.4 GHz
band or the channel number.
Valid values: 2.412, 2.417, 2.422, 2.427, 2.432, 2.437, 2.442, 2.447, 2.452, 2.457, 2.462, 2.467, 2.472 or 2.484 GHz (depends on local restrictions) and defaults to 2.422
GHz
Sens: Set the Access Point density (sensitivity). This affects
modem and roaming thresholds. [1] low density (default),
[2] medium density, [3] high density.
Rts: Sets the medium reservation threshold (RTS/CTS frame
length), which affects the number of octets in a message
or fragment above which a RTS/CTS handshake is performed.
Use [500] when there are hidden stations or large number
of nodes and [2347] for no RTS/CTS (default). Valid range:
[0-2347]
Frag: Defines the number of bytes used for the fragmentation
boundary for directed messages (Fragmentation length uni
cast message transmission). To be used when you have
interference on the radio, because it significantly
decreases the performance.
[2346] is the default, valid range: [256-2346].
Rate: Set the rate used for transmission (but not reception).
You may want to set it to a fixed value for high number of
nodes.
The default is auto, or you may use 1, 2, 5.5 or 11 Mb/s (of course, 2 Mb/s cards cannot get the higher speeds).
Enc: Set the encryption key [0 to FFFF-FFFF-FF]. Use [off] and [on] to disable and reenable the hardware encryption. This
feature works only for device with encryption option (Sil
ver or Gold).
The card has 4 different keys that you may select, and you
can choose the default key for transmission (see iwcon
fig(8)).
Nick (station name): Set the station name (only used for debugging purpose).
Statistics spy: Set a list of MAC addresses in the driver (up to 8) and
get the last quality of link for each of those (see
iwspy(8)).
/proc/net/wireless: status is the status reported by the modem. Level and Noise refer to the signal level and noise level in dBm.

PRIVATE IOCTL

You may use iwpriv(8) to manipulate private ioctls.
Histogram: This functionality allow to set a number of signal level
intervals and to count the number of packets received in
each of those defined intervals. This distribution might
be used to calculate the mean value and standard deviation
of the signal level.

SPECIFIC NOTES

Some of the mentioned features are optional. You may
enable to disable them by changing flags in the driver
header and recompile.

It's currently not possible to use the WaveLAN/IEEE as a
bridge (MAC level). This is not a restriction of the
driver, the NIC firmware doesn't allow to send out packets
with another source MAC address than its own (which is
mandatory required for bridgeing to work).

Also the WaveLAN/IEEE can be used to connect to an Access
Point, but cannot be an Access Point itself (because lack
of bridgeing).

AUTHOR

Andreas Neuhaus <andy@fasta.fh-dortmund.de>
http://www.fasta.fh-dortmund.de/users/andy/wvlan

THANKS

I would like to thank Lucent Technology for making the
necessary information available to public. Thanks to Nico
Valster and Jan Martejin at Lucent for technical support.
Thanks to Frank Bruegmann, who managed to get additional
hardware for me so that I can now do tests in different
environments. And thanks to Jean Tourrilhes for many
patches and wireless kernel extensions. Also many thanks
to everybody who tested and helped me developing this
driver :-)

docs.sk

comprehensive documentation repository

See also