current status of 802.11s mesh in ath5k ?

current status of 802.11s mesh in ath5k ?

[Hans Maes]

Hello,

I've been reading conflicting articles on several linux wireless 
websites about this, so I'm asking the question here:

What is the status of 802.11s mesh support in ath5k in the 2.6.30 
kernel, in the current wireless-compat, and in the current 
wireless-testing ?
Does it work, or is it broken ?
Can/should it be used in a production environment ?


Also, what is the best place to track the status/progress on 802.11s 
mesh in ath5k ?

Thanks!

Regards,

Hans

Re: current status of 802.11s mesh in ath5k ?

[Andrey Yurovsky]

On Fri, Jun 19, 2009 at 2:32 AM, Hans Maes<Hans@bitnet.be> wrote:
> What is the status of 802.11s mesh support in ath5k in the 2.6.30 kernel, in
> the current wireless-compat, and in the current wireless-testing ?
> Does it work, or is it broken ?

You'll want wireless-testing (or the latest compat), after commit
41ba08509.  However ath5k will not beacon until you issue a scan due
to a bug.  You can bring up an ath5k node like this:

# iw phy phy0 interface add mesh type mp mesh_id mymesh
# ifconfig mesh up
# iwlist mesh scan

> Can/should it be used in a production environment ?

Things seem to work well aside from the scan issue, however I haven't
fully verified multi-hop yet.  802.11s is currently a draft and the
mac80211 implementation does not implement the full draft at this
time.

> Also, what is the best place to track the status/progress on 802.11s mesh in
> ath5k ?

We're keeping the mesh-specific drivers list up to date here:
http://o11s.org/trac
...however you may also be interested in the ath5k mailing list or the
open80211s mailing list.  Debugging effort and patches to resolve the
scan issue or any other ath5k issues are very much welcome!  Thanks,

  -Andrey

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Re: current status of 802.11s mesh in ath5k ?

[Bob Copeland]

On Fri, Jun 19, 2009 at 1:00 PM, Andrey Yurovsky<andrey@cozybit.com> wrote:
> You'll want wireless-testing (or the latest compat), after commit
> 41ba08509.  However ath5k will not beacon until you issue a scan due
> to a bug.

By the way, I imagine this is a side effect of calling ath5k_beacon_config
inside ath5k_reset().  If so, we probably want to call it at the
appropriate time when the interface is brought up.

I have been working on a patch to rework the beaconing, namely using
bss_conf->enable_beacon and calling beacon_config whenever the beacon
interval or beacon changes, that might fix it but I'm not too familiar
with mesh details to say.

-- 
Bob Copeland %% www.bobcopeland.com

Re: current status of 802.11s mesh in ath5k ?

[Andrey Yurovsky]

On Fri, Jun 19, 2009 at 10:19 AM, Bob Copeland<me@bobcopeland.com> wrote:
> On Fri, Jun 19, 2009 at 1:00 PM, Andrey Yurovsky<andrey@cozybit.com> wrote:
>> You'll want wireless-testing (or the latest compat), after commit
>> 41ba08509.  However ath5k will not beacon until you issue a scan due
>> to a bug.
>
> By the way, I imagine this is a side effect of calling ath5k_beacon_config
> inside ath5k_reset().  If so, we probably want to call it at the
> appropriate time when the interface is brought up.

That sounds like it's on the right track, also there's a similar issue
with rt2x00.

> I have been working on a patch to rework the beaconing, namely using
> bss_conf->enable_beacon and calling beacon_config whenever the beacon
> interval or beacon changes, that might fix it but I'm not too familiar
> with mesh details to say.

'looking forward to that patch.  From the driver side, there's not
much difference between mesh beaconing and AP or IBSS beaconing.  The
mesh-specific requirements are listed on the driver API page:
http://wireless.kernel.org/en/developers/Documentation/mac80211/API --
if there's something we missed there, I'll be happy to edit it.

  -Andrey

Re: current status of 802.11s mesh in ath5k ?

[Hans Maes]

Andrey Yurovsky wrote:
>
>  However ath5k will not beacon until you issue a scan due
> to a bug.  You can bring up an ath5k node like this:
>
> # iw phy phy0 interface add mesh type mp mesh_id mymesh
> # ifconfig mesh up
> # iwlist mesh scan
>
>   
So, once the first scan triggers the beaconing, everything should keep 
working ok ?
Or should I throw together a small script that triggers a scan once 
every 10minutes until this bug is fixed ?
(In my case the mesh nodes should stay online 24/7 without user interaction)
> Things seem to work well aside from the scan issue, however I haven't
> fully verified multi-hop yet.  
>   
I have a semi production setup with about 10 mesh nodes, in a building 
where multihop is required due to the extensive use of metal plating and 
therefore 'poor' wireless performance. In a typical scenario I need 
about 4 to 5 hops to reach the nodes at the other end of the building.

The nodes only have a single antenna connected, so I need to change some 
code to disable antenna switching, but I'm not a C expert/module 
developer at all so that might take a while to figure out...
I thought I managed to do it about 2 months ago but broke something 
since the nodes seemed to work perfectly after updating the wireless 
modules but they all went offline 3 to 5 days later and only came back 
online after reverting to the stable 2.6.29 wireless modules.

Anyway, when I get that issue worked out without breaking anything else 
I'll see how the multihop performs and report back in a few days.

Thanks!

Hans

Re: current status of 802.11s mesh in ath5k ?

[Nick Kossifidis]

2009/6/20 Hans Maes <Hans@bitnet.be>:
> Andrey Yurovsky wrote:
>>
>>  However ath5k will not beacon until you issue a scan due
>> to a bug.  You can bring up an ath5k node like this:
>>
>> # iw phy phy0 interface add mesh type mp mesh_id mymesh
>> # ifconfig mesh up
>> # iwlist mesh scan
>>
>>
>
> So, once the first scan triggers the beaconing, everything should keep
> working ok ?
> Or should I throw together a small script that triggers a scan once every
> 10minutes until this bug is fixed ?
> (In my case the mesh nodes should stay online 24/7 without user interaction)
>>
>> Things seem to work well aside from the scan issue, however I haven't
>> fully verified multi-hop yet.
>
> I have a semi production setup with about 10 mesh nodes, in a building where
> multihop is required due to the extensive use of metal plating and therefore
> 'poor' wireless performance. In a typical scenario I need about 4 to 5 hops
> to reach the nodes at the other end of the building.
>
> The nodes only have a single antenna connected, so I need to change some
> code to disable antenna switching, but I'm not a C expert/module developer
> at all so that might take a while to figure out...

Antenna controls are there, we just don't have a user interface yet
(configfs/debugfs)
Check out  ath5k_hw_set_antenna_mode inside phy.c, available modes are
on enum ath5k_ant_mode inside ath5k.h and we call it on ath5k_config
inside base.c ;-)

> I thought I managed to do it about 2 months ago but broke something since
> the nodes seemed to work perfectly after updating the wireless modules but
> they all went offline 3 to 5 days later and only came back online after
> reverting to the stable 2.6.29 wireless modules.
>
> Anyway, when I get that issue worked out without breaking anything else I'll
> see how the multihop performs and report back in a few days.
>
> Thanks!




-- 
GPG ID: 0xD21DB2DB
As you read this post global entropy rises. Have Fun ;-)
Nick

Re: current status of 802.11s mesh in ath5k ?

[Stephane Davy]

Hi all,

I am using and testing the Open 80211s project with the ath5k driver.
I have an atheros AR2413 chipset and an atheros AR5212/AR5213 chipset.

I installed my mesh network using this command lines on both devices:
# iw phy phy0 interface add mesh0 type mp mesh_id mesh
# ifconfig mesh0 192.168.1.1 (192.168.1.2 on the other device)
# iw dev mesh0 scan

The mesh network is unstable. I always get this warning messages:
ath5k phy0: unsupported jumbo

When I check on wireshark, it's look like some messages are lost on
the radio media.

What can I do to solve this problems ? And get my mesh network stable ?

Thanks,
Stephane.

Re: current status of 802.11s mesh in ath5k ?

[Bob Copeland]

On Fri, Jun 19, 2009 at 10:42:22AM -0700, Andrey Yurovsky wrote:
> > I have been working on a patch to rework the beaconing, namely using
> > bss_conf->enable_beacon and calling beacon_config whenever the beacon
> > interval or beacon changes, that might fix it but I'm not too familiar
> > with mesh details to say.
> 
> 'looking forward to that patch.  From the driver side, there's not
> much difference between mesh beaconing and AP or IBSS beaconing. 

Can you check whether my most recent patch (I think it was 2/5 in the
ath5k series) helps?  I looked at mac80211 and it seems we set
enable_beacon properly in mesh mode so that should configure beaconing
to start.

-- 
Bob Copeland %% www.bobcopeland.com

Re: current status of 802.11s mesh in ath5k ?

[Andrey Yurovsky]

On Sun, Jul 5, 2009 at 5:05 AM, Bob Copeland<me@bobcopeland.com> wrote:
> On Fri, Jun 19, 2009 at 10:42:22AM -0700, Andrey Yurovsky wrote:
>> > I have been working on a patch to rework the beaconing, namely using
>> > bss_conf->enable_beacon and calling beacon_config whenever the beacon
>> > interval or beacon changes, that might fix it but I'm not too familiar
>> > with mesh details to say.
>>
>> 'looking forward to that patch.  From the driver side, there's not
>> much difference between mesh beaconing and AP or IBSS beaconing.
>
> Can you check whether my most recent patch (I think it was 2/5 in the
> ath5k series) helps?  I looked at mac80211 and it seems we set
> enable_beacon properly in mesh mode so that should configure beaconing
> to start.

Thanks Bob, I confirm that your patch fixes mesh beaconing.

  -Andrey