Re: [RFC 0/5] ath6kl: non WMI data service support

["Valo, Kalle" <kvalo@qca.qualcomm.com>]

Steve deRosier <derosier@gmail.com> writes:

> Hi Eric,
>
> On Thu, Oct 13, 2016 at 9:39 AM, Erik Stromdahl
> <erik.stromdahl@gmail.com> wrote:
>> This patch series is intended to prepare the ath6kl driver
>> for newer chipsets that doesn't use the current WMI data
>> endpoints for data traffic.
>>
>> The chipset I have been working with (and used for testing)
>> is QCA6584. It is SDIO based (at least the variant I have
>> been using) with 802.11p WAVE DSRC capabilities.
>>
>> This chipset is different from the AR600X family in that
>> it does not use the WMI data services (service id's 0x101
>> to 0x104 ) for data traffic.
>> Instead it uses the HTT data service for data and wmi unified
>> for control messages.
>> It is also different when it comes to mailbox addresses
>> and HTC header format as well, but these differences are not
>> part of this patch series.
>>
>
> I've only taken a quick look and I'll make specific comments to
> specific patches later, but I've got to ask the question, should these
> changes go into ath6kl or be a new driver?
>
> Just because the number starts with 6000 doesn't mean it's a ath6kl
> chip. The 10k series chips all start with 9000 for example, but they
> rate their own driver.
>
> You state that all of the underpinnings of the communication with the
> chip are totally different:
> * Doesn't use WMI
> * Different mailboxing
> * Different HTC layer
>
> If all of the commands and all of the communication layers to the chip
> are totally different, then perhaps it isn't an ath6kl chip. So if
> it's largely similar, then OK, but seems to me with the changes you're
> saying above, it's mostly different.
>
> I'm saying all that without any knowledge of this chip. My experience
> is limited to various versions of the 6003 and 6004 chips.

Exactly what I was thinking. When I saw terms like "HTT" and "unified
WMI" my first thought was that is this actually an ath10k based design?
The product numbers really don't give any indication what driver
supports, the division goes something like this:

* ath9k: "non-mobile" 11n chips
* ath6k: mobile 11n chips
* ath10k: mobile and "non-mobile" 11ac chips

For example QCA6174 is an 11ac mobile chip supported by ath10k. ath10k
only supports PCI bus at the moment, but I'm hoping someone would add
USB and SDIO support. Patches are very welcome.

I'm starting to suspect that QCA6584 is actually based on the same
design as QCA6174. If that's the case when we should also think if
instead we should add SDIO support to ath10k, maybe by taking relevant
parts from ath6kl?

I'll investigate more what this QCA6584 is, I haven't heard about it
before.

--=20
Kalle Valo=