Wimax

Wimax

[Patrick Ziegler]

Hi,

is there any support for Wimax network cards in the kernel yet ?

is this the right mailing list for this topic ?

is someone working on a Wimax integration ?


regards

Patrick

Re: Wimax

[Dan Williams]

On Tue, 2007-11-13 at 12:51 +0100, Patrick Ziegler wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> is there any support for Wimax network cards in the kernel yet ?

No, unless those cards work like broadband cellular cards and just
present a USB serial interface to the kernel.  I haven't been able to
get a hold of WiMAX parts yet (preferably 802.16e-2005 mobile wimax
parts like the Airspan MiMAX USB) not that I've tried extremely hard.

> is this the right mailing list for this topic ?

Probably for now, yes.

> is someone working on a Wimax integration ?

I've been thinking about WiMAX for quite a while, but only recently have
real cards started to appear.  My fear is that with WiMAX, Linux will be
where it was with 802.11 3 years ago.  No hardware support, no vendor
support, nothing.

The problem with WiMAX is that many operators have _licensed_ spectrum
for WiMAX.  The software stack is more complicated, and vendors may put
more and more software on the host rather than in firmware.  However,
since software stack will deal with things like QoS in licensed spectrum
and whatnot, vendors may close the stack and do things like binary blobs
linked to the kernel module, or things like the old IPW regulatory
daemon.  Not sure how to avoid that.

Dan

Re: Wimax

[Patrick Ziegler]

Dan Williams schrieb:
> On Tue, 2007-11-13 at 12:51 +0100, Patrick Ziegler wrote:
>   
>> Hi,
>>
>> is there any support for Wimax network cards in the kernel yet ?
>>     
>
> No, unless those cards work like broadband cellular cards and just
> present a USB serial interface to the kernel.  I haven't been able to
> get a hold of WiMAX parts yet (preferably 802.16e-2005 mobile wimax
> parts like the Airspan MiMAX USB) not that I've tried extremely hard.
>   
I don't believe that the cards act like a broadband cellular cards. I 
had a Wimax PCMCIA card for a short time in my Hand and it didn't act as 
a serial device. In the near future I will get a Wimax ExpressCard 
(Zyxel MAX-706) with which I can make more and intensive tests.
>   
>> is this the right mailing list for this topic ?
>>     
>
> Probably for now, yes.
>
>   
>> is someone working on a Wimax integration ?
>>     
>
> I've been thinking about WiMAX for quite a while, but only recently have
> real cards started to appear.  My fear is that with WiMAX, Linux will be
> where it was with 802.11 3 years ago.  No hardware support, no vendor
> support, nothing.
>
> The problem with WiMAX is that many operators have _licensed_ spectrum
> for WiMAX.  The software stack is more complicated, and vendors may put
> more and more software on the host rather than in firmware.  However,
> since software stack will deal with things like QoS in licensed spectrum
> and whatnot, vendors may close the stack and do things like binary blobs
> linked to the kernel module, or things like the old IPW regulatory
> daemon.  Not sure how to avoid that.
>   
Oh this vision sounds not good.

Patrick