Sorry, I neglected to add Dan and Johannes--who have been primary contributors in this discussion--to this. Adding now. -Alex On 6/24/19 11:30 AM, Alex Elder wrote: > OK I want to try to organize a little more concisely some of the > discussion on this, because there is a very large amount of volume > to date and I think we need to try to narrow the focus back down > again. > > I'm going to use a few terms here. Some of these I really don't > like, but I want to be unambiguous *and* (at least for now) I want > to avoid the very overloaded term "device". > > I have lots more to say, but let's start with a top-level picture, > to make sure we're all on the same page. > > WWAN Communication > Channel (Physical) > | ------------------------ > ------------ v | :+ Control | \ > | |-----------| :+ Data | | > | AP | | WWAN unit :+ Voice | > Functions > | |===========| :+ GPS | | > ------------ ^ | :+ ... | / > | ------------------------- > Multiplexed WWAN > Communication > Channel (Physical) > > - The *AP* is the main CPU complex that's running Linux on one or > more CPU cores. > - A *WWAN unit* is an entity that shares one or more physical > *WWAN communication channels* with the AP. > - A *WWAN communication channel* is a bidirectional means of > carrying data between the AP and WWAN unit. > - A WWAN communication channel carries data using a *WWAN protocol*. > - A WWAN unit implements one or more *WWAN functions*, such as > 5G data, LTE voice, GPS, and so on. > - A WWAN unit shall implement a *WWAN control function*, used to > manage the use of other WWAN functions, as well as the WWAN unit > itself. > - The AP communicates with a WWAN function using a WWAN protocol. > - A WWAN physical channel can be *multiplexed*, in which case it > carries the data for one or more *WWAN logical channels*. > - A multiplexed WWAN communication channel uses a *WWAN wultiplexing > protocol*, which is used to separate independent data streams > carrying other WWAN protocols. > - A WWAN logical channel carries a bidirectional stream of WWAN > protocol data between an entity on the AP and a WWAN function. > > Does that adequately represent a very high-level picture of what > we're trying to manage? > > And if I understand it right, the purpose of the generic framework > being discussed is to define a common mechanism for managing (i.e., > discovering, creating, destroying, querying, configuring, enabling, > disabling, etc.) WWAN units and the functions they implement, along > with the communication and logical channels used to communicate with > them. > > Comments? > > -Alex >
