On Tue, 2008-12-02 at 09:52 +0200, juuso.oikarinen@xxxxxxxxx wrote: > > Hello, > > Some time ago, a colleague of mine, Luciano Coelho, opened a > discussion with this same subject. I think it is time now for me to > continue that discussion, because our aim, like that of Intel's, is to > achieve a unified WiMAX driver interface for Linux. For reference, the > original posting is archived in > http://linuxwimax.org/pipermail/wimax/2008-June/000028.html. > > As Luca explains in his e-mail, the Nokia architechture is different > from the approach taken by Intel. > - The Nokia architechture places the device independent WiMAX > interface at the kernel/user-space barrier, so that all user-space > components are independent of the WiMAX device. > > - The Intel architechture places the device independent WiMAX > interface on top of a user-space library, so that in the > kernel/user-space barrier, essentially, chipset specific messages are > exchanged. > > In the original posting, Luciano stated that the Nokia driver sources > are not publicized yet. This has now changed. For reference, please > see the Maemo.org repository at > http://repository.maemo.org/pool/maemo4.1/free/k/kernel-source-diablo/ > > The Nokia driver currently implements the WiMAX methods as private > extensions to the WLAN wireless events interface. Obviously, for a > long term solution fixed messages would need to be defined. Still, > the Yeah, that's not going to work upstream, which is where we eventually want this to go... I think a fusion of the Intel and Nokia approaches is the best direction; taking the netlink communication approach from the Intel drivers, and the device-independence (and supplicant communication approach) from the Nokia drivers. Basically, WE is dead dead dead, and should no longer be used under any circumstances. A specific WiMAX netlink communications system should be used, like Intel has done. But there are still concerns upstream with the device-specificity of the kernel/userspace API as Intel has written it. I guess you guys just rewrote the Intel drivers, or wrote new drivers from scratch for the 2400 hardware? Dan > methods defined in the interface have been proven to work on a real > product, and could serve as good reference defining a device > independent WiMAX driver interface for Linux. > > It is my personal feeling that the Nokia approach is closer to what is > intended by the driver model in operating systems, such as Linux. > > > Juuso Oikarinen > > _______________________________________________ > wimax mailing list > wimax@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx > http://www.linuxwimax.org/mailman/listinfo/wimax
