[RFC PATCH] wifi: ath10k: support flush_sta method

[Maurer, Florian]

Hi everyone,

we tested this patch at Freifunk Aachen using Gluon/OpenWrt.

We had the issue that the Extreme Networks WS-AP3825i did have a high
load in a busy environment, making the node unresponsive.
This issue is resolved with this patch, improving the wifi stability
noticeably, similar to
https://patchwork.kernel.org/project/linux-wireless/list/?series=911851

Restarting Wifi (using wifi) still logs

kern.warn kernel: [98526.968626] ath10k_warn: 617 callbacks suppressed
kern.warn kernel: [98526.968651] ath10k_pci a000:03:00.0: could not get
mac80211 beacon
kern.warn kernel: [98527.071045] ath10k_pci a000:03:00.0: could not get
mac80211 beacon
kern.warn kernel: [98532.104123] ath10k_pci a000:03:00.0: failed to
flush transmit queue (skip 0 ar-state 1): 0

Just like it was with the other patch.
We did also not see any "failed to flush sta" message in dmesg.

Thanks,
Florian Maurer

Tested-by: Florian Maurer <maurer at fh-aachen.de>

On Wed, 2025-08-06 at 15:00 +0800, Zhi-Jun You wrote:
> When a STA is marked as no longer authorized, if the driver doesn't
> implement flush_sta(), mac80211 calls ieee80211_flush_queues() to
> flush hardware queues to avoid sending unencrypted frames.
> 
> This has became a problem for ath10k because ieee80211_flush_queues()
> will stop all traffic and call ath10k_flush, which waits until the
> whole HW queue is empty. In a busy environment this will trigger a
> timeout warning and stalls other STAs.
> 
> Fix this by implementing flush_sta method using WMI command to flush
> frames of a specific STA.
> Flushed frames will be marked as discard in tx complete indication.
> 
> ops->flush_sta will be set to NULL if htt.disable_tx_comp is set to
> true.
> 
> Tested-on: QCA9984 hw1.0 PCI 10.4-3.9.0.2-00157
> 
> Signed-off-by: Zhi-Jun You <hujy652 at gmail.com>
> ---
>  drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/mac.c | 18 ++++++++++++++++++
>  1 file changed, 18 insertions(+)
> 
> diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/mac.c b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/mac.c
> index 24dd794e31ea..6959f20334a7 100644
> --- a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/mac.c
> +++ b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/mac.c
> @@ -8135,6 +8135,20 @@ static void ath10k_flush(struct ieee80211_hw *hw, struct ieee80211_vif *vif,
>  	mutex_unlock(&ar->conf_mutex);
>  }
>  
> +static void ath10k_mac_op_flush_sta(struct ieee80211_hw *hw, struct ieee80211_vif *vif,
> +			     struct ieee80211_sta *sta)
> +{
> +	struct ath10k_vif *arvif = (void *)vif->drv_priv;
> +	struct ath10k *ar = hw->priv;
> +	u32 bitmap = 0xFFFFFFFF;
> +	int ret = 0;
> +
> +	ret = ath10k_wmi_peer_flush(ar, arvif->vdev_id, sta->addr, bitmap);
> +	if (ret)
> +		ath10k_warn(ar, "failed to flush sta (sta %pM)\n",
> +			    sta->addr);
> +}
> +
>  /* TODO: Implement this function properly
>   * For now it is needed to reply to Probe Requests in IBSS mode.
>   * Probably we need this information from FW.
> @@ -9487,6 +9501,7 @@ static const struct ieee80211_ops ath10k_ops = {
>  	.set_rts_threshold		= ath10k_set_rts_threshold,
>  	.set_frag_threshold		= ath10k_mac_op_set_frag_threshold,
>  	.flush				= ath10k_flush,
> +	.flush_sta			= ath10k_mac_op_flush_sta,
>  	.tx_last_beacon			= ath10k_tx_last_beacon,
>  	.set_antenna			= ath10k_set_antenna,
>  	.get_antenna			= ath10k_get_antenna,
> @@ -10294,6 +10309,9 @@ int ath10k_mac_register(struct ath10k *ar)
>  	if (!ar->hw_params.hw_ops->set_coverage_class)
>  		ar->ops->set_coverage_class = NULL;
>  
> +	if (ar->htt.disable_tx_comp)
> +		ar->ops->flush_sta = NULL;
> +
>  	ret = ath_regd_init(&ar->ath_common.regulatory, ar->hw->wiphy,
>  			    ath10k_reg_notifier);
>  	if (ret) {
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