[PATCHv2 1/2] nl80211: vendor-cmd: qca: add command for ap power save

[vnaralas at codeaurora.org]

On 2020-11-06 16:11, Johannes Berg wrote:
> On Mon, 2020-11-02 at 21:44 +0200, Kalle Valo wrote:
>> vnaralas at codeaurora.org writes:
>> 
>> > On 2020-10-22 13:30, Arend Van Spriel wrote:
>> > > On 10/21/2020 7:19 PM, Kalle Valo wrote:
>> > > > vnaralas at codeaurora.org writes:
>> > > >
>> > > > > On 2020-09-29 13:10, Kalle Valo wrote:
>> > > > > > Johannes Berg <johannes at sipsolutions.net> writes:
>> > > > > >
>> > > > > > > On Mon, 2020-08-24 at 13:56 +0530, Venkateswara Naralasetty wrote:
>> > > > > > > > AP power save feature is to save power in AP mode, where AP goes
>> > > > > > > > to power save mode when no stations associate to it and comes out
>> > > > > > > > of power save when any station associate to AP.
>> > > > > > >
>> > > > > > > Why do you think this requires a vendor command? I mean, that seems
>> > > > > > > like
>> > > > > > > fairly reasonable - even by default - behaviour?
>> > > > > >
>> > > > > > I have not studied the details, but doesn't AP power save break
>> > > > > > normal
>> > > > > > functionality? For example, I would guess probe requests from
>> > > > > > clients
>> > > > > > would be lost. So there's a major drawback when enabling this,
>> > > > > > right?
>> > > > >
>> > > > > This AP power save feature will not break any functionality, Since
>> > > > > one
>> > > > > chain is always active and all other chains will be disabled when
>> > > > > this
>> > > > > feature is enabled. AP can still be able to beacon and receive probe
>> > > > > request from the clients. The only drawback is reduced network range
>> > > > > when this feature is enabled. Hence, we don't want to enable it by
>> > > > > default.
>> > > >
>> > > > Yeah, we really would not want to enable that by default. But what
>> > > > should be the path forward, a vendor command or a proper nl80211
>> > > > command? Any opinions?
>> > >
>> > > I would go for a proper nl80211 command or just add an attribute for
>> > > use in NL80211_CMD_START_AP or deal with NL80211_CMD_SET_POWERSAVE
>> > > when operating in AP mode.
>> > >
>> > Sure, I will go with the existing NL80211_CMD_SET_POWERSAVE and I will
>> > send next version.
>> 
>> Better to wait first so that we have concensus on this. And need to
>> check if NL80211_CMD_SET_POWERSAVE is even suitable for AP mode.
> 
> I suspect that SET_POWERSAVE might be confusing.
> 
> Perhaps just with an attribute used in START_AP (and CHANGE_BEACON if
> needed) would be sufficient?

Actually this ap power save configuration is applicable for per pdev. 
So, I don't think we can use START AP command here.
I would prefer to go with a new NL80211 command. Please share your 
thoughts on this.


> 
> johannes