[PATCH 2/2] Require WMM to be enabled before allowing inclusion of the QBSS Load element

[Jouni Malinen]

On Sat, Feb 25, 2017 at 02:48:46PM +0000, Nick Lowe wrote:
> It is called the QBSS Load element in 802.11e-2005 and is called the
> BSS Load element in 802.11-2012.

It might have been called QBSS Load element ten years ago, but the name
of this element is BSS Load element in the current standard and that's
the name hostap.git should use for it.

> Calling it QBSS Load in the documentation more clearly distinguishes
> that by spec this is for a QBSS only, that is, where WMM is enabled
> only.

I rather call it with the correct name and if there is a particular need
for explicitly stating something about QoS BSS, that can be done
separately. "QBSS" was removed from the standard.

> 802.11e-2005 and 802.11-2012 specify that this element must only be
> present for a QOS-enhanced BSS.
> 
> From 802.11e-2005:

IEEE Std 802.11e-2005 is not relevant; it became obsolete when the
P802.11e amendment was merged into the main standard. We should use the
current standard, i.e., IEEE Std 802.11-2016 when talking about what the
standard requires.

I don't see why hostapd should prevent BSS Load element from being
added to Beacon frames even if WMM is disabled. This is already added
only if explicitly configured to do so (bss_load_update_period which
defaults to being disabled). As such, hostapd is in no way trying to
force that element to be there for WMM disabled cases.

-- 
Jouni Malinen                                            PGP id EFC895FA