RE: [EXT] Re: [PATCH v9 0/2] wifi: mwifiex: add code to support host mlme

[David Lin]

> From: Brian Norris <briannorris@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Saturday, March 16, 2024 8:08 AM
> To: David Lin <yu-hao.lin@xxxxxxx>
> Cc: linux-wireless@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; linux-kernel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx;
> kvalo@xxxxxxxxxx; francesco@xxxxxxxxxx; Pete Hsieh
> <tsung-hsien.hsieh@xxxxxxx>; rafael.beims <rafael.beims@xxxxxxxxxxx>;
> Francesco Dolcini <francesco.dolcini@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: [EXT] Re: [PATCH v9 0/2] wifi: mwifiex: add code to support host mlme
> 
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> On Wed, Mar 06, 2024 at 10:00:51AM +0800, David Lin wrote:
> > With host mlme:
> > Tested-by: <rafael.beims@xxxxxxxxxxx> #Verdin AM62 IW416 SD Without
> > host mlme:
> > Tested-by: Francesco Dolcini <francesco.dolcini@xxxxxxxxxxx> #
> > 88W8997-SD
> >
> > This series add host based MLME support to the mwifiex driver, this
> > enables WPA3 support in both client and AP mode.
> > To enable WPA3, a firmware with corresponding V2 Key API support is
> > required.
> > The feature is currently only enabled on NXP IW416 (SD8978), and it
> > was internally validated by NXP QA team. Other NXP Wi-Fi chips
> > supported in current mwifiex are not affected by this change.
> 
> Thank you for all the evoluation in this series. This looks much better than it
> did at the start, and I appreciate the additional explanation of featureset (HW
> and FW versions). I'm not sure if this has been asked/answered before, but are
> the MLME/WPA3 limitations exclusively tied to the firmware support ("V2 Key
> API")? Or are there hardware limitations on top (e.g., some firmware might get
> "V2 Key API" but still be unsupported on a given chip family)? Could other
> chips chips theoretically get this feature-set in the future?
> 
> In absence of a clear answer on this, it's definitely a good idea to do things like
> you have in this series now -- that you have a short-list (of 1) of HW where
> where it's validated, and additionally a FW feature/revision check to ensure it's
> running appropriate firmware. But I just wonder what the feasibility would be
> for adding to the shortlist (or providing users/developers the option of doing so)
> in the future, if people are so inclined.
> 
> To be clear, this is mostly an informational curiosity and forward-looking
> question -- not a request to change the implementation in this series.
> 
> Thanks,
> Brian

If firmware reported support of V2 Key API, then host mlme can be supported without issues. There is a flag 'host_mlme' in struct 'mwifiex_sdio_device' to indicate if host mlme should be supported. If this flag is set, driver will still check if firmware can support V2 Key API. If firmware can't support it, host mlme will be disabled.

Thanks,
David