[PATCH 2.6.38] iwlagn: use cts-to-self protection on 5000 adapters series

Stanislaw Gruszka sgruszka at redhat.com
Mon Jun 20 14:11:22 UTC 2011


This patch fixes 802.11n stability and performance regression we have
since 2.6.35. It boost performance on my 5GHz N-only network from about
5MB/s to 8MB/s. Similar percentage boost can be observed on 2.4 GHz.

These are test results of 5x downloading of approximately 700MB iso
image:

vanilla: 5.27 5.22 4.94 4.47 5.31 ; avr 5.0420 std 0.35110
patched: 8.07 7.95 8.06 7.99 7.96 ; avr 8.0060 std 0.055946

This was achieved with NetworkManager configured to do not perform
periodical scans, by configuring constant BSSID. With periodical scans,
after some time, performance downgrade to unpatched driver level, like
in example below:

patched: 7.40 7.61 4.28 4.37 4.80 avr 5.6920 std 1.6683

However patch still make better here, since similar test on unpatched
driver make link disconnects with below messages after some time:

wlan1: authenticate with 00:23:69:35:d1:3f (try 1)
wlan1: authenticate with 00:23:69:35:d1:3f (try 2)
wlan1: authenticate with 00:23:69:35:d1:3f (try 3)
wlan1: authentication with 00:23:69:35:d1:3f timed out

On 2.6.35 kernel patch helps against connection hangs with messages:

iwlagn 0000:20:00.0: queue 10 stuck 3 time. Fw reload.
iwlagn 0000:20:00.0: On demand firmware reload
iwlagn 0000:20:00.0: Stopping AGG while state not ON or starting

Signed-off-by: Stanislaw Gruszka <sgruszka at redhat.com>
---
 drivers/net/wireless/iwlwifi/iwl-5000.c     |    1 -
 drivers/net/wireless/iwlwifi/iwl-agn-hcmd.c |   12 ++----------
 drivers/net/wireless/iwlwifi/iwl-agn-rxon.c |    8 ++++++++
 3 files changed, 10 insertions(+), 11 deletions(-)

diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/iwlwifi/iwl-5000.c b/drivers/net/wireless/iwlwifi/iwl-5000.c
index 537fb8c..909cc30 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/iwlwifi/iwl-5000.c
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/iwlwifi/iwl-5000.c
@@ -517,7 +517,6 @@ static struct iwl_base_params iwl5000_base_params = {
 };
 static struct iwl_ht_params iwl5000_ht_params = {
 	.ht_greenfield_support = true,
-	.use_rts_for_aggregation = true, /* use rts/cts protection */
 };
 
 #define IWL_DEVICE_5000						\
diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/iwlwifi/iwl-agn-hcmd.c b/drivers/net/wireless/iwlwifi/iwl-agn-hcmd.c
index 366340f..89762a7 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/iwlwifi/iwl-agn-hcmd.c
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/iwlwifi/iwl-agn-hcmd.c
@@ -217,17 +217,9 @@ static void iwlagn_tx_cmd_protection(struct iwl_priv *priv,
 				     __le16 fc, __le32 *tx_flags)
 {
 	if (info->control.rates[0].flags & IEEE80211_TX_RC_USE_RTS_CTS ||
-	    info->control.rates[0].flags & IEEE80211_TX_RC_USE_CTS_PROTECT) {
+	    info->control.rates[0].flags & IEEE80211_TX_RC_USE_CTS_PROTECT ||
+	    info->flags & IEEE80211_TX_CTL_AMPDU)
 		*tx_flags |= TX_CMD_FLG_PROT_REQUIRE_MSK;
-		return;
-	}
-
-	if (priv->cfg->ht_params &&
-	    priv->cfg->ht_params->use_rts_for_aggregation &&
-	    info->flags & IEEE80211_TX_CTL_AMPDU) {
-		*tx_flags |= TX_CMD_FLG_PROT_REQUIRE_MSK;
-		return;
-	}
 }
 
 /* Calc max signal level (dBm) among 3 possible receivers */
diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/iwlwifi/iwl-agn-rxon.c b/drivers/net/wireless/iwlwifi/iwl-agn-rxon.c
index ee802fe..b19fb85 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/iwlwifi/iwl-agn-rxon.c
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/iwlwifi/iwl-agn-rxon.c
@@ -145,6 +145,14 @@ int iwlagn_commit_rxon(struct iwl_priv *priv, struct iwl_rxon_context *ctx)
 	/* always get timestamp with Rx frame */
 	ctx->staging.flags |= RXON_FLG_TSF2HOST_MSK;
 
+	/*
+	 * force CTS-to-self frames protection if RTS-CTS is not preferred
+	 * one aggregation protection method
+	 */
+	if (!(priv->cfg->ht_params &&
+	      priv->cfg->ht_params->use_rts_for_aggregation))
+		ctx->staging.flags |= RXON_FLG_SELF_CTS_EN;
+
 	if ((ctx->vif && ctx->vif->bss_conf.use_short_slot) ||
 	    !(ctx->staging.flags & RXON_FLG_BAND_24G_MSK))
 		ctx->staging.flags |= RXON_FLG_SHORT_SLOT_MSK;
-- 
1.7.1



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