Bug 215043 - iwlwifi: AX210: Allow 6 GHz Wi-Fi 6E operation in Germany
Summary: iwlwifi: AX210: Allow 6 GHz Wi-Fi 6E operation in Germany
Status: CLOSED ANSWERED
Alias: None
Product: Drivers
Classification: Unclassified
Component: network-wireless-intel (show other bugs)
Hardware: Intel Linux
: P1 normal
Assignee: networking_wireless@kernel-bugs.osdl.org
URL:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2021-11-16 12:39 UTC by pkalytta
Modified: 2023-11-30 15:54 UTC (History)
3 users (show)

See Also:
Kernel Version: 5.10
Subsystem:
Regression: No
Bisected commit-id:

Attachments
tcpdump on AX210 in monitor mode, containing beacon frames with and w/o country regulatory information (153.09 KB, application/vnd.tcpdump.pcap)
2021-11-16 12:39 UTC, pkalytta 		Details
iw phy output for ax210 (37.35 KB, text/plain)
2022-02-23 12:28 UTC, pkalytta 		Details
Add an attachment (proposed patch, testcase, etc.)

Description pkalytta 2021-11-16 12:39:36 UTC 
Created attachment 299601 [details]
tcpdump on AX210 in monitor mode, containing beacon frames with and w/o country regulatory information

As of 14th July 2021, the regulatory authority for radio communication in Germany, BNetzA, allowed the use of 6 GHz Wi-Fi between 5945 - 6425 MHz. (See: https://www.bundesnetzagentur.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/EN/BNetzA/PressSection/PressReleases/2021/20210714_WLAN.html and https://www.bundesnetzagentur.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/DE/Sachgebiete/Telekommunikation/Unternehmen_Institutionen/Frequenzen/Allgemeinzuteilungen/MobilfunkDectWlanCBFunk/vfg552021WLAN6GHz.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=3)

This currently does not reflect into the operation of Intel AX210 network interface cards. 

I am unable to use the 6 GHz Band as well as a lot of other frequency bands (due to possible missing information in the firmware-internal regulatory database, or possibly, a bug). 
The regulatory domain on the Linux device itself is set to DE, coming from the already updated regulatory DB/CRDA:

country DE: DFS-ETSI
        (2400 - 2483 @ 40), (N/A, 20), (N/A)
        (5150 - 5250 @ 80), (N/A, 23), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW
        (5250 - 5350 @ 80), (N/A, 20), (0 ms), NO-OUTDOOR, DFS, AUTO-BW
        (5470 - 5725 @ 160), (N/A, 26), (0 ms), DFS
        (5725 - 5875 @ 80), (N/A, 13), (N/A)
        (5945 - 6425 @ 160), (N/A, 23), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW
        (57000 - 66000 @ 2160), (N/A, 40), (N/A)

But the Intel AX210 is set to self-managed, probably loading the regulatory data from its EEPROM, sets the limited World-Domain:
phy#0 (self-managed)
country 00: DFS-UNSET
        (2402 - 2437 @ 40), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, NO-80MHZ, NO-160MHZ
        (2422 - 2462 @ 40), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, NO-80MHZ, NO-160MHZ
        (2447 - 2482 @ 40), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, NO-80MHZ, NO-160MHZ
        (5170 - 5190 @ 160), (6, 22), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40MINUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5190 - 5210 @ 160), (6, 22), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40PLUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5210 - 5230 @ 160), (6, 22), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40MINUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5230 - 5250 @ 160), (6, 22), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40PLUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5250 - 5270 @ 160), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5270 - 5290 @ 160), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5290 - 5310 @ 160), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5310 - 5330 @ 160), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5490 - 5510 @ 240), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5510 - 5530 @ 240), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5530 - 5550 @ 240), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5550 - 5570 @ 240), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5570 - 5590 @ 240), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5590 - 5610 @ 240), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5610 - 5630 @ 240), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5630 - 5650 @ 240), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5650 - 5670 @ 80), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5670 - 5690 @ 80), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5690 - 5710 @ 80), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5710 - 5730 @ 80), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5735 - 5755 @ 80), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40MINUS, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5755 - 5775 @ 80), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40PLUS, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5775 - 5795 @ 80), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40MINUS, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5795 - 5815 @ 80), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40PLUS, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5815 - 5835 @ 40), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40MINUS, NO-80MHZ, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN

It show extremely limited frequency band usage abilities.

In my investigation this might be due to the internal firmware code that uses LAR (Location Aware Regulatory) to determine if certain bands are allowed. I then captured Wi-Fi radio traffic in the vicinity of the AX210 (capture attached), which shows, that some beacon frames sent by other devices do not contain a Country-Flag for determination of regulatory constraints. 
Does this affect the AX210s ability to determine its regulatory location?

I am using the latest available firmware from the official kernel git repository.

The AX210 seems to not be able to decide on the correct regulatory domain, as also described here: https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=205695


Best regards,

Philipp Kalytta
Comment 1 Golan Ben Ami 2021-11-21 08:34:38 UTC 
Hi Philipp,
6E channels are being approved these days for EU for AX210 devices (still looking for some external comm i can share).
Once approved, we will share a new FW which will support 6E for EU.

I can't provide the exact release date yet, but the current estimation is ~8w from now.

Thanks,
Golan
Comment 2 pkalytta 2021-11-22 11:45:55 UTC 
Hi Golan,

that's amazing news! 
I didn't know the devices usage for 6 GHz wasn't already approved by the EU regulatory. 

Do the member states of the EU, like Germany also need to approve the device? Or is EU-approval enough? 

I will keep an eye on the firmware updates. 

Thanks a lot for the information,

Philipp
Comment 3 pkalytta 2022-02-04 13:39:22 UTC 
Hi Golan,

any update on this? It's now 11 weeks since our last communication, can you give a new time estimate regarding the ETSI approval?

Best regards,

Philipp
Comment 4 Golan Ben Ami 2022-02-07 07:55:14 UTC 
Hi Philipp,
Please use 5.17-rcX and use the FW from here: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/firmware/linux-firmware.git/commit/?id=23e0197e9e6fe9ca0d2ead3a3df3c41df97ad16b

Please let me know if you have problems.

Golan
Comment 5 pkalytta 2022-02-23 12:28:46 UTC 
Created attachment 300508 [details]
iw phy output for ax210
Comment 6 pkalytta 2022-02-23 12:29:15 UTC 
Hello Golan,

the AX210 works now, but IW shows strange maximum transmit powers for Germany. Every band shows 22 dBm, but for example, 2.4 GHz in Germany is limited to 20 dBm , and 5 GHz should be limited to 23 dBm under Channel 100 and then to 30 dBm. 6 GHz should be either 23 dBm for Indoor use and 13 dBm for outdoor use. This is not reflected in the self-managed settings of the AX210 physical interface:

In my eyes, this violates local regulatory restrictions:

phy#0 (self-managed)
country DE: DFS-UNSET
        (2402 - 2437 @ 40), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, NO-80MHZ, NO-160MHZ
        (2422 - 2462 @ 40), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, NO-80MHZ, NO-160MHZ
        (2447 - 2482 @ 40), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, NO-80MHZ, NO-160MHZ
        (5170 - 5190 @ 160), (6, 22), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40MINUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5190 - 5210 @ 160), (6, 22), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40PLUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5210 - 5230 @ 160), (6, 22), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40MINUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5230 - 5250 @ 160), (6, 22), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40PLUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5250 - 5270 @ 160), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5270 - 5290 @ 160), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5290 - 5310 @ 160), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5310 - 5330 @ 160), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5490 - 5510 @ 220), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5510 - 5530 @ 220), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5530 - 5550 @ 220), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5550 - 5570 @ 220), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5570 - 5590 @ 220), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5590 - 5610 @ 220), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5610 - 5630 @ 220), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5630 - 5650 @ 220), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5650 - 5670 @ 80), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5670 - 5690 @ 80), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5690 - 5710 @ 80), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5735 - 5755 @ 80), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, NO-160MHZ
        (5755 - 5775 @ 80), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, NO-160MHZ
        (5775 - 5795 @ 80), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, NO-160MHZ
        (5795 - 5815 @ 80), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, NO-160MHZ
        (5815 - 5835 @ 40), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, NO-80MHZ, NO-160MHZ
        (5945 - 5965 @ 480), (6, 22), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40PLUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5965 - 5985 @ 480), (6, 22), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40MINUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (5985 - 6005 @ 480), (6, 22), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40PLUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (6005 - 6025 @ 480), (6, 22), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40MINUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (6025 - 6045 @ 480), (6, 22), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40PLUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (6045 - 6065 @ 480), (6, 22), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40MINUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (6065 - 6085 @ 480), (6, 22), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40PLUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (6085 - 6105 @ 480), (6, 22), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40MINUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (6105 - 6125 @ 480), (6, 22), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40PLUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (6125 - 6145 @ 480), (6, 22), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40MINUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (6145 - 6165 @ 480), (6, 22), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40PLUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (6165 - 6185 @ 480), (6, 22), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40MINUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (6185 - 6205 @ 480), (6, 22), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40PLUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (6205 - 6225 @ 480), (6, 22), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40MINUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (6225 - 6245 @ 480), (6, 22), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40PLUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (6245 - 6265 @ 480), (6, 22), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40MINUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (6265 - 6285 @ 480), (6, 22), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40PLUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (6285 - 6305 @ 480), (6, 22), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40MINUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (6305 - 6325 @ 480), (6, 22), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40PLUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (6325 - 6345 @ 480), (6, 22), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40MINUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (6345 - 6365 @ 480), (6, 22), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40PLUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (6365 - 6385 @ 480), (6, 22), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40MINUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (6385 - 6405 @ 480), (6, 22), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40PLUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
        (6405 - 6425 @ 480), (6, 22), (N/A), NO-OUTDOOR, AUTO-BW, IR-CONCURRENT, NO-HT40MINUS, PASSIVE-SCAN


Also see attached "iw phy" output.

Best regards,

Philipp
Comment 7 Golan Ben Ami 2022-02-24 09:46:37 UTC 
As we passed our regulatory tests for EU, seems to be a parsing bug, i'll handle, not in highest priority.
Comment 8 Johannes Berg 2023-01-05 15:53:29 UTC 
There's a comment in the driver saying:

(for the regulatory:)
                /* this doesn't matter - not used by FW */
                rule->power_rule.max_antenna_gain = DBI_TO_MBI(6);
                rule->power_rule.max_eirp =
                        DBM_TO_MBM(IWL_DEFAULT_MAX_TX_POWER);

(for the channels:)
                /*
                 * Default value - highest tx power value.  max_power
                 * is not used in mvm, and is used for backwards compatibility
                 */
                channel->max_power = IWL_DEFAULT_MAX_TX_POWER;


so basically the iw channels and regulatory output is simply populated with "some value", but the actual TX power limit is handled by firmware and is different/lower.

I'm not sure we actually know the real value so we could show it there, but this shouldn't affect operation.
Comment 9 pkalytta 2023-01-08 11:41:44 UTC 
Hi Johannes,

I suspected that it would only by a bug in displaying it, if the mvm firmware does not provide the actual values, iw sure enough cannot directly provide them.

Thanks for the clarification. 
I will mark this as resolved, if you still wish to "fix" it, if it is even possible for iw to show it, you might reopen.

Best regards,

Philipp
Note You need to log in before you can comment on or make changes to this bug.