[Angstrom-devel] hostap, prism2.5 and channel12 & 13 in europe

[Stanislav Brabec]

Graeme Gregory wrote:
> > National regulations records are firmware specific, not hardware
> > specific, so it should be common for all cards using the same firmware.
> >
> As Angstrom uses firmware loaded in the card RAM does this mean they
> can be set it RAM?

At least for Prism cards, national regulations settings are stored in
PDA and never in RAM. Only software reading and interpreting these
settings can be loaded into RAM.

Firmware of Prism cards is not a monolithic block and consists from more
parts:

PDA: Production Data Area with information needed for proper function of
card. Contains several of PDR (Production Data Records). Typically
stored in a serial EEPROM chip or reserved flash area.

CIS: Card Information Structure for PCMCIA/Compact Flash cards
(identification, power voltage etc.). Typically stored in a serial
EEPROM chip or reserved flash area.

Initial firmware: Handles initialization of hardware and booting the
card. Depends of exact card wiring and memory chips used. Almost never
updated by flash utilities.

Primary firmware. Handles power management and basic card functions. Can
be downloaded to RAM.

Station firmware: Handles all about wireless communication. Can be
downloaded to RAM.

Tertiary firmware: On some cards it can provide advanced functions
onboard.

For more see for example: http://home.eunet.cz/jt/wifi/Download.pdf

-- 
Stanislav Brabec
http://www.penguin.cz/~utx/zaurus