1.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
2
3=======================================
4Linux wireless regulatory documentation
5=======================================
6
7This document gives a brief review over how the Linux wireless
8regulatory infrastructure works.
9
10More up to date information can be obtained at the project's web page:
11
12https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/en/developers/Regulatory
13
14Keeping regulatory domains in userspace
15---------------------------------------
16
17Due to the dynamic nature of regulatory domains we keep them
18in userspace and provide a framework for userspace to upload
19to the kernel one regulatory domain to be used as the central
20core regulatory domain all wireless devices should adhere to.
21
22How to get regulatory domains to the kernel
23-------------------------------------------
24
25When the regulatory domain is first set up, the kernel will request a
26database file (regulatory.db) containing all the regulatory rules. It
27will then use that database when it needs to look up the rules for a
28given country.
29
30How to get regulatory domains to the kernel (old CRDA solution)
31---------------------------------------------------------------
32
33Userspace gets a regulatory domain in the kernel by having
34a userspace agent build it and send it via nl80211. Only
35expected regulatory domains will be respected by the kernel.
36
37A currently available userspace agent which can accomplish this
38is CRDA - central regulatory domain agent. Its documented here:
39
40https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/en/developers/Regulatory/CRDA
41
42Essentially the kernel will send a udev event when it knows
43it needs a new regulatory domain. A udev rule can be put in place
44to trigger crda to send the respective regulatory domain for a
45specific ISO/IEC 3166 alpha2.
46
47Below is an example udev rule which can be used:
48
49# Example file, should be put in /etc/udev/rules.d/regulatory.rules
50KERNEL=="regulatory*", ACTION=="change", SUBSYSTEM=="platform", RUN+="/sbin/crda"
51
52The alpha2 is passed as an environment variable under the variable COUNTRY.
53
54Who asks for regulatory domains?
55--------------------------------
56
57* Users
58
59Users can use iw:
60
61https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/en/users/Documentation/iw
62
63An example::
64
65  # set regulatory domain to "Costa Rica"
66  iw reg set CR
67
68This will request the kernel to set the regulatory domain to
69the specified alpha2. The kernel in turn will then ask userspace
70to provide a regulatory domain for the alpha2 specified by the user
71by sending a uevent.
72
73* Wireless subsystems for Country Information elements
74
75The kernel will send a uevent to inform userspace a new
76regulatory domain is required. More on this to be added
77as its integration is added.
78
79* Drivers
80
81If drivers determine they need a specific regulatory domain
82set they can inform the wireless core using regulatory_hint().
83They have two options -- they either provide an alpha2 so that
84crda can provide back a regulatory domain for that country or
85they can build their own regulatory domain based on internal
86custom knowledge so the wireless core can respect it.
87
88*Most* drivers will rely on the first mechanism of providing a
89regulatory hint with an alpha2. For these drivers there is an additional
90check that can be used to ensure compliance based on custom EEPROM
91regulatory data. This additional check can be used by drivers by
92registering on its struct wiphy a reg_notifier() callback. This notifier
93is called when the core's regulatory domain has been changed. The driver
94can use this to review the changes made and also review who made them
95(driver, user, country IE) and determine what to allow based on its
96internal EEPROM data. Devices drivers wishing to be capable of world
97roaming should use this callback. More on world roaming will be
98added to this document when its support is enabled.
99
100Device drivers who provide their own built regulatory domain
101do not need a callback as the channels registered by them are
102the only ones that will be allowed and therefore *additional*
103channels cannot be enabled.
104
105Example code - drivers hinting an alpha2:
106------------------------------------------
107
108This example comes from the zd1211rw device driver. You can start
109by having a mapping of your device's EEPROM country/regulatory
110domain value to a specific alpha2 as follows::
111
112  static struct zd_reg_alpha2_map reg_alpha2_map[] = {
113	{ ZD_REGDOMAIN_FCC, "US" },
114	{ ZD_REGDOMAIN_IC, "CA" },
115	{ ZD_REGDOMAIN_ETSI, "DE" }, /* Generic ETSI, use most restrictive */
116	{ ZD_REGDOMAIN_JAPAN, "JP" },
117	{ ZD_REGDOMAIN_JAPAN_ADD, "JP" },
118	{ ZD_REGDOMAIN_SPAIN, "ES" },
119	{ ZD_REGDOMAIN_FRANCE, "FR" },
120
121Then you can define a routine to map your read EEPROM value to an alpha2,
122as follows::
123
124  static int zd_reg2alpha2(u8 regdomain, char *alpha2)
125  {
126	unsigned int i;
127	struct zd_reg_alpha2_map *reg_map;
128		for (i = 0; i < ARRAY_SIZE(reg_alpha2_map); i++) {
129			reg_map = &reg_alpha2_map[i];
130			if (regdomain == reg_map->reg) {
131			alpha2[0] = reg_map->alpha2[0];
132			alpha2[1] = reg_map->alpha2[1];
133			return 0;
134		}
135	}
136	return 1;
137  }
138
139Lastly, you can then hint to the core of your discovered alpha2, if a match
140was found. You need to do this after you have registered your wiphy. You
141are expected to do this during initialization.
142
143::
144
145	r = zd_reg2alpha2(mac->regdomain, alpha2);
146	if (!r)
147		regulatory_hint(hw->wiphy, alpha2);
148
149Example code - drivers providing a built in regulatory domain:
150--------------------------------------------------------------
151
152[NOTE: This API is not currently available, it can be added when required]
153
154If you have regulatory information you can obtain from your
155driver and you *need* to use this we let you build a regulatory domain
156structure and pass it to the wireless core. To do this you should
157kmalloc() a structure big enough to hold your regulatory domain
158structure and you should then fill it with your data. Finally you simply
159call regulatory_hint() with the regulatory domain structure in it.
160
161Below is a simple example, with a regulatory domain cached using the stack.
162Your implementation may vary (read EEPROM cache instead, for example).
163
164Example cache of some regulatory domain::
165
166  struct ieee80211_regdomain mydriver_jp_regdom = {
167	.n_reg_rules = 3,
168	.alpha2 =  "JP",
169	//.alpha2 =  "99", /* If I have no alpha2 to map it to */
170	.reg_rules = {
171		/* IEEE 802.11b/g, channels 1..14 */
172		REG_RULE(2412-10, 2484+10, 40, 6, 20, 0),
173		/* IEEE 802.11a, channels 34..48 */
174		REG_RULE(5170-10, 5240+10, 40, 6, 20,
175			NL80211_RRF_NO_IR),
176		/* IEEE 802.11a, channels 52..64 */
177		REG_RULE(5260-10, 5320+10, 40, 6, 20,
178			NL80211_RRF_NO_IR|
179			NL80211_RRF_DFS),
180	}
181  };
182
183Then in some part of your code after your wiphy has been registered::
184
185	struct ieee80211_regdomain *rd;
186	int size_of_regd;
187	int num_rules = mydriver_jp_regdom.n_reg_rules;
188	unsigned int i;
189
190	size_of_regd = sizeof(struct ieee80211_regdomain) +
191		(num_rules * sizeof(struct ieee80211_reg_rule));
192
193	rd = kzalloc(size_of_regd, GFP_KERNEL);
194	if (!rd)
195		return -ENOMEM;
196
197	memcpy(rd, &mydriver_jp_regdom, sizeof(struct ieee80211_regdomain));
198
199	for (i=0; i < num_rules; i++)
200		memcpy(&rd->reg_rules[i],
201		       &mydriver_jp_regdom.reg_rules[i],
202		       sizeof(struct ieee80211_reg_rule));
203	regulatory_struct_hint(rd);
204
205Statically compiled regulatory database
206---------------------------------------
207
208When a database should be fixed into the kernel, it can be provided as a
209firmware file at build time that is then linked into the kernel.
210