orinoco_cs - sleep in ad-hoc demo mode ?

[EL-HOIYDI Amre]

> > I have already tried the command "iwconfig wlan0 txpower off":
> > Using the hostap_cs driver in managed mode (or ad-hoc), I have measured
> > that the consumed current drops from 147 mA (txpower auto) to 125 mA
> > (txpower off). I hopped to have a current of 17 mA with (txpower off) as
> > indicated in the datasheet for the idle mode. It seems that there are
> > more things that could be shut down.
> 
> I would go through BBP data sheet and possibly test setting the
> registers with 'iwpriv wlan0 writemif'. I don't think there is much new
> informantion regarding power saving in newer versions of the manual.
> 

I had a look at the HFA3861B datasheet. I did not find anything more 
than putting 255 in register 13, as you did. I have seen there that the 
normal operation is when the MAC controller puts the rest in sleep mode 
using the TX_PE and RX_PE signals. This is probably what happen when the
MAC port is disabled.

> It would also be interesting to test what kind of effect on power
> consumption is on disabling the MAC port. Host AP driver does not have a
> specific command for this yet, but it could be added if it is useful.
> Anyway, you can test it by loading the module with 'modprobe hostap_cs
> delayed_enable=1 disable_on_close=1'. Then the MAC port0 will be
> disabled when the netdev is down.
I have tried what you proposed and it works !

rmmod hostap_cs
insmod hostap_cs delayed_enable=1 disable_on_close=1
ifconfig wlan0 10.11.1.1 up
-->147 mA current consumption
ifconfig wlan0 10.11.1.1 down
-->18 mA current consumption !

I think that an iwpriv command to directly disable the MAC port would be
very usefull. I would like to keep the wlan0 port up and configured and
put the radio to sleep periodically. The duration of the state change
phases (sleep->ready and ready->sleep) should be as short as possible to
reduce the power consumption overhead.

Thanks a lot for you advice.

Best regards,

Amre El-Hoiydi
(I have to go now, I will be back in three weeks).