WiLink8 Feature Guide/mBSSID

Supported from version ol_r8.a8.27 (R8.6) and above

Previous Versions

For previous versions: R8.3, R8.3SP1, R8.4, R8.4SP1, R8.4SP2, R8.5 and R8.5SP1 please refer to the following link for user guide. mBSSID user guide for version up to R8.5

Feture Description

• 2 virtual APs on the same physical WL8 device.
• The 2 virtual APs shall operate on the same RF channel.
• In mBSSID mode, the WLAN Component will create 2 SoftAP network interfaces.

-Each AP will have a separate BSSID and SSID.

-Each AP will transmit a separate Beacon.

-Each virtual AP will respond to Probe-Requests separately.

• Support up to 10 traffic links (i.e. 10 connected STAs) total, for both BSSs combined.
• WiFi Privacy / Encryption

-Each of the two APs will be able to enable or disable Privacy, regardless of the other AP’s setting.

-All combinations of Encryption types will be supported.

Setup & Configuration

The mBSSID solution is running one instances of the ‘hostapd’ for both BSSs.
The configuration parameters of the hostapd are located in a configuration file called ‘hostapd.conf’.
This file is provided and may be modified to meet the product requirements.
In addition, two ‘udhcp.conf’ files are provided (see below) for control over the IP addresses provided in each BSS.

1. Make sure the following files are located in /usr/share/wl18xx/

a. hostapd.conf

b. udhcp.conf

c. udhcp2.conf

2. At the end of the hostapd.conf file add the mandatory attributes (This will configure the second AP with exactly the same attributes
as the first one except for the SSID. All the parameters below bss=wlan2 configures the second bss):

bss=wlan2

ssid=BSS2

use_driver_iface_addr=1

Note: It is possible to add other attributes such as security and WPS the same way it is added for the first BSS in the file.

wpa=2

wpa_key_mgmt=WPA-PSK

wpa_pairwise=CCMP

wpa_passphrase=12345678

wps_independent=1

wps_state=2

device_name=Sitara

device_type=1-0050F204-1

manufacturer=TexasInstruments

model_name=TI_Connectivity_module

model_number=wl18xx

serial_number=12345

uuid=12345678-9abc-def0-1234-56789abcdef1

eap_server=1

config_methods=virtual_display virtual_push_button push_button keypad

Note: Adding different channel and band is not supported.

3. Each AP should be configured with an IP on a different subnet.

The start and end of the IP lease block in the udhcp.conf files should be updated accordingly, as well as the “opt router” (i.e. default-gateway) parameter.

For example:

If AP1 was configured with IP 192.168.43.1 and AP2 was configured with IP 192.168.53.1 (both with 255.255.255.0 mask) then the start, end and opt router should be as follows:

Attribute/File	udhcp.conf	udhcp2.conf
start	192.168.43.20	192.168.53.20
end	192.168.43.254	192.168.53.254
opt router	192.168.43.1	192.168.53.1

User Guide & Examples

During mBSSID mode, each AP has it’s own network interface. The first AP network interface is named “wlan1” and the second AP network interface is usually named “wlan2”.
Note that these names must be configured in the hostapd.conf files accordingly (see above in setup & configuration).
Each AP is assigned with a unique MAC address. The MAC address is derived from the chip basic MAC address and is incremented serially.
For example if the basic MAC is E0:C7:9D:2D:AA:CC then the first AP will be assigned with E0:C7:9D:2D:AA:CD and the second with E0:C7:9D:2D:AA:CE.

Following are the scripts used for start/stop both BSS:

1. Start both APs: ap_start.sh
2. Stop both APs: ap_stop.sh

Errata/Limitations

mBSSID mode need to be started or stopped statically.