> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://dragonwingdocs.qualcomm.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Wi-Fi architecture The Wi-Fi software architecture comprises the following components. **Table : Wi-Fi software components** | **Component** | **Description** | | ------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | User space | • Facilitates Wi-Fi parameter configuration and setup.

• Supports factory testing and debugging. | | Kernel space | • Facilitates communication between the driver and the application layers. | | Driver | • Facilitates communication between the operating system (OS) and the wireless network hardware.

• Initializes the firmware and downloads Board Data Files (BDF) required to bring up the WLAN RF.

• Manages the control path and data path required for the 802.11 protocol. | | Firmware | • A software component embedded in the Wi-Fi hardware device.

• Manages low-level communication with the hardware.

• Handles 802.11 protocol-based tasks like scanning for networks, establishing connections, and transmitting data over Wi-Fi hardware. | ## **ath11k driver software architecture** The following figure shows the high-level Wi-Fi software architecture with ath11k driver:
Figure : Wi-Fi software architecture with ath11k driver

Figure : Wi-Fi software architecture with ath11k driver

The software architecture of the ath11k driver can be referenced for ath10k/ath12k. The current interface used by WCN3980 is SNOC. ### **User space components** The user space contains the following key components: **Table : User space components** | **Component** | **Description** | | ---------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | wpa\_supplicant | • Manages secure connections to Wi-Fi networks.

• Supports various security protocols, including WPA3, WPA2, and legacy ones. | | Host access point daemon (hostapd) | • Enables a network interface card to function as an access point and authentication server.

• Transforms your device into a wireless hotspot.

• Provides Wi-Fi connectivity and handles authentication to ensure that devices connected to the network are authorized.

• Supports various authentication methods, including WPA, WPA2, WPA3, and Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP).

• Functions as a remote authentication dial-in user service (RADIUS) client for communication with a RADIUS server.

• Includes an integrated EAP server for certain EAP methods. | ### **Kernel space components** The kernel space contains the following key components: **Table : Kernel space components** | **Component** | **Description** | | ------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | cfg80211 | • Manages the configuration of wireless devices.

• Interfaces with mac80211, which uses the hardware-specific lower level ath10k, ath11k and ath12k driver. | | Network stack | • A network stack provided by the OS.

• Supports functions to manage the driver and handle various TCP/IP protocols as data flows to the driver. | | mac80211 | • Implements open-source WLAN protocols as part of the Linux kernel.

• Handles the registration and configuration of the network subsystem through cfg80211. cfg80211 implements this configuration through nl80211 and wireless extensions (WEXT). | ### **ath11k/ath12k driver components** The ath10k/ath11k/ath12k driver contains the following key components: | **Component** | **Description** | | ---------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | MAC interface | • Acts as an interface between mac80211 and lower layers of ath10k/ath11k/ath12k driver.

• Interfaces with mac80211 through ath10k\_ops/ath11k\_ops/ath12k\_ops\_wifi7.

• Sends data and management frames to the data path.

• Sends configuration commands to the WMI path. | | Control path | • Performs operations such as scan, authentication, and association. | | Data path | • Manages the data traffic transmitted and received by WLAN.

• Supports various features to ensure optimal performance. | | Host software-firmware interface | • Includes WMI, HTT, and HAL. | | WMI/HTT | • Implements high-level protocols between the host driver and firmware running on WLAN Qualcomm Hexagon™ Digital Signal Processor (Hexagon) on the SoC.

• Typically, the WMI interface is used for control path transactions, and HTT is used for data path transactions. | | HTT/HAL | • Abstracts hardware data structures and implements the recipe for direct MMIO-based register access and memory access.

• Depends on the hardware or chip.

• Interfaces between data path driver and WLAN hardware in a highly optimized packet path implementation. | | Host interface for bus abstraction | • Provides host-target bus abstraction services.

• Abstracts the peripheral control interface express (PCIe). | | PCIe | • A hardware interface in the driver. | | Copy engine (CE) | • Implements hardware pipe, Standard Ring Interface (SRNG) based communication channel between the host driver and firmware running on the CE interface over PCIe. | | SNOC | • Primary interconnect fabric within a SOC (WCN3980 only). | ### **Firmware components** The WLAN firmware runs on a dedicated processor (Q6). The WLAN firmware binary contains the following key components: * Various 802.11 protocols and the statemachine of software modules * Performance-related software algorithms like rate adaptation, coexistence, MIMO, and OFDMA * Core MAC hardware programming recipes * Uniform MAC/PHY service interface to upper layers * Core PHY and RF hardware programming recipes. For example, RF calibration, BDF, and RADAR.
Figure : Firmware components

Figure : Firmware components

The following table provides the list of firmware components and their description. **Table : Firmware components** | **Component** | **Description** | | -------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Host-firmware interface | • Wireless Module Interface (WMI) – Control plane API definitions between host and firmware​

• Host Target Interface (HTT) – Data plane API definitions between host and firmware | | Protocol | • Implements various 802.11 standards protocols and state machines, offloads, host command, scan algorithms and event handling | | Performance algorithm and MAC services | • Performance algorithm implements performance related software algorithms like rate adaptation, transmit scheduler, Multi-User (MU) scheduler, MU grouping, Resource Unit (RU) allocator, Air Time Fairness (ATF)​ and hardware IP specific: Tx and Rx Data path, MAC control path sequences

• MAC register programming and descriptor setup/completion, coexistence hardware recipes, chip power hardware recipes | | HAL PHY | Common software infrastructure for PHY/RFA hardware and HAL-PHY interface to firmware. ​ | | PHY/RF software | • PHY/RFA hardware component access interface implementation modules containing hardware programming sequences/recipes specific to a given PHY/RFA and platform hardware IP​ | | System software | • Implements all platform specific SoC related services |