2.4GHz AP throughput issue on 43456

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JaMi_4804381
Level 1
Level 1

Hi,

I have a 43456 based SDIO module with which I'm having AP throughput issues. I've tested both current mainline Linux v5.9 and also Linux v5.4.18+brcmfmac patch set from the 2020-09-25 driver release.

I have a very simple hostapd config which consists of:

interface=wlan1

driver=nl80211

ctrl_interface=/var/run/hostapd

ssid=test

channel=11

ieee80211n=1

hw_mode=g

ignore_broadcast_ssid=0

Then connect a device, in this case iPhones and the Samsung S8 are particularly sensitive to the issue, run an iperf3 server on the STA and run a throughput test from the AP. I then find dropouts where either the driver or the firmware seems to be stalling and throughput drops to zero. Please see an example below:

[root@alarm ~]# iperf3 -c 192.168.10.96 -t 60

Connecting to host 192.168.10.96, port 5201

[  5] local 192.168.10.1 port 36714 connected to 192.168.10.96 port 5201

[ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bitrate         Retr  Cwnd

[  5]   0.00-1.00   sec  3.41 MBytes  28.6 Mbits/sec   63   83.4 KBytes

[  5]   1.00-2.00   sec  3.29 MBytes  27.6 Mbits/sec   24   87.7 KBytes

[  5]   2.00-3.00   sec  2.49 MBytes  20.8 Mbits/sec  104   42.4 KBytes

[  5]   3.00-4.00   sec  3.36 MBytes  28.2 Mbits/sec   67   42.4 KBytes

[  5]   4.00-5.00   sec  3.36 MBytes  28.1 Mbits/sec   31   66.5 KBytes

[  5]   5.00-6.00   sec  3.42 MBytes  28.7 Mbits/sec    9   79.2 KBytes

[  5]   6.00-7.00   sec  2.49 MBytes  20.8 Mbits/sec   60   55.1 KBytes

[  5]   7.00-8.00   sec  3.54 MBytes  29.7 Mbits/sec    0   89.1 KBytes

[  5]   8.00-9.00   sec  3.60 MBytes  30.2 Mbits/sec   65   86.3 KBytes

[  5]   9.00-10.00  sec  4.35 MBytes  36.5 Mbits/sec    0    117 KBytes

[  5]  10.00-11.00  sec  2.67 MBytes  22.4 Mbits/sec   96   70.7 KBytes

[  5]  11.00-12.00  sec  3.60 MBytes  30.2 Mbits/sec   58   72.1 KBytes

[  5]  12.00-13.00  sec  3.48 MBytes  29.2 Mbits/sec    0    100 KBytes

[  5]  13.00-14.00  sec  3.79 MBytes  31.8 Mbits/sec    8   97.6 KBytes

[  5]  14.00-15.00  sec  3.11 MBytes  26.1 Mbits/sec   32   74.9 KBytes

[  5]  15.00-16.00  sec  4.04 MBytes  33.9 Mbits/sec   58   60.8 KBytes

[  5]  16.00-17.00  sec  3.42 MBytes  28.7 Mbits/sec   13   70.7 KBytes

[  5]  17.00-18.00  sec  3.98 MBytes  33.4 Mbits/sec    0    105 KBytes

[  5]  18.00-19.00  sec  2.86 MBytes  24.0 Mbits/sec   56   43.8 KBytes

[  5]  19.00-20.00  sec  3.85 MBytes  32.3 Mbits/sec   39   73.5 KBytes

[  5]  20.00-21.00  sec  3.54 MBytes  29.7 Mbits/sec   44   79.2 KBytes

[  5]  21.00-22.00  sec  3.73 MBytes  31.3 Mbits/sec   53   87.7 KBytes

[  5]  22.00-23.00  sec  2.80 MBytes  23.5 Mbits/sec   90   33.9 KBytes

[  5]  23.00-24.00  sec  3.23 MBytes  27.1 Mbits/sec   90   56.6 KBytes

[  5]  24.00-25.00  sec  3.42 MBytes  28.7 Mbits/sec   47   72.1 KBytes

[  5]  25.00-26.00  sec  3.23 MBytes  27.1 Mbits/sec   50   63.6 KBytes

[  5]  26.00-27.00  sec  0.00 Bytes  0.00 bits/sec    1   1.41 KBytes <---------------------- complete dropout

[  5]  27.00-28.00  sec  1.99 MBytes  16.7 Mbits/sec   34   67.9 KBytes

[  5]  28.00-29.00  sec  3.60 MBytes  30.2 Mbits/sec   43   76.4 KBytes

[  5]  29.00-30.00  sec  3.36 MBytes  28.2 Mbits/sec   34   83.4 KBytes

[  5]  30.00-31.00  sec  2.55 MBytes  21.4 Mbits/sec   74   22.6 KBytes

[  5]  31.00-32.00  sec  3.23 MBytes  27.1 Mbits/sec   64   55.1 KBytes

[  5]  32.00-33.00  sec  3.29 MBytes  27.6 Mbits/sec    7   70.7 KBytes

[  5]  33.00-34.00  sec  3.23 MBytes  27.1 Mbits/sec   47   79.2 KBytes

[  5]  34.00-35.00  sec  2.86 MBytes  24.0 Mbits/sec   45   84.8 KBytes

[  5]  35.00-36.00  sec  3.48 MBytes  29.2 Mbits/sec   85   55.1 KBytes

[  5]  36.00-37.00  sec  3.23 MBytes  27.1 Mbits/sec   28   70.7 KBytes

[  5]  37.00-38.00  sec  3.48 MBytes  29.2 Mbits/sec   42   83.4 KBytes

[  5]  38.00-39.00  sec  2.86 MBytes  24.0 Mbits/sec   91   29.7 KBytes

[  5]  39.00-40.00  sec  3.48 MBytes  29.2 Mbits/sec   50   63.6 KBytes

[  5]  40.00-41.00  sec  3.54 MBytes  29.7 Mbits/sec   10   73.5 KBytes

[  5]  41.00-42.00  sec   191 KBytes  1.56 Mbits/sec    2   1.41 KBytes <---------------------- partital dropout (under 1 second, or spread across two)

[  5]  42.00-43.00  sec  1.93 MBytes  16.2 Mbits/sec   46   52.3 KBytes

[  5]  43.00-44.00  sec  3.67 MBytes  30.8 Mbits/sec    0   90.5 KBytes

[  5]  44.00-45.00  sec  3.54 MBytes  29.7 Mbits/sec  106   59.4 KBytes

[  5]  45.00-46.00  sec  3.91 MBytes  32.8 Mbits/sec    0   99.0 KBytes

[  5]  46.00-47.00  sec  2.98 MBytes  25.0 Mbits/sec   71   31.1 KBytes

[  5]  47.00-48.00  sec  3.67 MBytes  30.8 Mbits/sec   28   69.3 KBytes

[  5]  48.00-49.00  sec  3.67 MBytes  30.8 Mbits/sec   50   74.9 KBytes

[  5]  49.00-50.00  sec  3.54 MBytes  29.7 Mbits/sec    0    105 KBytes

[  5]  50.00-51.00  sec  2.86 MBytes  24.0 Mbits/sec  100   29.7 KBytes

[  5]  51.00-52.00  sec  3.67 MBytes  30.8 Mbits/sec   33   70.7 KBytes

[  5]  52.00-53.00  sec  3.91 MBytes  32.8 Mbits/sec    0    105 KBytes

[  5]  53.00-54.00  sec  3.54 MBytes  29.7 Mbits/sec   16   69.3 KBytes

[  5]  54.00-55.00  sec  2.42 MBytes  20.3 Mbits/sec   42   76.4 KBytes

[  5]  55.00-56.00  sec  3.11 MBytes  26.1 Mbits/sec   90   62.2 KBytes

[  5]  56.00-57.00  sec  3.36 MBytes  28.2 Mbits/sec   49   72.1 KBytes

[  5]  57.00-58.00  sec  3.17 MBytes  26.6 Mbits/sec   44   80.6 KBytes

[  5]  58.00-59.00  sec  3.11 MBytes  26.1 Mbits/sec    0    106 KBytes

[  5]  59.00-60.00  sec  2.98 MBytes  25.0 Mbits/sec    0    126 KBytes

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bitrate         Retr

[  5]   0.00-60.00  sec   191 MBytes  26.8 Mbits/sec  2489             sender <---------------------- high retry rate

[  5]   0.00-60.00  sec   191 MBytes  26.7 Mbits/sec                  receiver

iperf Done.

I have tested on different channels, under a multitude of conditions including a very remote countryside setting with no AP's in the vicinity. Can you confirm these results?

I am also wondering why there are no firmware releases for the 34356 chipset, I'm having to use ones that I find randomly on the internet. The current latest firmware I have available is one from July 2020, however I haven't yet found a firmware without this issue.

Regards,

Jack.

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1 Solution

I'm sorry but 43456 is not part of Infineon portfolio. For that reason, our quarterly FMAC driver releases do not contain supporting binaries for this WLAN chip. Please get in touch with Broadcom.

View solution in original post

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3 Replies
GauravS_31
Moderator
Moderator
Moderator
10 questions asked 250 solutions authored 250 sign-ins

If i'm not mistaken, are you performing Tx throughput testing on AP? Can you please collect the debug logs during the iperf test and attach the same? To enable debugging, please insmod the driver with the command shown below

insmod brcmfmac.ko debug=0x0003000E

For your reference, there is a community post on driver debugging https://community.cypress.com/community/software-forums/linux/blog/2020/02/04/fmac-debugging

Is the WLAN chip part number CYW43456/34356 or CYW4356? I could only find the latter in the FMAC driver package. Can you please attach the WLAN firmware binary that is being used?

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Hi,

Yes, I'm performing through from the AP to the STA, so outgoing Tx throughput from AP.

The WLAN chip part is 43456, and as mentioned I can neither find any recent officially released binaries for this chipset even though it is supposed to supersede the 43455. The firmware was taken from the root filesystem of the RaspberryPi distro, however I have tried other firmware versions from other sources on the internet. This is the printout from the driver upon probe:

[    2.590157] brcmfmac: brcmf_fw_alloc_request: using brcm/brcmfmac43456-sdio for chip BCM4345/9

[    2.785031] brcmfmac: brcmf_c_preinit_dcmds: Firmware: BCM4345/9 wl0: Jul  6 2020 11:29:52 version 7.45.96.68 (f9ee141@shgit) (r745790) FWID 01-b299bba7 es7.c5.n4.a3

Please find logs and firmware files at the below link:

https://gofile.io/d/9GMGEq

Regards,

Jack.

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I'm sorry but 43456 is not part of Infineon portfolio. For that reason, our quarterly FMAC driver releases do not contain supporting binaries for this WLAN chip. Please get in touch with Broadcom.

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