TPS07-072_rev1.3_Release_notes_A8_Firmware_1.4.0.11_GA.

doc

A8 WiFi Cellular Base Station

Firmware Release Notes
Version 1.4.0.11
(Status : GA)

Date: 19th April, 2007

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TPS07-072_rev1.3_Release_notes_A8_Firmware_1.4.0.11_GA.doc

1 Introduction
This release is the Generally Available (GA) version.

2 Firmware and FPGA Version

It is recommended to upgrade this firmware version with the corresponding FPGA as shown below:
Firmware
: 1.4.0.11 [Build - Mar 10 2007, 21:08:47]
FPGA
: 0x3e

Warning:

After setting A8 to its default values (i.e. Reset to Factory Default, either retained IP address or
not), you MUST reset a parameter called enableani to 1, by typing the following command
in CLI or via Telent .
set enableani 1
reboot
Please reboot the A8 to make the change effective.

3 Upgrade Procedure
3.1

Upload new firmware and FPGA into A8 through the web-admin interface.

3.2

Reboot the A8 to make new firmware effective (login A8 using the old username and password).

3.3

Type the IP address of A8 at URL of the browser, e.g. Internet Explorer, to access the equipment.
Note: https is not supported in this release. Please dont type https in URL.

3.4

Click Reset to Factory Default (with option address retained) under the section Others >
Factory Default so as to make new parameters to be effective.

3.5

Reboot the A8 to make new firmware effective (login A8 using the default username = altai and
password = wag).

3.6

Type set enableani 1 through CLI, i.e. Console or Telent .

3.7

Reboot the A8 to make the above setting effective (login A8 using the default username = altai
and password = wag).

3.8

Configure the A8 accordingly.

Please refer to Section 7 of A8 Configuration Manual TPS06-046_rev1.8_A8_Configuration_Manual_-_fm_1.4.0.11 if

you want to know how to access A8 BTS via Console or Telnet
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4 New Feature and Enhancement (prior to 1.2.11.10)

4.1
4.1.1

System
Auto Channel Selection
This release supports Auto Channel Selection. When it is enabled, the A8 automatically
scans all available radio channels assigned to the regulatory domain upon it is booting up.
The cleanest channel is then selected as the operating channel. This parameter requires
reboot to take effective.

4.1.2

Firmware / FPGA Update through HTTP

This release provides firmware / FPGA update through HTTP, i.e. FTP server is not need.
The user can update the firmware and the FPGA through either FTP or HTTP.

4.1.3

Event Logging
This release supports event logging for diagnostic purpose. The current implementation
allows the logging of the following events:
Trace ID
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12

Trace Target
Boot Trace
Panic Trace
System Trace
Busy Time ANI Trace
Power Save Trace
SNMP Trace
Web Server Trace
CLI Trace
Debug Trace
DHCP Server Trace
DHCP Client Trace
Station Trace
Queue Trace

The event logs can be shown through CLI or web-admin interface.

will be lost across reboot.

4.2
4.2.1

Note that all event logs

Networking
Improvement in DHCP Server Configuration
This release changes the way of inputting lease parameters for command set
dhcpsaddrtbl. Originally, after inputting the address pool name, addresses range, then
CLI will prompt Lease parameters: for a single line input of multiple parameters. In
this new version, CLI will prompt the parameters one by one for the user to input.
Furthermore, the following parameters are the only parameters that the user can input.
- Subnet Mask
- Default Gateway
- DNS Server IP Address (at most 3)
- Default Lease Duration (in second)
It can be configured through CLI, web-admin interface or AWMS.

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4.2.2

Auto DNS Update Configuration

This release supports DNS Auto Update. DHCP Client or PPPoE Client of A8 has to be
enabled for making this feature works. Then the A8 will acquire DNS settings (both DNS IP
address and Domain Name Suffix). If the DNS Auto Update is enabled, then the user is not
allowed to set the DNS settings. In addition, if DHCP Server is enabled in A8, the DNS
settings will bypass to the DHCP Server Configuration.

4.2.3

PPPoE Support
This release supports basic PPPoE client features such as connect at start up, manual connect,
manual disconnect, connection loss detection and auto re-connect. Note that it is available
through Ethernet only, but not wireless bridge link.

4.3
4.3.1

4.3.2

Enhancement in Web Interface

The following function can be configured via web-admin

Network Operational Mode Configuration

DNS Auto Update Configuration

DHCP Server Configuration

NAT Configuration PPPoE Configuration

Enhancement in GUI of ACL and Security Configuration

It makes the users easier to configure the settings.

4.3.3

Address Lease Table Information in 2.4GHz Statistics page

This table provides the mapping between the MAC address and the IP address of the DHCP
client.

4.3.4

Updated Help Page

The help pages of the web-admin interface are updated.

Note: SSL is not supported for web-admin accessing via HTTP.

https to access web-admin using IE.

4.4

Users have to type http instead of

SNMP Support for AWMS

This release provides full SNMP support for AWMS, with a few exceptions such as 5GHz Radio
Bridge Link status.

5 Resolved Defects (prior to 1.2.11.10)

5.1
5.1.1

Performance
WiFi clients sometimes take a long time to associate A8 even though it receives good signal
strength.

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5.2

System

5.2.1

The CLI commands set factorydefault and set factoryAll cannot reset the
parameters of name server and DNS suffix.

5.2.2

Shared keys are not loaded from the configuration file correctly if the VAP is previously set
to WPA and then set to open or shared authentication mode.

5.2.3

WEP shared keys 2 and 3 are corrupted if WPA is enabled in a VAP ID which is smaller than
the VAP ID with WEP.

5.2.4

WEP cipher does not work properly when setting default key to 2 or 3 or 4 through the
web-admin interface.

5.3
5.3.1
5.3.2

5.4
5.4.1

Networking
Slow response in IP assignment in DHCP Server mode.
DHCP messages coming from the Ethernet side in DHCP Server mode.
Web Interface
When channel and power are changed at the same time, the power setting will retain in the old
value.

6 Known Issues
6.1

System

6.1.1

Keep Alive function (5GHz Radio Bridge Link) has not yet implemented in this A8 version.

6.1.2

NTP cannot work properly if NTP polling interval is set to 0.

6.1.3

NTP polling interval can be set to negative value, and it will be reset to 0 when setting it to
non-numerical value.

6.1.4

DNS suffix input checking is just against space and special characters only.

6.1.5

VLAN tag can be set to out of range (range is within 1 4096) and no error message if this
happens.

6.1.6

WiFi clients can ping other clients in different VAP if VLAN mode is disabled.

6.1.7

When A8 is under Gateway mode, broadcast frames are still being broadcast to all active
VAPs.

6.1.8

The operation mode will automatically changes to Gateway mode after enabling NAT or
DHCP Server in A8.

Keep Alive is a mechanism currently implemented in A0 in which two wireless bridges can know detects and
constantly check if the opposite party is still turned on or any issue in the connectivity.
If one side sends out a Keep Alive message but does not receive any Keep Alive acknowledgement from the
opposite one, the sending side will reboots itself periodically until it receives an acknowledgement.
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6.1.9

Clients using WPA / WPA2 LEAP, WAP-FAST, and PEAP-GTC authentication cannot
authenticate with RADIUS server through A8. This may be the RADIUS server
configuration issue.

6.1.10

WPA-PSK passphrase can only support up to a maximum of 63 characters instead of 64

characters.

6.2

Networking

6.2.1

When NTP is enabled, the expiration time of Active Lease entries, which is saved to the
configuration file, is based off Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970. As a result, if all the IP addresses
in the DHCP Server address pool have been assigned, then A8 will not able to assign IP
address to any associated client even after the A8 reboots.
Workaround: 1) create a significant large DHCP Server address pool to avoid it ever being
used up. In addition, the user can manually 2) remove the corresponding DHCP Server
address pool and reboot the A8.

6.2.2

DHCP Server of A8 does not support the maximum lease time. The maximum lease time is
infinite time, which means that the A8 will accept any lease time which the client proposes.

6.2.3

In DHCP Server address pool configuration, there is no checking for both starting and end
addresses in the same subnet.

6.2.4

DHCP active leases are not saved to the configuration file immediately (update every 10
minutes).
Workaround: type the command get dhcpsleasetbl through CLI to force the DHCP
active leases to be saved to the configuration file.

6.2.5

With DNS Auto Update is enabled in A8, DHCP Server Active Leases get wiped out each
time PPPoE reconnects.

6.2.6

When the function DHCP Client is enabled in A8, then the A8 cannot obtain IP address
through wireless bridge link.

6.2.7

When the function DHCP Client is enabled in A8, then the A8 ignores the lease duration
offered by an external DHCP server uses a default lease time of one year, i.e. A8 does not
renew its lease.
Workaround: reboot the A8 after any external DHCP server setting change.

6.2.8

If the DNS address is changed in the external DHCP server, A8 do not distribute the updated
DNS address to the wireless clients, but the previous one.
Workaround: reboot the A8 or let the WiFi client associate to the A8 again.

6.2.9

A8 does not support PPPoE function if the backhaul is 5GHz Radio Wireless Bridge, instead
of Ethernet.

6.2.10

When the function DHCP Server is enabled in A8, then if PPPoE connection fails to get
established during A8 boot up, then the wireless client cannot obtain IP address from the
DHCP Server of A8. The DHPC Server then works properly as soon as PPPoE gets
connected.

6.2.11

If cable is unplugged within 1 minute after PPPoE connection is established, the connection
failure will not be detected. If cable is unplugged after 1 minute, the status can be detected.

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6.2.12

6.3

In order to make Clients IPSec / PPTP VPN works, Gateway mode or NAT mode should not
be enabled in A8.

SNMP Agent / MIB

6.3.1

Cannot retrieve full ACL list from multiple VAPs, only the one from VAP ID 0 can be
retrieved successfully.

6.3.2

Adding multiple entries to the DHCP Relay Table at the same time may result in missing
entries.

6.3.3

The WEP key cannot be deleted.

6.3.4

If NTP is enabled and run properly previously, then NTP Failure alarm still appears even
though the NTP mode is disable if NTP failed.

6.3.5

DHCP Server address pool validation check failure may result in partial setting being applied
to the A8.

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