Hi Jonas,
> Alright, I'm going to explain my understanding of how this
works:
>
> When the QMI modem registers to an LTE network, it negotiates a
> default bearer using the "default settings". The default settings are
> taken from the QMI WDS "default profile" which is presumably profile 1
> by default.
>
> Even though the network registration has taken place and the bearer is
> in place, the QMI modem doesn't bring up the network interface.
> Calling "get current settings" at this point gives you nothing.
>
> At this point, you need to bring up the network interface by calling
> "Start network". Start network takes a bunch of parameters but these
> parameters are all ignored since the bearer is already set up.
>
Sounds like some 'creative thinking' from Qualcomm guys ;) But so far
this makes sense. The parameters are already set in stone. For QMI,
the .read_settings method should be also bringing up the network
interface, e.g. 'Start network' in your case. For ublox devices the
network device flows packets as soon as the context is active...
> I haven't tested this, but I suspect that calling "Start
network" for
> the same profile again will fail...??? A profile number corresponds
> to a Context ID...??? Maybe...
I would imagine that a profile has the same meaning as the 27.007
equivalent of +CGDCONT <cid>
I tested this and "start network" fails when attempting to
connect a
profile a second time.
Makes sense. Do note that the same APN can be (in theory) double,
triple, etc activated. But this requires a separate cid for each instance.
>
> If you need a specific setting for the default bearer (like APN), you
> need to set it in the default profile before registering to the
> network. This is what the LTE atom must take care of... and, hence,
> the atom must be created
> before setting the modem online.
Correct. This is what .set_default_attach_info does. lte atom should
be created in post_sim.
>
> For non-LTE, the bearer isn't set up until "Start network" is called,
> so the usual context parameters can be passed to it at that time. Any
> parameters that are omitted are taken from the default profile.
>
Again, sounds right.
> Given all of the above, for QMI this means:
>
> i) When the netreg atom detects registration to an LTE network then
> we can call "Start network" immediately.
gprs atom driver needs to tell ofono core that a context is active.
This means gprs driver should call ofono_gprs_cid_activated
> ii) Start network will give us the packet-handle for the
default
> bearer. This can be held by the netreg atom.
why netreg atom? This should be managed by gprs-context.
> iii) The packet handle survives until the network becomes
> unregistered (even through a transition to UMTS,GPRS,etc networks).
> iv) There is never any reason to call "Stop network" for the default
> bearer because a network unregistration will achieve the same thing.
> If the network becomes unregistered we can throw away the packet
> handle. The gprs-context associated with the default bearer won't
> know the packet-handle, so we need to make sure it doesn't try to call
> "Stop network" for it's instance... but that's a detail, I think.
Point iv) is wrong... we need to release the packet handle using "stop
network" when the bearer goes away.
Much of this has to be handled by the driver. E.g. the driver has to
detect that a default bearer has been activated. Then:
1. call ofono_gprs_cid_activated
2. Step 1 in turn assigns a context and calls .read_settings
3. .read_settings should setup the active context and call 'start network'
4. When a context is de-activated for whatever reason, gprs-context
driver needs to clean up, e.g. call 'stop network'.
/Jonas
> It seems that there exists a method to change the default profile
> number... it's undocumented, though, AFAICT.
>
> What's a bit unclear to me, though, is how this interacts with network
> technology transitions... what happens when I move out of LTE coverage
> and into a UMTS/GPRS network?
The context should survive and keep going. If it doesn't, then the
network / model should tell us that a context is no longer active.
There must be some notification to that effect.
Regards,
-Denis