Software Release NotesRadio Model: AR-24027These are the release notes for earlier software versions that run only in the earlier radio model AR-24027. Whenever possible use the latest version of the firmware which is compatible with the newer radio model AR-24027E. Up to version 3.23 the firmware filenames were:
TDD02_XX for point-to-point
At version 3.25 we changed the designation to:
P2P0X_XX for point-to-point
The last P2P release was version 3.26. Starting with version 4.00 the firmware PMP0X_XX supported both topologies.
With version 6.XX we introduced the Tree topology and roaming. The
firmware PMP06_XX supports these topologies and also PmP, PtP and Linear
Network.
Version: 3.10 Date: October 13, 2004 New Features
The Point to Multipoint network can now run at any of the four
RF speeds supported by the radios. In previous versions the network
could only run at the fastest RF speed (2.75 Mbps). The RF speed is
set at the hub radio with the command: Problems FixedFixed some race conditions that could result in some packet losses under heavy loads.
Version: 3.11 Problems FixedRadio was errouneously filtering out some short IP packets causing some protocols to not work across the radios.
Version: 3.14 Problems FixedTelnet protocol packet retransmission had a problem that could cause a telnet session to hangup. A remote radio in an environment with strong interference could eventually lose the hub and not get reconnected until rebooted
Version: 3.20 New FeaturesIntroduced three levels of packet priority for transmission over RF. Packets are now sorted into three queues, which are transmitted in the following order:
At a hub node you can now specify the maximum number of remotes that the hub will acquire from 1 to 32 (use the ">node" command). When the hub acquires the configured number of remotes, it stops looking for new ones which improves the inbound throughput efficiency. This is particualrly useful for a point to point link where setting the max-remotes to 1 improves the inbound throughput by more than 10%. The radio now supports ethernet speed of 100 MHz full duplex. The auto negotiate algorithm has also been improved. You can now specify the antenna (a or b) when invoking the antenna alignment command. The layout of the various information pages has been improved. Problems FixedUnder heavy bursts the radio could drop some packets due to queue overflows. Queues have been increased to avoid that occurrence.
Version: 3.21 Problems FixedIntroduced more accurate RF power transmit calibration.
Version: 3.22 New FeaturesAllow SHOW command to monitor power supply voltage Problems FixedAllow PING packets up to 1472 bytes (payload). Resolve error causing ECONsole to hang on SAVE command if PC is directly connected with crossover cable (i.e. no hub). (Problem is not seen on Windows 98 or Windows ME)
Version: 3.23 New FeaturesAdded new command "distance-max km=16..160 miles=10..100". This allows deploying networks with distances exceeding the nominal 80 Km (50 miles) Added a new parameter to the "tdd" command: ether-sync=[on|off|rx-only|tx-only] which controls how the PULSAR synchronization propagates across the Ethernet port. The default value, "on", should be used in most cases. Turning it off allows to bypass the colocation synchronization over the Ethernet which may be useful if the Ethernet connection between colocated radios has variable delays causing the synchronization to break down. Added four channels at the low end of the band in unrestricted models Problems FixedThe monitor-link command now exits if the link drops. It used to keep displaying stale information. Known ProblemsThe spectrum-analysis and time-analysis commands do not work (and cause the radio to reset). This has been corrected in version 3.25
Version: 3.25 Problems FixedCorrected problem with the commands for performing the spectrum and time analysis introduced in version 3.23.
Version: 3.26 Problems FixedCorrected a problem that caused downloading of firmware updates over telnet connections to fail on weak links (with TCP retransmits). Corrected several minor problems in SNMP code. Now shows "link down" on the radio interface if radio does not have any neighbors. Also, SNMP traps are now recognized by InterMapper and OpenView managers.
Version: 4.00 New Features
In previous versions the TDD cycle split was fixed at 50/50
between transmit/receive. This resulted in the throughput of the
radio in each direction to max out at half of the total radio
capacity. In this version you can control the split in increments
of 10%, from 10/90 all the way to 90/10. In addition there is an
"auto" mode whereby the hub radio allocates the cycle split
dynamically based on the the traffic load in each direction. You
control this TDD split at the hub radio with the command:
We automated the "heartbeat" synchronization protocol used
between co-located radios. In previous versions you had to
designate one of the co-located units as a "master", and if that
unit was turned off no hub radios would transmit. Now co-located
radios automatically negotiate which radio becomes the source of
the "heartbeat" for all other radios. You can add or turn off hub
radios (including the current source) without disrupting the other
links. You may use the ">show" command to see the result of the
heartbeat negotiation and identify the current source. Added a new command, "monitor-flow". At the hub this command shows the current data flow to and from each remote and updates this information once per second. At a remote unit this command shows the data flow statistics to the hub. Compatibility IssuesThe over the air RF protrocol of version 4.XX is not compatible with version 3.XX. If you are updating the firmware over RF links make sure you download the new code and reboot the radios starting from the units that are reached with the larger number of RF hops. The heartbeat negotiation protocol over the Ethernet is not compatible with previous versions. The hearbeat protocol is designed to work across NetCrossing Gateways and to allow co-locating PMP radios with radios running the Linear Network software. Make sure you are running the latest versions of the software in the radios and gateways
Version: 4.02 Problems FixedChanging a node type from hub to remote could cause a unit to reboot. The hub could fail to acquire the "last" remote as specified by the max-remotes parameter Radio status was not being transmitted to the NetCrossing Gateway. This is used by the gateway to drive the "radio link" LED and show the radio status Solved some inconsistencies in the heartbeat negotiation when NetCrossing Gateways are involved.
Version: 4.50 Problems FixedA marginal outbound link (from the hub to a remote), could cause a remote radio to reboot. With multiple remotes, a marginal inbound link (from remote to hub), could cause the hub to drop some inbound packets from other remotes that had a strong signal. The "recent drops" statistic reported in monitor-link is now updated every second for every packet received or dropped. Previoulsy it was only updated after every 100 packts. Improved the scheduling of inbound traffic, allocating more unrequested slots to active nodes. Compatibility IssuesThe synchronization protocol over the ethernet for co-located devices changed. If you are co-locating radios that need to be synchronized make sure they all have version 4.50 or later. If you are co-locating NetCrossing Gateways with radios also make sure the gateways have a NXG 4.50 or later.
Version: 4.51 Problems FixedThe audio antenna alignment aid now works at a hub radio. It tracks the signal strength of the first remote in the list and is useful when deploying a point-to-point link. In a point-to-multipoint environment with multiple remotes, heavy traffic could induce a reboot of the hub. Also heavy outbound traffic to one remote could cause a small number of outbound packets to other remotes to be dropped.
Version: 4.52 Problems Fixed
Corrected various minor issues. Known ProblemsOn radios built since May 2009 (Serial numbers above AF024000, a.k.a. hardware type 2424) this build wil display the wrong RF link speed values and the RF link will not work. Version: 4.53 Date: December 17, 2009 Problems FixedCorrected the problem with the new radio (type 2424) compatibility. This allows the replacement of a radio in a network that requires the use of PMP 04.xx protocol. Firmware PMP 06.xx remains the recommended firmware for all new PMP installations.Version: 5.00 Date: May 21, 2007 Problems FixedThe audio antenna alignment aid now works at a hub radio. It tracks the signal strength of the first remote in the list and is useful when deploying a point-to-point link. New FeaturesRoaming: Remote radios can now be programmed with multiple receive channels. They survey the environment on all receive channels and attach to the strongest hub. As they they move, they may drop and reattach automatically to maintain a link to any of the hubs. See details under "solutions". In the "show" command, remote radios now track and display the outbound packet drop rate from the current hub. Compatibility IssuesVersion 5.00 is incompatible with previous versions. Make sure you upgrade all radios in the network to version 5.xx.
Version: 5.01 Problems FixedIn a point-to-multipoint environment with multiple remotes, heavy traffic could induce a reboot of the hub. Also heavy outbound traffic to one remote could cause a small number of outbound packets to other remotes to be dropped.
Version: 5.02 Problems FixedA roaming unit could pick up broadcast packets from hubs other than its current hub. These would show up as repeated packets on the local LAN. At a romaing unit the channel reported in monitor-link could be erroneous. The units now implement a running average on the RSSI level resulting in less jumping between hubs when the signals are weak. In the cycle following a survey cycle a roaming unit would occasioanlly miss the outbound packets from its own hub. The hub was underestimating the number of slots required for inbound which could result in a "Plan error" event at a remote.
Version: 5.03 Problems FixedIn some topologies after a unit roams to a different hub the packet routing in the network was incorrect and could take up to the Ethernet address timeout before the packets were routed to the new mobile position. This has been corrected.Reduced the multic-ast ethernet address timeout default value to 30 seconds.
Version: 6.01 (Beta) New FeaturesIntroduced the Tree topology where a radio can be configured as "root", "branch" or "leaf". Brnach nodes can have a link with a parent and also serve as access points to up to 32 children.This still supports the Point-to-Multipoint topology with the nodes configured as "hub" and "remote", so it supersedes all previous versions. Compatibility IssuesVersion 6.xx is incompatible with previous versions. Make sure you upgrade all radios in the network to version 6.xx. Version: 6.20 Date: November 28, 2007 New FeaturesNew command structure to program the different nodes (root-1 and root-2) and the two different rf configurations. We now allow the user to select the antenna for each configuration .Problems FixedMany issues fixed from the original beta version.Compatibility IssuesVersion 6.2x is incompatible with previous versions. Make sure you upgrade all radios in the network to version 6.2x. Version: 6.22 Date: January 15, 2008 New FeaturesAdded the "show tree" command which performs an inventory of all radios and displays them in a tree hierarchical fashion.Radio now accepts multiple commands in the same line spearated by semi-colons. Problems FixedDuring start-up a branch node attached to a root-1 might accept broadcast packets during the wrong phase and they could show up as repeated packets on the LAN.Version: 6.23 Date: February 8, 2008 New FeaturesCommand "monitor-link" now stays in place when the link to the parent drops.Problems FixedThe "distance" command could cause a reboot when entering a distance in excess of 83 miles. We now accept the maximum distance to 255 km or 158 miles.Multiple remotes trying to attach at the same time to a root-1 node could find that the parent was Full and give up trying to attach for 90 seconds. Stopped interpreting numbers with leading zeroes as octal. They are now interpreted as decimal. A branch node could sporadically miss the transition from receive from its children to receive from the parent due to a loose conection in the Xilinx.
Version: 6.24 New FeaturesAdded the "monitor-roaming" command. Also pressing the zero key while in monitor-link mode, it zeroes the cumulative error statistics.Problems FixedAfter opening multiple ECON sessions to the same radio, the radio might stop accepting new requests and the old sessions would not timeout. Now we always accept a new request: if more than 5 sessions are opened we close the one that has been idle for the longest time.Known problemsThe audio antenna alignment feature is not working in version 6.24 through 6.28. Fixed with version 6.30.Version: 6.25 Date: February 29, 2008 Problems FixedA root-1 node with simultaneous traffic from three or more children could erroneously transmit too long and lose inbound packets.Over ECON the reboot command quickly followed by pressing F4 could result in the radio not rebooting.
Version: 6.28 Problems FixedA sudden and sustained traffic burst on the Ethernet could cause a radio reboot.The radio now checks and discard packets that "age" too long in the transmit queue. Corrected labeling of the destination segment (BCast and Local) in the show ether tables. New FeaturesThe firmware now recognizes a hardware board type 2424, which widens the LO2 loop filter to make the radio more resilient to vibration. However, there is still a problem in running this version in the new hardware which got solved in 6.33.Added debug command "display-tx-queues" Known problemsThe audio antenna alignment feature is not working in version 6.24 through 6.28. Fixed with version 6.30.
Version: 6.30 Problems FixedFixed problem with audio antenna alignment that got broken in version 6.24.Improvements to Telnet behavior. New FeaturesAdded the UDP command interface suitable for commands to be issued by a progarm in a host computer.Added the capability to turn off the ethernet port on a command session over the console or RF. Added a Linear Network option key that allows a linear "tree" topology Known problemsIf the max distance and/or tdd cycle split settings are different between the parent and child, it can cause the child to reboot. Fixed in version 6.31.
Version: 6.31 Problems Fixed:Fixed problem with the max distance and cycle split setting. Now the children nodes learn those settings from the parent.Version: 6.33 Date: March 18, 2009 Problems Fixed:This version runs correctly in the new hardware board type 2424. This contains a hardware change that widened the LO2 loop filter to make the radio more resilient to vibration. Previous firmware versions do NOT run correctly in this new hardware.Very heavy ethernet traffic consisting of short ethernet packets flowing in both directions at the same time, could cause a remote radio to reboot. Increased DHCP host timeout from 1 second to 10 seconds to accommodate slow response from some router-based DHCP servers.
Version: 6.34 Problems Fixed:
When loading the radio configuration thorugh DHCP the node type was incorrect. Known problemsWith DHCP enabled whenever the radio refreshes its configuration from a DHCP server the radio may reconfigure its parameters and drop the RF link momentarily, even if there was no change to the RF parameters.Version: 6.35 Date: March 8, 2010 Problems Fixed:Fixed incorrect display of temperatures lower than 0 deg Celsius.Link no longer drops due to DHCP address lease renewal. Fixed problem preventig ARP timeout. Version: 6.36 Date: March 22, 2010 New FeaturesIncreased the maximum distances allowed to 500 kmVersion: 6.38 Date: January 19, 2011 New Features">monitor-link 0" can now be used to monitor all direct links simulataneously.Added monitoring of the tx power level and a warning (in the "show" command) if the measured level is significantely below the configured value. Problems Fixed:Roaming:Under some conditions the remote broadcast of a proxy packet on behalf of the host stations (to tell network their new position) was not being issued. Improved transition time when current hub drops suddenly. Heartbeat synchronization: Better rejection of hearbeat pkts delayed in external switches In a two hub system, if one hub was rebooted, could result in the two hubs not re-synchronizing cycles correctly. With a cycle of 20 ms heartbeat packets were being discarded unnecessarily. |
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