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+.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
+.. include:: <isonum.txt>
+
+===================================================================
+mac80211_hwsim - software simulator of 802.11 radio(s) for mac80211
+===================================================================
+
+:Copyright: |copy| 2008, Jouni Malinen <j@w1.fi>
+
+This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+it under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 as
+published by the Free Software Foundation.
+
+
+Introduction
+============
+
+mac80211_hwsim is a Linux kernel module that can be used to simulate
+arbitrary number of IEEE 802.11 radios for mac80211. It can be used to
+test most of the mac80211 functionality and user space tools (e.g.,
+hostapd and wpa_supplicant) in a way that matches very closely with
+the normal case of using real WLAN hardware. From the mac80211 view
+point, mac80211_hwsim is yet another hardware driver, i.e., no changes
+to mac80211 are needed to use this testing tool.
+
+The main goal for mac80211_hwsim is to make it easier for developers
+to test their code and work with new features to mac80211, hostapd,
+and wpa_supplicant. The simulated radios do not have the limitations
+of real hardware, so it is easy to generate an arbitrary test setup
+and always reproduce the same setup for future tests. In addition,
+since all radio operation is simulated, any channel can be used in
+tests regardless of regulatory rules.
+
+mac80211_hwsim kernel module has a parameter 'radios' that can be used
+to select how many radios are simulated (default 2). This allows
+configuration of both very simply setups (e.g., just a single access
+point and a station) or large scale tests (multiple access points with
+hundreds of stations).
+
+mac80211_hwsim works by tracking the current channel of each virtual
+radio and copying all transmitted frames to all other radios that are
+currently enabled and on the same channel as the transmitting
+radio. Software encryption in mac80211 is used so that the frames are
+actually encrypted over the virtual air interface to allow more
+complete testing of encryption.
+
+A global monitoring netdev, hwsim#, is created independent of
+mac80211. This interface can be used to monitor all transmitted frames
+regardless of channel.
+
+
+Simple example
+==============
+
+This example shows how to use mac80211_hwsim to simulate two radios:
+one to act as an access point and the other as a station that
+associates with the AP. hostapd and wpa_supplicant are used to take
+care of WPA2-PSK authentication. In addition, hostapd is also
+processing access point side of association.
+
+::
+
+
+ # Build mac80211_hwsim as part of kernel configuration
+
+ # Load the module
+ modprobe mac80211_hwsim
+
+ # Run hostapd (AP) for wlan0
+ hostapd hostapd.conf
+
+ # Run wpa_supplicant (station) for wlan1
+ wpa_supplicant -Dnl80211 -iwlan1 -c wpa_supplicant.conf
+
+
+More test cases are available in hostap.git:
+git://w1.fi/srv/git/hostap.git and mac80211_hwsim/tests subdirectory
+(http://w1.fi/gitweb/gitweb.cgi?p=hostap.git;a=tree;f=mac80211_hwsim/tests)