int6kuart(1) Qualcomm Atheros Open Powerline Toolkit int6kuart(1)
NAME
int6kuart - Qualcomm Atheros Serial Line Device Manager
SYNOPSIS
int6kuart [options] [...]
DESCRIPTION
Perform powerline device management operations over serial line interface.
Serial line commands are 7-bit ASCII character strings sent to the local powerline device over the host serial port.
They can be sent using any terminal emulator but this program will, in many cases, reduce typing and simplify scripting.
It is especially useful for downloading device parameters and uploading device parameters or firmware because those oper‐
ations involve large volumes of data. Also, this program permits decimal integer arguments in many cases where the
serial line commands require hexadecimal integer values. See the COMMANDS section (below) for a list of supported serial
line commands.
This program is part of the Qualcomm Atheros Powerline Toolkit. See the AMP man page for an overview and installation
instructions.
COMMENTS
This program does not configure or reconfigure host serial port settings by default because most operating systems have
their own serial port configuration utility. Be sure to configure host serial port settings before using this program
because other programs may change them before or after use. Atheros factory default settings for UART-enabled powerline
devices are 115200 baud, 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, no parity and no flow control. See option -b for a quick way to match
host serial port settings the Qualcomm Atheros default settings.
On Windows, use the DOS mode command. The general form of this command is mode,baud,parity,databits,stopbits. The fol‐
lowing example will set a Windows host to the default serial settings used by Atheros powerline devices.
# mode com3:115200,n,8,1
On Linux, use the stty utility to inspect and set serial port parameters. The following Linux command will configure
serial device /dev/ttyS0 speed to 115200 baud with 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, no parity bit and no flow control. Consult
the stty man page for an explanation of these and other options.
# stty -F /dev/ttyS0 115200 cs8 cstopb -parenb -ixon
On Linux, you can also use the minicom terminal emulator to communicate using the underlying serial line commands
described in the COMMANDS section. The minicom program reads default settings from configuration file /etc/mini‐
com/minirc.dfl if present on startup. A basic configuration file looks like this:
pu port /dev/ttyUSB0
pu baudrate 115200
pu bits 8
pu parity N
pu stopbits 1
pu rtscts No
OPTIONS
-b Set host serial port to the default settings mentioned above. The original host serial port settings are not
restored when the program terminates. You must restore them manually or by other means. Changing host serial
port settings will break serial communications with the local powerline device if the device is not using the same
settings.
-c command
Send a custom serial line command to the local powerline device over the host serial interface. Argument command
is sent as specified but will be terminated with a carriage return. The command must be enclosed in quotes if it
contains spaces or special characters. This option can be used to send serial line commands that are not sup‐
ported by this program.
-C module
Commit downloaded parameters and/or firmware to NVM using the ATWNV serial line command. Argument module is one
hexadecimal octet. The low-order nibble contains the module number. The high-order nibble contains optional con‐
trol bits. Acceptable module values are 0x01=Firmware, 0x02=Parameters, 0x10=Force Flash and 0x20=Do Not Reboot.
The default value is 0x00 which has no effect. The 0x prefix is optional.
-d Read and display the destination device address using the ATDST serial line command. This option is similar to
option -D but substitutes ? for the device address.
-D address
Set the destination device address for Transparent Mode using the ATDST serial line command. This address will
supercede the default destination device address, stored in the PIB, until the device is reset. Multicast address
values are not permitted by the device. Argument address is six hexadecimal octets optionally separated by
colons.
-F filename
Read the named frame description file and send it over powerline as an Atheros vendor-specific management message
using the ATM serial line command. Unlike program efsu, only the first file frame is sent. Any subsequent frames
defined in the file are ignored.
-H Exit Command Mode and enter High Speed Command Mode using the ATHSC serial line command.
-i Get and display network information using the ATNI serial line command. The information includes the TEI, MAC
address, receive rate and transmit rate for each remote device on the network.
-I Get and display the PIB version and device MAC address using the ATRPM serial line command.
-m Read and display the Network Membership Key of the local powerline device using the ATSK serial line command.
This option is similar to option -M but substitutes ? for the membership key.
-M key Set the Network Membership Key of the local powerline device using the ATSK serial line command. The key consists
of 16 hexadecimal octets optionally separated by colons.
-N filename
Open the named firmware file on the local host and write it to the local device using multiple ATWPF serial line
commands. There is no default filename or extension. The file is assumed to contain a valid firmware image.
-O Exit Command Mode and enter Transparent Mode using the ATO serial line command. Subsequent serial data will be
transmitted over the powerline to the destination device address as raw data. Use option -d to set the destina‐
tion device address.
-p filename
Read the parameter block from the local powerline device and write it to the named file on the local host using
multiple ATRP serial line commands. Required length and offset values are automatically computed for each serial
line command sent. There is no default filename or extention.
-P filename
Open the parameter file on the local host and write it to the local powerline device using multiple ATWPF serial
line commands. Required length and offset values are automatically computed for each serial line command sent.
There is no default filename or extention. The named file is assumed to contain a valid parameter block.
-q Suppress progress and error information on stderr.
-r Read and display the local powerline device hardware identifier and firmware version string using the ATRV serial
line command.
-R Reset the local device using the ATZ serial line command
-s tty Communicate with the local powerline device over the named serial interface on the local host. The program
default is "/dev/ttyUSB0" for Linux and "com1:" for Windows. The program default is replaced if environment vari‐
able PLCUART is defined. This option over-rides those default settings.
-S Place the local power line device in Power Save Mode using the ATPS serial line command.
-t Test device using the AT serial line command. The device will respond with "OK" when in Command Mode.
-T Restore factory defaults on the local power line device using the ATFD serial line command. Among other things,
this will restore the destination device address stored in the factory PIB. Any destination device address previ‐
ously set using option -d will be lost.
-u Force default host port settings to match the default setting for UART-enabled Atheros powerline devices. The
setting are 115200 baud, 8 data bits, no parity bits and 1 stop bit. These settings will remain active when the
program terminates and will not change unless changed by some other means, perhaps by another application. This
option is an easy means of establishg an initial serial connection with a powerline device, unless it's settings
have been changed.
-v Display actual serial line commands and responses on stdout.
-w Place the local powerline device in Command Mode using the +++ serial line command. The device will remain in com‐
mand mode until it is reset or forced into Transparaent Mode or High Speed Command Mode.
-W timeout
Set the Transparent Mode aggregation timeout using the ATTO serial line command. The timeout is expressed in deci‐
mal milliseconds. Valid values are 1 through 2000.
-z Get the Transparent Mode buffer size using the ATBSZ serial line command. This option is similar to option -B but
substitutes ? for the buffer size.
-Z size
Set the Transparent Mode buffer size using the ATBSZ serial line command. The size in bytes is specified in deci‐
mal here and converted to hexadecimal for transmission. Valid values range from 46 to 1500. The default is 500
bytes.
-?,--help
Print program help summary on stdout. This option takes precedence over other options on the command line.
-!,--version
Print program version information on stdout. This option takes precedence over other options on the command line.
Use this option when sending screen dumps to Atheros Technical Support so that they know exactly which version of
the Linux Toolkit you are using.
ARGUMENTS
None.
COMMANDS
This section lists serial line commands recognized by local powerline devices when in Command Mode. Commands can be
issued interactively using a terminal emulator, like minicom on Linux or HyperTerminal on Windows or stored as text and
copied to the serial port using system utilities, like cat on Linux or type on Windows. This program merely converts the
command line options and arguments described above into one or more of the serial line commands shown below.
+++ Exit Transparent Mode and enter Command Mode. See option -w above.
AT Test for Command Mode by doing nothing, successfully. See option -t above.
ATBRmode,baudrate,databits,parity,stopbits,flowctrl
Set serial line parameters on the local powerline device. Beware that this will break the existing serial connec‐
tion when the new parameters differ from those of the local host.
ATBSZ? Get Transparent Mode buffer size. See option -z above.
ATBSZsize
Set Transparent Mode buffer size. See option -Z above.
ATDST? Get Transparent Mode destination device address. See option -d above.
ATDSTaddress
Set Transparent Mode destination device address. See option -D above.
ATFD Reset local device to factory defaults. See option -T above.
ATHSC Exit Command Mode and enter High Speed Command Mode. Once the OK response is received, the local host should send
commands to the device at successively higher speeds until a valid response is received.
ATMmessage
Send an Atheros vendor-specific management message over powerline. The message is expressed as a series of hexa‐
decimal digits.
ATNI? Read nework information and store the information internally. Return the number of associated stations and infor‐
mation about the first associated station. The information includes the peer station device address, TX rate and
RX rate.
ATNIstation
Extract and display previously stored network information for a specific peer station. The information returned is
that previosly stored using a ATNI serial line command query.
ATO Exit Command Mode and enter Transparent Mode. Successful switch requires a valid destination MAC address, buffer
size and aggregation timeout value. Use serial line commands ATDST and ATBSZ to get and/or set the first two val‐
ues. Use serial line command ATTO to set the timeout value.
ATPStime
Place the device in Power Save Mode for a specified time in seconds. Valid values are 1 to 384 seconds. The
default time is A seconds.
ATRPlength,offset
Read and display a parameter block segment where length is the number of bytes read and offset is the relative
position, in bytes, from the start of the parameter block. Valid length values are 0 through 400 hexadecimal. See
option -p above to read and save an entire parameter block.
ATRPM Get PIB version and device MAC address.
ATRV Get hardware and firmware revision. See option -r above.
ATSK? Get device Network Membership Key. See option -m above.
ATSKkey
Set device Network Membership Key. See option -M above.
ATTO? Get the Transparent Mode aggregation timeout in milliseconds.
ATTOtimeout
Set the Transparent Mode aggregation timeout in milliseconds. See option -W above.
ATWNVmodule
Update NVM with PIB and/or Firmware module. See option -C above.
ATWPFmodule,length,offset,checksum,data
Write a parameter block or firmware segment to the local powerline device where module is the module identifier,
length is the number of bytes to write, offset is the relative position from the start of the module, checksum is
the 1's complement of the data and data is the data to be written. Valid module identifiers are 1=FW and 2=PIB.
Valid length values are 0 up to 400 hexadecimal. See options -N and -P above to write an entire parameter block
or firmware images.
ATZ Reset device. See option -R above.
REFERENCES
See the Qualcomm Atheros HomePlug AV Firmware Technical Reference Manual for more information.
DISCLAIMER
Atheros serial line commands are proprietary to Qualcomm Atheros, Ocala FL USA. Consequently, public information is not
available. Qualcomm Atheros reserves the right to modify command line syntax or command functionality in future firmware
releases without any obligation to notify or compensate product or program users.
EXAMPLES
The following example places the device in Command Mode (wakeup). Serial line commands are ignored unless the device is
in this mode so this is often the first command issued.
# int6kuart -w
The next example sets the destination device address on the local powerline device to 00B052BABE12. The destination
device can be any remote powerline device on the same logical network as the local device.
# int6kuart -D 00:B0:52:BA:BE:12
The next example places the device in Transparent Mode where serial line output is sent over powerline to the destination
powerline device and forwarded the remote host connected to it.
# int6kuart -O
The next example sends the serial line command "ATSK?" to the local powerline device.
# int6kuart -c "ATSK?"
SEE ALSO
amp(1), int6kbaud(1), ttysig(1)
CREDITS
Charles Maier <cmaier@qca.qualcomm.com>
open-plc-utils-0.0.3 Mar 2014 int6kuart(1)