Linux 5.9 To Support 6GHz WiFi With Qualcomm's Ath11k Driver

The initial batch of WiFi/wireless driver improvements slated for Linux 5.9 landed in net-next this week with a few noteworthy additions.

Among the WiFi driver changes queued so far for introduction in the Linux 5.9 kernel include:

- The wilc1000 driver is being promoted out of staging and into the proper Linux networking subsystem area. This is the driver for supporting the Microchip ATWILC1000 series hardware. The ATWILC1000 is designed as an 802.11b/g/n IoT link controller module for various devices. After getting into good enough shape in staging, it's time for graduation.

- The Realtek RTW88 driver now supports the RTL8821CE. The Realtek RTL8821CE is an 802.11ac chip found in a variety of devices, mostly laptops.

- The Qualcomm ath11k driver now supports 6G (6 GHz) band support. The necessary infrastructure is now in place for this WiFi driver to support the 6GHz band on supported devices. Qualcomm in May announced its "Wi-Fi 6E" portfolio in referring to WiFi 6 that "extends" into the 6GHz band.

This current batch of Linux wireless driver improvements is now in net-next ahead of the Linux 5.9 merge window kicking off in August.