Supported and Allowed modes are modified to be bitmasks of MM_MODEM_MODE values,
and preference of a specific mode is now given in the new PreferredMode
property and as an extra argument to the SetAllowedModes() call.
* Supported Modes: bitmask specifying which modes are supported by the specific
hardware. For example, a modem may only support 1G/2G/3G connections (not 4G).
* Allowed Modes: bitmask specifying which modes, of the ones Supported by the
modem, are allowed to use. For example, a modem may support 1G/2G/3G connections
but only 1G and 2G connections are allowed by the user as 3G involves more
expensive data rates.
[Allowed] ⊆ [Supported]
* Preferred Mode: specific mode which is preferred among the ones defined in
the Allowed modes bitmask. For example, a modem may allow 1G/2G/3G connections
but the user would like that if possible 2G be used, as 3G consumes too much
battery. If 2G is not possible, 3G can be used.
[Preferred] ∈ [Allowed]
Changing the allowed bands in a modem may fail, for example if trying to set a
frequency band which is not in the bands mask reported as Supported by the modem.
Therefore, we need an explicit SetAllowedBands() method with proper error
reporting instead of making the property writable.
Changing the allowed mode of a modem may fail, for example if trying to set a
mode which is not in the modes reported as Supported by the modem. Therefore, we
need an explicit SetAllowedModes() method with proper error reporting instead of
making the property writable.
Modems which only expose a single port will not be able to update the signal
quality value while in connected mode. The signal quality value reported in this
case, while the modem is connected, will be the last signal quality value read
before the connection.
The additional boolean value proposed here in the SignalQuality property will
just say if the given signal quality was recently taken (if TRUE) or cached
some time ago (if FALSE). The time to assume the value was recently taken or not
could depend on different things, for example:
* If the modem always has an AT port, even if connected, we could directly
query the current signal quality and report the value as being fresh.
* If the modem has a single port, we could report the value as not being fresh
as soon as the modem gets in connected state.
* For modems which report the signal quality updates in unsolicited messages,
we could report the value as being fresh if the update was received in the
last minute or so.
SIM objects will be listed as independent objects in the DBus API, and the 'Sim'
property in a given modem object will specify which SIM object is in use.
Main changes are cleaning up the API and allowing for multi-mode
devices that support two or more of CDMA/EVDO, GSM/UMTS, and LTE
at the same time. This provides a starting discussion point for
the new MM 0.6 API.
Aleksander Morgado
Dan Williams