linux-drivers/
drivers/net/wireless/ath

Atheros/Qualcomm ath wireless driver family umbrella

An umbrella source directory that groups together the various Atheros and Qualcomm Wi-Fi drivers (ath5k, ath9k, ath10k, ath11k, ath12k, and friends) and provides a small shared helper module used in common by all of them. The actual hardware support lives in the per-chip subdirectories.

not-a-driver conf=0.99 deploy=none replacement=none subsystem=net category=not-a-driver
99%

recommendation

This is not a driver in its own right; it is a parent directory containing a shared helper library (the ath.ko common module) plus subdirectories for each generation of Atheros/Qualcomm Wi-Fi silicon. Any keep-or-remove decision needs to be made against the individual child drivers like ath9k or ath12k, not this top-level folder, which simply holds code they all link against.

repository signals

510 files
472,890 source lines
2,268 commits, 5y
+166,676 / −46,425 lines added / removed, 5y
316 authors, 5y
monthly commits · 2021-04-21 → 2026-04-21 · 2,268 total · active in 60/61 months
2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2021-04: 4 commits · +35 −25 2021-05: 33 commits · +885 −116 2021-06: 22 commits · +453 −93 2021-07: 6 commits · +87 −9 2021-08: 10 commits · +56 −24 2021-09: 62 commits · +5,353 −3,180 2021-10: 64 commits · +1,066 −236 2021-11: 61 commits · +1,605 −582 2021-12: 45 commits · +2,578 −428 2022-01: 35 commits · +2,009 −425 2022-02: 29 commits · +1,288 −243 2022-03: 56 commits · +3,203 −441 2022-04: 49 commits · +2,689 −1,788 2022-05: 39 commits · +970 −202 2022-06: 16 commits · +104 −85 2022-07: 20 commits · +451 −561 2022-08: 7 commits · +209 −70 2022-09: 43 commits · +1,834 −572 2022-10: 20 commits · +252 −105 2022-11: 13 commits · +53,403 −47 2022-12: 17 commits · +1,153 −567 2023-01: 20 commits · +203 −117 2023-02: 26 commits · +289 −227 2023-03: 35 commits · +1,312 −340 2023-04: 25 commits · +220 −134 2023-05: 24 commits · +1,198 −243 2023-06: 33 commits · +690 −496 2023-07: 30 commits · +235 −245 2023-08: 49 commits · +1,137 −321 2023-09: 41 commits · +742 −306 2023-10: 43 commits · +627 −263 2023-11: 32 commits · +410 −432 2023-12: 36 commits · +657 −320 2024-01: 84 commits · +4,037 −1,303 2024-02: 42 commits · +1,401 −314 2024-03: 28 commits · +240 −265 2024-04: 74 commits · +2,637 −875 2024-05: 67 commits · +1,706 −669 2024-06: 38 commits · +5,029 −140 2024-07: 17 commits · +881 −41 2024-08: 18 commits · +635 −303 2024-09: 16 commits · +54 −111 2024-10: 51 commits · +3,714 −1,275 2024-11: 56 commits · +3,765 −680 2024-12: 78 commits · +3,066 −1,029 2025-01: 53 commits · +4,986 −506 2025-02: 51 commits · +3,772 −743 2025-03: 47 commits · +3,509 −730 2025-04: 118 commits · +4,413 −1,070 2025-05: 32 commits · +1,907 −373 2025-06: 55 commits · +1,915 −351 2025-07: 46 commits · +2,017 −612 2025-08: 59 commits · +9,732 −8,668 2025-09: 25 commits · +2,989 −2,694 2025-10: 69 commits · +7,514 −5,016 2025-11: 35 commits · +5,063 −4,694 2025-12: 11 commits · +1,916 −77 2026-01: 40 commits · +1,974 −225 2026-02: 6 commits · +363 −392 2026-03: 2 commits · +9 −12 2026-04: 0 commits · +0 −0

sources

  1. codebrowser.dev

    The directory is a source-tree umbrella containing multiple real drivers in subdirectories (ath5k, ath9k, ath10k, ath11k, ath12k, etc.) plus shared helper files at the top level.

  2. cateee.net

    CONFIG_ATH_COMMON builds module ath and is described as common shared helper code used by multiple Atheros drivers, not a standalone hardware-specific driver.

  3. lore-kernel.gnuweeb.org

    Current wireless mailing-list traffic under the ath umbrella is concentrated on subdrivers such as ath12k, reinforcing that the top-level ath directory is a family container/common layer rather than one device driver.

codex reasoning notes (technical)

Not a driver directory: local shell inspection of Kconfig/Makefile (`sed` on the checked-out tree) showed `source` entries for multiple subdrivers and `obj-$(CONFIG_ATH_COMMON) += ath.o`, i.e. a shared common layer. The cited Codebrowser and LKDDb URLs were obtained via web search; local `git log` also showed recent touches are minor common-code/treewide edits while active hardware work is in child driver directories.