drivers/net/wireless/microchip/wilc1000 · keep

Microchip (formerly Atmel) WILC1000 and WILC3000 Wi-Fi link controllers

A family of low-power 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi companion chips and modules that Atmel introduced and Microchip continues to sell, typically paired over SDIO or SPI with a microcontroller or small Linux SoC. They are widely used in IoT gadgets, industrial gateways, and embedded Linux boards that need to add Wi-Fi without integrating a full wireless SoC.

keep conf=0.91 last_sold=2025 deploy=medium replacement=none subsystem=net category=networking-wireless

91%

recommendation

It should stay in the kernel because the hardware is genuinely current: Microchip still lists the ATWILC1000 chip, module, and evaluation kit as in production in 2025, the parts are actively marketed for embedded Linux designs, and the upstream code is still receiving bug fixes (a security fix for an out-of-bounds read in the firmware RX path landed on linux-wireless in April 2026). There is no replacement driver, and removing it would break a real, shipping class of embedded products.

repository signals

17 files

11,924 source lines

146 commits, 5y

+2,342 / −1,476 lines added / removed, 5y

46 authors, 5y

monthly commits · 2021-04-21 → 2026-04-21 · 146 total · active in 42/61 months

sources

lore.kernel.org
Upstream maintenance is active: linux-wireless carried a WILC1000 bug-fix patch on 2026-04-21 ('fix OOB read from firmware RX packet header fields').
microchip.com
Microchip lists the ATWILC1000 module as 'In Production', indicating hardware is still sold new.
microchip.com
Microchip lists the ATWILC1000-IC SoC as 'In Production', indicating current silicon availability.
microchip.com
Microchip still offers an ATWILC1000 evaluation kit and describes it as an IoT Wi-Fi add-on for MCU/Linux-style embedded designs.
microchip.com
Microchip's Wi‑Fi link controller portfolio page still positions the WILC family for embedded Linux designs, showing ongoing deployment relevance rather than pure legacy status.

codex reasoning notes (technical)

Shell inspection of local Kconfig/code showed this directory is a real Atmel/Microchip Wi-Fi driver and that the code handles both WILC1000 and WILC3000 IDs. `lore_file_timeline` on `drivers/net/wireless/microchip/wilc1000/wlan.c` showed substantial activity through 2026-04-21, with recent bug-fix traffic and no sampled evidence of removal. Web search surfaced Microchip product, IC, eval-kit, and portfolio pages marking WILC1000 parts as 'In Production' and still marketed for embedded/IoT Linux use. That combination argues for keep: active upstream attention, still-sold hardware, niche but real embedded deployments, and no separate upstream replacement driver.