Welcome to OpenCAPWAP.org

CAPWAP: Control And Provisioning of Wireless Access Points

The CAPWAP protocol (simply called 'CAPWAP' below) is currently under design in the IETF CAPWAP working group. In a nutshell, the protocol is being created to centralize management of wireless access points. There are two basic entities in CAPWAP: the Access Controller (AC), and the Wireless Termination Point (WTP, aka AP). CAPWAP defines the interactions between these two.

Intellectual Property Rights and CAPWAP

There are IPR claims with respect to the progenitors of CAPWAP, and these claims may ultimately apply to portions of CAPWAP. While (as far as we know) no patents have issued with respect to these particular claims as of 2006 July 4, it is possible that methods included in CAPWAP may be encumbered. In such cases, implementors of CAPWAP will require licensing from those owning the patents. Also, given that wireless networking is a relatively new market, the possibility of the existence of submarine IP (i.e. claims which have not been declared in the IETF) represents an unknown level of risk at this time.

IMPORTANT: OpenCAPWAP != CAPWAP

OpenCAPWAP is not the same as CAPWAP. It is the intent of the OpenCAPWAP project to implement only unencumbered technologies which either have a clear heritage in prior art, or have been released into the public domain. Still, we cannot guarantee that anything here does not require a license from owners of associated intellectual property, and for that reason users of this site and any associated software are admonished to be aware of your potential legal obligations in doing so.

Project Goals and Non-Goals

The OpenCAPWAP project has several goals:

  • provide a platform from which to explore the "art of the possible" in wireless networking
  • provide a framework within which novel new WLAN applications can be developed
  • provide a reference for illustration of unencumbered CAPWAP implementation points (e.g. DTLS integration)
  • provide a basis for proofs of concepts with respect to various CAPWAP design proposals
  • foster rapid development of interoperable CAPWAP implementations

The OpenCAPWAP project also has some explicit non-goals:

  • so long as there are potential encumbrances, we will not provide a complete implementation of the CAPWAP protocol; it is the intent of the project to provide software based only on unencumbered technologies and methods.
  • we will not provide support (or assurances of any kind) to commercial implementors who choose to integrate this code into their own offerings

Friends of OpenCAPWAP

Open Source Projects

As the OpenCAPWAP project develops, you can expect to see some interactions with other open source projects. The first of these is OpenWRT, a Linux-based AP firmware project which supports many currently-available access points. In the near future we will release an OpenCAPWAP WTP package for OpenWRT, allowing centralized communication with OpenWRT access points from a Linux desktop. Stay tuned!

Sponsors

Thus far, the OpenCAPWAP project has been entirely sponsored by the CTO Labs group at Aruba Networks. If you're interested in participating in the project as a sponsor, contact us at the address given below.

OpenCAPWAP Licensing

OpenCAPWAP source code is being provided under a NetBSD-style license. Like the NetBSD Foundation, the OpenCAPWAP project offers truly "open" source code which can be used as you see fit, and you are not required to give away any code you happen to develop in conjunction with your use of OpenCAPWAP. However, we believe contributors whose donated code is included in the project deserve and have the right to expect proper acknowledgement with respect to derived works. For more information on licensing, see the file headers in the source tree.

Remember, several IPR claims have been asserted against portions of the protocols upon which CAPWAP is based. Do not use, extend, or redistribute this software without first reviewing those claims, and ascertaining that you are meeting your legal obligations with respect to any potentially associated intellectual property.

Okay, enough babbling already - where's the code?

The code is stored in a subversion repository which requires a login for access. For further information, see source code

May the source be with you!
The OpenCAPWAP Team



Administrivia
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This site is currently maintained by Scott Kelly - you can contact Scott at the following address:

s k e l l y (a+) arubanetworks (d0+) c=o=m