MediaTek / Ralink

• On 2010, Ralink buys then merges with Trendchip.
• On May, 5th 2011, MediaTek bought Ralink. Since then, Mediatek spun off a number of companies namely Econet and Airoha.
• Most WNICs are supported by the rt2x00 driver family. See wireless.overview
• Websites with more background information
  • Ralink
  • http://www.mediatek.com
  • http://wikidevi.com/wiki/Ralink
  • http://wikidevi.com/wiki/MediaTek

• A quite good source for product specs on MediaTek/Ralink SoCs is here: https://deviwiki.com/wiki/Ralink.
• OpenWrt specific:
  • All old MediaTek/Ralink SoCs are merged under the target ramips.
  • Building a target requires a target-specific firmware. The kernel is patched with the command line that has the board name in it. This mechanism is similar to what is done for ar71xx platforms.
  • Source code: https://github.com/openwrt/openwrt/tree/master/target/linux/ramips

• RT6856
  • Not supported
• MT7620 vs. RT5350
  • Chips are similar on the software layer
  • RT5350 is cheaper http://cdn.sparkfun.com/datasheets/Wireless/WiFi/RT5350.pdf
  • MT7620 is the successor, it's “faster and better”
  • Both use the rt2800soc driver.
  • No hardware support for 802.11w thus limiting WPA3 speed to ~14 Mbps. Use WPA2 for full throughput.
• MT7621
  • 2 cores, 4 threads:
    • MT7621AT
    • MT7621DAT: 128MB integrated RAM
  • 1 core, 2 threads:
    • MT7621NT, MT7621ST
  • SoC does not include a Wifi subsystem
  • https://www.mediatek.com/products/homeNetworking/mt7621
  • https://deviwiki.com/wiki/MediaTek_MT7621
• MT7628
  • MT7628A: Full function with external DRAM
  • MT7628K: Embedded 8MB DRAM and L-shape
  • MT7628N: Same as MT7628A, but without PCle and IoT modes
  • MT7628DAN: 64MB integrated RAM
  • Chip uses a driver from the mt76 family. 802.11w is hardware accelerated.

New MediaTek SoCs are released under the much more performant Filogic line:

• Use quad core and hybrid core ARM architecture
• Includes support for DSA and hardware acceleration for flow offloading (HFO) and wireless offloading (WED)
• Depending on SoC includes Wi-Fi 6 and/or 7 under the mt76 driver family
• 802.11w and WPA3 included in hardware
• Used in many devices such as OpenWrt One
• See Filogic link under Devices below for supported targets
• Crypto acceleration is provided by EIP-93, which is now upstream.

Trendchip was the original xDSL and xPON provider with their TC3162 core which is a MIPS architecture. Since then, after the Mediatek acquisition, it took a different name, Econet. After some time, the company yet again rebranded in what is now known as Airoha, which also coincides with them switching to an ARMv8-A architecture.

On MT7620A and likely other Ralink based SOCs, the RGMII delay is set with the Port I control register in the GSW (gigabit switch) subsystem. For boards with Uboot and an available console the register can be read with the command:

  md 0x10117014 1

The following bits tell you the OEM bootloader / chip defaults:

For a complete explanation, look for the register 0x7014 in the MT7620 Programming Guide. For example:

10117014: 1f08000c

c -→ 1100 -→ TX delay only

8 -→ PHY_BASE address

1f -→ internal PHYs disabled

Remember to read bits from right to left. For example 1f08000c in binary becomes 00011111000010000000000000001100

0001 1111 0000 1000 0000 0000 0000 1100
   |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |   
  28   24   20   16   12    8    4    0

• http://www.mediatek.com/_en/01_products/04_pro.php?sn=1031
• TC3085/TC3086 includes AFE (Analog Front-End) for ADSL2+
• TC3162L2M incorporates a 32-bit network processor and a DMT (Discrete Multi-Tone)-engine for ADSL2+
• TC3162LEM incorporates a 32-bit network processor and a DMT (Discrete Multi-Tone)-engine for ADSL2+

• RT63260 is a integrated single-chip solution combining AFE (Analog Front End) and an ADSL2/2+ wired ADSL modem application together on one chip. It includes a 32-bit network processor and a Discrete Multi-Tone (DMT) engine for ADSL.
• RT63365
  • Combine with RT63087 AFE (Analog Front-End) for VDSL2
• RT63368 incorporates a MIPS 34Kc CPU and a DMT (Discrete Multi-Tone)-engine for VDSL2
  • Combine with RT63087 AFE (Analog Front-End) for VDSL2
• RT65168 incorporates a MIPS 34Kc CPU and a DMT (Discrete Multi-Tone)-engine for VDSL2
  • Combine with RT63095 AFE (Analog Front-End) for VDSL2

The list of related devices:
MediaTek, MT7620a, MT7620N, MT7621, MT7628, MT7688, Ralink, ramips, rt2880, rt3050, rt3052, rt3350, rt3352, rt3662, rt3883, rt5350, filogic