Wireless Manageability

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Wireless Manageability

Note:

Intel AMT does not support manageability over a wireless interface when the host processor runs an operating system other than Microsoft Windows*. The product has not been validated when the host is running Linux or other operating systems. Do not configure Intel AMT for wireless use in these circumstances.

A wireless connection operates at two levels: the wireless network interface (WLAN) and the interface driver executing on the platform host. The network interface manages the RF communications connection.

If the user turns off the wireless transmitter/receiver using either a hardware or software switch, Intel AMT cannot use the wireless interface under any conditions until the user turns on the wireless transmitter/receiver.

All supported Intel AMT releases support wireless out-of-band manageability in Sx states, depending on the power setting and other configuration parameters. This includes support of desktop platforms.

When a wireless connection is established on a host platform, it is based on a wireless profile that sets up names, passwords and other security elements used to authenticate the platform to the wireless Access Point. The user or the IT organization defines one or more profiles using a tool such as Intel® PROSet/Wireless Software. The network interface API allows defining one or more wireless profiles using the same parameters as the Intel® PROSet/Wireless Software. See Wireless Profile Parameters. On power-up of the host, Intel AMT communicates with the wireless LAN driver on the host. When the driver and Intel AMT find matching profiles, the driver will route traffic addressed to the Intel AMT device for manageability processing. Intel AMT can send and receive out-of-band traffic without an Intel AMT configured wireless profile, as long as the host driver is active and the platform is inside the enterprise.

The WLAN is enabled by default both before and after configuration. That means that it is possible to configure Intel AMT over the WLAN, as long as the host WLAN driver has an active connection. Intel AMT will synchronize to the active host profile. It is assumed that a configuration server will configure a wireless profile that Intel AMT will use in power states other than S0.

When there is a problem with the wireless driver and the host is still powered up (in an S0 power state only), Intel AMT can continue to receive out-of-band manageability traffic directly from the wireless network interface.

For Intel AMT to work with a wireless LAN, it must share IP addresses with the host. This requires the presence of a DHCP server to allocate IP addresses and Intel AMT must be configured to use DHCP.