Current practices for WiFi PHY debugging?

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zhangkai

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Feb 25, 2026, 12:16:15 PM (7 days ago) Feb 25
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Hello all,

I’ve been working more closely with the WiFi PHY layer recently, and I’m curious how people usually approach debugging at that level.

When something looks strange in PPDU timing, aggregation behavior, or throughput results, what’s the typical workflow? Is it mostly going through trace logs, or are there other tools or tricks that people rely on?

Also, are there parts of the PHY debugging process that you find particularly inconvenient or time-consuming?

I’d really appreciate hearing about your experiences and suggestions.

Best,
Kevin

Tom Henderson

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Feb 25, 2026, 12:32:53 PM (7 days ago) Feb 25
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There were some recently introduced helper classes to help with understanding/debugging the PHY layer

https://www.nsnam.org/docs/models/html/wifi-user.html#wifiphyrxtracehelper

https://www.nsnam.org/docs/models/html/wifi-user.html#wificotracehelper

And at the MAC layer:

https://www.nsnam.org/docs/models/html/wifi-user.html#wifitxstatshelper

Here is another recently published tool that might be useful to leverage: https://www.astesj.com/publications/ASTESJ_100607.pdf

- Tom

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zhangkai

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Feb 27, 2026, 6:31:30 AM (6 days ago) Feb 27
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  Thanks! That is really helpful. These new interfaces play an important role in debugging the PHY layer. It seems that I can replace many complex designs with them.  
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