From Linux Man Pages
atmel_fwl - Load firmware into Atmel at76c50x wireless networking chips.
atmel_fwl <interface> /path/to/firmware
DESCRIPTION
atmel_fwl loads firmware images for Atmel at76c50x series wireless networking chips into the Linux driver for
same.
Note that this utility is not normally necessary, since the driver will automatically load the correct firmware
image via the hotplug system. Atmel_fwl is provided for applications where use of the hotplug system may not be
desirable.
atmel_fwl should be run after the interface has been created (after card insertion, in the case of PCMCIA cards)
but before it is brought up by running ifconfig.
NOTES
Note that there are two versions of many of the firmware images, the second one with the suffix "-wpa". These are
later releases from Atmel which support WPA privacy. They are only usable by versions of the driver greater than
0.9. Be sure not to use the "-wpa" one unless your in-kernel driver code is version 0.9 or better. Sadly, as of
version 0.9, the in-kernel driver does not actually support the setting of WPA passphrases.
The firmware images are usually installed in /usr/lib/hotplug/firmware.
The status of the driver, including its firmware loading, is available in /proc/driver/atmel
FILES
/usr/lib/hotplug/firmware
/proc/driver/atmel
RELATED
iwconfig(8), ifconfig(8),
CATEGORY