PC/TCP Version 1.09 Packet Driver Specification                           1
FTP Software, Inc.






                   PC/TCP Packet Driver Specification


Revision 1.09
September-14-1989
Developed by:

FTP Software, Inc.
26 Princess St.
Wakefield, MA  01880-3004
(617) 246-0900


Copyright (c) 1986, 1989 by FTP Software Inc.    Permission  is  granted to
reproduce and distribute this document  without  restriction  or  fee. This
document  may  be   re-formatted   or   translated,   but   the  functional
specification  of the programming interface described  herein  may  not  be
changed  without  FTP  Software's permission.  FTP Software's name and this
notice   must   appear   on  any  reproduction  of  this  document.    This
specification was originally developed at FTP Software by John Romkey.

Support of a hardware interface, or mention of  an  interface manufacturer,
by the Packet Driver specification does not necessarily  indicate  that the
manufacturer endorses this specification.


1  Document Conventions


All numbers in this document are given in  C-style  representation. Decimal
is expressed as 11, hexadecimal is expressed as 0x0B, octal is expressed as
013.  All reference to  network hardware addresses (source, destination and
multicast) and demultiplexing information for  the  packet  headers assumes
they  are  represented  as they would be in a MAC-level packet header being
passed to the send_pkt() function.


2  Introduction and Motivation


This document describes the  programming  interface  to FTP Software Packet
Drivers.  Packet drivers provide  a  simple,  common  programming interface
that allows multiple applications to share a network interface at  the data
link  level.  The packet drivers demultiplex  incoming  packets  among  the
applications by using the network media's standard packet  type  or service
access point field(s).

The intent of this specification is to allow protocol stack implementations
to  be independent of the actual brand or model of the network interface in









2                           PC/TCP Version 1.09 Packet Driver Specification
                                                        FTP Software, Inc.


use on a particular machine.  Different versions of various protocol stacks
still must exist for different  network media (Ethernet, 802.5 ring, serial
lines),  because  of  differences  in protocol-to-physical address mapping,
header formats, maximum transmission units (MTUs) and so forth.

The packet driver provides calls to initiate access to  a  specific  packet
type, to  end  access  to  it,  to  send a packet, to get statistics on the
network interface and to get information about the interface.

Protocol implementations  that use the packet driver can completely coexist
on a PC and can  make  use  of  one  another's  services,  whereas multiple
applications which do  not  use  the  driver  do not coexist on one machine
properly.   Through use of the packet driver, a user could run TCP/IP, XNS,
and  a  proprietary  protocol  implementation  such  as  DECnet,  Banyan's,
LifeNet's, Novell's or 3Com's without the difficulties associated with pre-
empting the network interface.

Applications  which  use the packet driver can  also  run  on  new  network
hardware of the same class without being modified; only a new packet driver
need be supplied.

Several levels of packet drivers are described in  this  specification. The
first is the basic packet  driver, which provides minimal functionality but
should  be simple to implement and which uses very few host resources.  The
basic driver provides operations  to  broadcast  and  receive packets.  The
second driver is the extended packet driver, which  is  a  superset  of the
basic driver.  The extended driver supports less commonly used functions of
the network interface such as multicast, and also gathers statistics on use
of the interface and makes these available to the  application.  The  third
level, the high-performance functions, support performance improvements and
tuning.

Functions which are available in only the extended packet driver  are noted
as such  in  their  descriptions.    All  basic packet driver functions are
available  in  the  extended driver.  The high-performance functions may be
available with either basic or extended drivers.


3  Identifying network interfaces


Network interfaces are  named  by  a  triplet  of  integers,  <class, type,
number>.  The first number is the class of interface.  The class tells what
kind of media the interface  supports:  DEC/Intel/Xerox  (DIX  or Bluebook)
Ethernet, IEEE 802.3 Ethernet, IEEE 802.5 Token Ring, ProNET-10, Appletalk,
serial line, etc.

The second number  is  the  type  of interface: this specifies a particular
instance of an interface  supporting  a class of network medium.  Interface
types for Ethernet  might  name  these  interfaces:  3Com  3C503  or 3C505,
Interlan NI5210, Univation, BICC Data Networks ISOLAN,  Ungermann-Bass NIC,
etc.  Interface types for IEEE 802.5 might name these interfaces: IBM Token
Ring adapter, Proteon p1340, etc.









PC/TCP Version 1.09 Packet Driver Specification                           3
FTP Software, Inc.


The last  number  is  the  interface number.  If a machine is equipped with
more  than  one  interface  of  a  class  and type, the interfaces must  be
numbered to distinguish between them.

An  appendix  details  constants for classes and types.  The  class  of  an
interface is an 8-bit integer, and its type is a 16 bit integer.  Class and
type  constants are managed by FTP Software.  Contact FTP to register a new
class or type number.

The  type  0xFFFF  is a wildcard type which matches any  interface  in  the
specified class.   It  is  unnecessary  to wildcard interface numbers, as 0
will always correspond to the first interface of the  specified  class  and
type.

This specification has no  provision  for  the  support of multiple network
interfaces (with  similar or different characteristics) via a single Packet
Driver and associated interrupt.  We feel that this issue is best addressed
by  loading  several  Packet  Drivers,  one per interface,  with  different
interrupts (although all may be included in a single TSR  software module).
Applications  software  must  check the class  and  type  returned  from  a
driver_info()  call in any case, to make sure that the Packet Driver is for
the correct media and packet format.  This  can  easily  be  generalized by
searching for another Packet Driver if the first is not of the right kind.


4  Initiating driver operations


The packet driver is invoked via a software  interrupt  in  the  range 0x60
through 0x80.  This  document  does not specify a particular interrupt, but
describes a mechanism for locating which interrupt the driver  uses.    The
interrupt  must be configurable to avoid conflicts  with  other  pieces  of
software that also use software  interrupts. The program which installs the
packet driver should  provide  some  mechanism  for the user to specify the
interrupt.

The handler  for  the  interrupt  is  assumed  to  start  with  3  bytes of
executable code; this can either be a 3-byte jump instruction, or  a 2-byte
jump  followed by a NOP (do not specify "jmp short" unless you also specify
an explicit NOP).  This must be followed by the null-terminated  ASCII text
string  "PKT  DRVR".  To find the interrupt being used by  the  driver,  an
application should scan through the  handlers for vectors 0x60 through 0x80
until  it  finds  one with the text string  "PKT  DRVR"  in  the  12  bytes
immediately following the entry point.


5  Link-layer demultiplexing


If a network  media  standard  is  to support simultaneous use by different
transport protocols (e.g. TCP/IP, XNS, OSI), it must define some link-level
mechanism which allows a host to decide which protocol a packet is intended
for.  In  DIX  Ethernet,  this  is the 16-bit "ethertype" field immediately









4                           PC/TCP Version 1.09 Packet Driver Specification
                                                        FTP Software, Inc.


following the 6-byte destination and source addresses.  In IEEE 802.3 where
802.2  headers  are  used, this information is in the variable-length 802.2
header.  In Proteon's ProNET-10, this is done via the 32-bit  "type" field.
Other media standards may demultiplex via  a  method of their own, or 802.2
headers as in 802.3.

Our   access_type()   function   provides   access   to   this   link-layer
demultiplexing.  Each call establishes  a destination for a particular type
of  link-layer  packet,  which remains in effect  until  release_type()  is
called with the handle returned by that particular access_type(). The link-
layer demultiplexing information is passed via the type and typelen fields,
but values and  interpretation  depend  on  the class of packet driver (and
thus on the media in use).

A class  1  driver  (DIX  Ethernet)  should  expect  type  to  point  at an
"ethertype" value (in network  byte  order,  and  greater than 0x05EE), and
might reasonably require typelen to  equal  2.    A  class  2  driver could
require 4  bytes.    However,  a class 3 (802.5) or 11 (Ethernet with 802.2
headers) driver should be prepared for typelen values between  2  (for  the
DSAP/SSAP fields only) and  8  (3 byte 802.2 header plus 3-byte Sub-Network
Access Protocol extension header plus  2-byte "ethertype" as defined in RFC
1042).


6  Programming interface


All functions are accessed via the software interrupt determined to  be the
driver's via the  mechanism  described  earlier.    On  entry,  register AH
contains the code of the function desired.

The handle is an  arbitrary  integer  value  associated with each MAC-level
demultiplexing type that has been  established  via  the  access_type call.
Internally  to the packet driver, it will probably be a pointer, or a table
offset.   The application calling the packet driver  cannot  depend  on  it
assuming  any  particular   range,   or  any  other  characteristics.    In
particular,  if an application uses two or  more  packet  drivers,  handles
returned by different drivers for the same or different types may  have the
same value.

Note  that some of the functions defined below  are  labelled  as  extended
driver functions and  high-performance  functions.  Because  these  are not
required  for  basic  network  operations,  their  implementation   may  be
considered  optional.    Programs wishing to use these functions should use
the driver_info() function to determine if they are available  in  a  given
packet driver.



6.1  Entry conditions

FTP  Software  applications  which call the  packet  driver  are  coded  in
Microsoft C and assembly language.  All necessary registers  are  saved  by









PC/TCP Version 1.09 Packet Driver Specification                           5
FTP Software, Inc.


FTP's  routines before the INT instruction to call  the  packet  driver  is
executed.  Our current  receiver()  functions behave as follows: DS, SS, SP
and the flags are saved and restored.  All other registers may be modified,
and  should  be  saved  by  the  packet  driver,  if  necessary.  Processor
interrupts may  be  enabled  while  in  the  upcall, but the upcall doesn't
assume interrupts are disabled on entry.  On entry, receiver()  switches to
a local stack, and switches back before returning.

Note that some older versions of PC/TCP may enable  interrupts  during  the
upcall, and leave them enabled on return to the Packet Driver.

When  using a class 1 driver, PC/TCP will  normally  make  5  access_type()
calls for IP, ARP and 3 kinds of Berkeley  Trailer  encapsulation  packets.
On other media,  the number of handles we open will vary, but it is usually
at least two (IP and ARP).  Implementors  should  make  their  tables large
enough to allow two protocol stacks to co-exist.  We recommend  support for
at least 10 open handles simultaneously.


6.2  Byte and Bit ordering

Developers  should  note  that, on many networks and protocol families, the
byte-ordering of 16-bit quantities on the network is opposite to the native
byte-order of the PC.  (802.5 Token Ring is an exception).  This means that
DEC-Intel-Xerox ethertype values passed to  access_type()  must  be swapped
(passed  in  network order).  The IEE  802.3  length  field  needs  similar
handling, and care should be taken with packets passed  to  send_pkt(),  so
all  fields  are  in the proper order.  Developers working  with  MSB  LANs
(802.5  and  FDDI)  should be aware that a MAC address  changes  bit  order
depending on whether it appears in the header or as data.


6.3  driver_info()

       driver_info(handle)     AH == 1, AL == 255
               int     handle; BX              /* Optional */

error return:
       carry flag set
       error code              DH
       possible errors:
               BAD_HANDLE                      /* older drivers only */

non-error return:
       carry flag clear
       version                 BX
       class                   CH
       type                    DX
       number                  CL
       name                    DS:SI
       functionality           AL
                                      1 == basic functions present.
                                      2 == basic and extended present.









6                           PC/TCP Version 1.09 Packet Driver Specification
                                                        FTP Software, Inc.


                                      5 == basic and high-performance.
                                      6 == basic, high-performance, extended.
                                      255 == not installed.

This  function returns information about the interface.    The  version  is
assumed to be an internal hardware driver identifier.  In  earlier versions
of  this  spec, the handle argument (which  must  have  been  obtained  via
access_type()) was required.   It  is  now  optional, but drivers developed
according to versions  of  this  spec  previous  to 1.07 may require it, so
implementers should take care.


6.4  access_type()

       int access_type(if_class, if_type, if_number, type, typelen, receiver)  AH ==
2
               int     if_class;               AL
               int     if_type;                BX
               int     if_number;              DL
               char far *type;                 DS:SI
               unsigned typelen;               CX
               int     (far *receiver)();      ES:DI

error return:
       carry flag set
       error code                      DH
       possible errors:
               NO_CLASS
               NO_TYPE
               NO_NUMBER
               BAD_TYPE
               NO_SPACE
               TYPE_INUSE

non-error return:
       carry flag clear
       handle                          AX

receiver call:
       (*receiver)(handle, flag, len [, buffer])
               int     handle;         BX
               int     flag;           AX
               unsigned len;           CX
       if AX == 1,
               char far *buffer;       DS:SI

Initiates  access to packets of the specified type.  The argument type is a
pointer to a packet type specification.  The argument typelen is the length
in  bytes  of  the  type  field.  The argument receiver is a pointer  to  a
subroutine  which  is  called when a packet is received.   If  the  typelen
argument  is  0,  this indicates that the caller wants to match all packets
(match all requests may  be  refused by packet drivers developed to conform
to versions of this spec previous to 1.07).









PC/TCP Version 1.09 Packet Driver Specification                           7
FTP Software, Inc.


When a packet is received, receiver  is  called twice by the packet driver.
The first  time  it  is  called to request a buffer from the application to
copy the packet into.  AX == 0 on this call.  The application should return
a pointer to the buffer in ES:DI.  If the application  has  no  buffers, it
may return 0:0 in ES:DI, and  the  driver  should throw away the packet and
not perform the second call.

It is important  that  the packet length (CX) be valid on the AX == 0 call,
so that the receiver can allocate a buffer of the proper size.  This length
(as well as the copy  performed prior to the AX == 1 call) must include the
MAC header and all received data, but not the trailing Frame Check Sequence
(if any).

On  the  second  call, AX == 1.  This call indicates that the copy has been
completed, and the application may do  as  it  wishes with the buffer.  The
buffer that the packet was copied into is pointed to by DS:SI.


6.5  release_type()

       int release_type(handle)        AH == 3
               int     handle;         BX

error return:
       carry flag set
       error code                      DH
       possible errors:
               BAD_HANDLE

non-error return:
       carry flag clear

This function ends access  to  packets associated with a handle returned by
access_type().  The handle is no longer valid.


6.6  send_pkt()

       int send_pkt(buffer, length)    AH == 4
               char far *buffer;       DS:SI
               unsigned length;        CX

error return:
       carry flag set
       error code                      DH
       possible errors:
               CANT_SEND

non-error return:
       carry flag clear

Transmits length bytes of  data,  starting at buffer.  The application must
supply the entire packet, including local network headers.  Any MAC  or LLC









8                           PC/TCP Version 1.09 Packet Driver Specification
                                                        FTP Software, Inc.


information in use  for  packet  demultiplexing  (e.g.  the DEC-Intel-Xerox
Ethertype) must be filled in by  the  application  as well.  This cannot be
performed  by  the  driver,  as  no  handle is specified in a call  to  the
send_packet() function.


6.7  terminate()

       terminate(handle)               AH == 5
               int     handle;         BX

error return:
       carry flag set
       error code                      DH
       possible errors:
               BAD_HANDLE
               CANT_TERMINATE

non-error return:
       carry flag clear

Terminates the driver associated with handle.  If possible, the driver will
exit and allow MS-DOS to reclaim the memory it was using.


6.8  get_address()

       get_address(handle, buf, len)   AH == 6
               int     handle;         BX
               char far *buf;          ES:DI
               int     len;            CX

error return:
       carry flag set
       error code                      DH
       possible errors:
               BAD_HANDLE
               NO_SPACE

non-error return:
       carry flag clear
       length                  CX

Copies the current local net address of the interface into buf.  The buffer
buf is len bytes long.  The actual number of bytes  copied  is  returned in
CX.    If  the  NO_SPACE  error  is  returned, this indicates that len  was
insufficient to hold the local net address. If the address has been changed
by set_address(), the new address should be returned.


6.9  reset_interface()

       reset_interface(handle)         AH == 7









PC/TCP Version 1.09 Packet Driver Specification                           9
FTP Software, Inc.


               int     handle;         BX

error return:
       carry flag set
       error code                      DH
       possible errors:
               BAD_HANDLE
               CANT_RESET

non-error return:
       carry flag clear

Resets the interface associated with handle to a known state,  aborting any
transmits in process and reinitializing the receiver. The local net address
is  reset to the default (from ROM), the multicast list is cleared, and the
receive mode is set to 3 (own address & broadcasts).    If multiple handles
are open, these actions  might  seriously  disrupt other applications using
the interface, so CANT_RESET should be returned.


6.10  get_parameters()

high-performance driver function
       get_parameters()                AH = 10

error return:
       carry flag set
       error code                      DH
       possible errors:
               BAD_COMMAND             /* No high-performance support */

non error return:
       carry flag clear
       struct param far *;             ES:DI

   struct param {
       unsigned char   major_rev;      /* Revision of Packet Driver spec */
       unsigned char   minor_rev;      /*  this driver conforms to. */
       unsigned char   length;         /* Length of structure in bytes */
       unsigned char   addr_len;       /* Length of a MAC-layer address */
       unsigned short  mtu;            /* MTU, including MAC headers */
       unsigned short  multicast_aval; /* Buffer size for multicast addr */
       unsigned short  rcv_bufs;       /* (# of back-to-back MTU rcvs) - 1 */
       unsigned short  xmt_bufs;       /* (# of successive xmits) - 1 */
       unsigned short  int_num;        /* Interrupt # to hook for post-EOI
                                          processing, 0 == none */
   };

The performance of  an  application may benefit from using get_parameters()
to  obtain a number of driver parameters.  This function was added to v1.09
of this  specification,  and  may  not  be  implemented by all drivers (see
driver_info()).










10                          PC/TCP Version 1.09 Packet Driver Specification
                                                        FTP Software, Inc.


The major_rev and minor_rev fields are the major and minor revision numbers
of the version  of  this  specification  the  driver conforms to.  For this
document, major_rev is  1 and minor_rev is 9.  The length field may be used
to  determine  which values are valid, should  a  later  revision  of  this
specification  add  more  values at the end of this structure.    For  this
document,  length is 14. The addr_len field is the length of a MAC address,
in bytes. Note the param structure is assumed to be packed, such that these
fields occupy four consecutive bytes of storage.

In the param structure, the mtu is the maximum MAC-level packet  the driver
can  handle  (on Ethernet this number is fixed, but it may  vary  on  other
media, e.g. 802.5  or  FDDI).    The  multicast_aval field is the number of
bytes required to  store  all  the  multicast  addresses  supported  by any
"perfect filter" mechanism in the hardware.    Calling set_multicast_list()
with its len argument equal to this value should not  fail  with a NO_SPACE
error.  A value of zero implies no multicast support.

The rcv_bufs and xmt_bufs indicate the number of  back-to-back  receives or
transmits  the  card/driver  combination  can  accomodate,  minus  1.   The
application can use this information  to  adjust  flow-control  or transmit
strategies.  A single-buffered card (for example, an Interlan NI5010) would
normally return 0 in both fields. A value of 0 in  rcv_bufs  could  also be
used by a driver author to indicate that the hardware has limitations which
prevent  it  from  receiving  as  fast  as  other systems can send, and  to
recommend that the  upper-layer  protocols invoke lock-step flow control to
avoid packet loss.

The  int_num  field  should  be  set  to  a  hardware  interrupt  that  the
application can hook in order to perform interrupt-time protocol processing
after the EOI has been sent to the 8259 interrupt  controller  and the card
is  ready for more interrupts.  A value of zero indicates that there is  no
such interrupt.  Any application hooking this interrupt and finding  a non-
zero value in the vector must  pass  the  interrupt down the chain and wait
for  its  predecessors  to return before performing any processing or stack
switches.  Any  driver  which  implements  this function via a separate INT
instruction and vector, instead of  just using the hardware interrupt, must
prevent any saved context from being overwritten by a later interrupt.   In
other words,  if  the  driver  switches to its own stack, it must allow re-
entrancy.


6.11  as_send_pkt()

high-performance driver function
       int as_send_pkt(buffer, length, upcall) AH == 11
               char far *buffer;               DS:SI
               unsigned length;                CX
               int     (far *upcall)();        ES:DI

error return:
       carry flag set
       error code                      DH
       possible errors:









PC/TCP Version 1.09 Packet Driver Specification                          11
FTP Software, Inc.


               CANT_SEND               /* transmit error, re-entered, etc. */
               BAD_COMMAND             /* Level 0 or 1 driver */

non-error return:
       carry flag clear

buffer available upcall:
       (*upcall)(buffer, result)
               int     result;         AX      /* 0 for copy ok */
               char far *buffer;       ES:DI   /* from as_send_pkt() call */

as_send_pkt()  differs  from  send_pkt() in that the  upcall()  routine  is
called when the application's data has  been  copied out of the buffer, and
the application can safely modify or re-use the  buffer.    The  driver may
pass a non-zero error code to  upcall()  if  the copy failed, or some other
error  was  detected,  otherwise  it  should indicate success, even if  the
packet hasn't actually been  transmitted  yet.  Note that the buffer passed
to send_pkt() is assumed  to  be modifiable when that call returns, whereas
with as_send_pkt(), the buffer may be  queued  by the driver and dealt with
later.  If an error is returned on the initial call, the upcall will not be
executed.  This function was added in v1.09 of this specification,  and may
not be implemented by all drivers (see driver_info()).


6.12  set_rcv_mode()

extended driver function
       set_rcv_mode(handle, mode)      AH == 20
               int     handle;         BX
               int     mode;           CX


error return:
       carry flag set
       error code              DH
       possible errors:
               BAD_HANDLE
               BAD_MODE

non-error return:
       carry flag clear

Sets  the  receive  mode  on  the  interface  associated with  handle.  The
following values are accepted for mode:

mode      meaning

1         turn off receiver
2         receive only packets sent to this interface
3         mode 2 plus broadcast packets
4         mode 3 plus limited multicast packets
5         mode 3 plus all multicast packets
6         all packets









12                          PC/TCP Version 1.09 Packet Driver Specification
                                                        FTP Software, Inc.


Note that not all interfaces support  all  modes.  The receive mode affects
all  packets  received  by this interface, not just packets associated with
the   handle   argument.       See    the    extended    driver   functions
get_multicast_list()  and  set_multicast_list()  for  programming  "perfect
filters" to receive specific multicast addresses.

Note  that mode 3 is the default, and if the set_rcv_mode() function is not
implemented, mode 3 is assumed to be in force as long  as  any  handles are
open (from the first access_type() to the last release_type()).


6.13  get_rcv_mode()

extended driver function
       get_rcv_mode(handle, mode)      AH == 21
               int     handle;         BX


error return:
       carry flag set
       error code                      DH
       possible errors:
               BAD_HANDLE

non-error return:
       carry flag clear
       mode                            AX

Returns the current receive mode of the interface associated with handle.


6.14  set_multicast_list()

extended driver function
       set_multicast_list(addrlst, len)        AH == 22
               char far *addrlst;      ES:DI
               int     len;            CX

error return:
       carry flag set
       error code                      DH
       possible errors:
               NO_MULTICAST
               NO_SPACE
               BAD_ADDRESS

non-error return:
       carry flag clear

The addrlst argument is assumed to point to an len-byte buffer containing a
number of multicast addresses.    BAD_ADDRESS is returned if len modulo the
size of an address is  not equal to 0, or the data is unacceptable for some










PC/TCP Version 1.09 Packet Driver Specification                          13
FTP Software, Inc.


reason.   NO_SPACE is returned (and no addresses are set) if there are more
addresses than the hardware supports directly.

The recommended procedure for  setting  multicast  addresses  is to issue a
get_multicast_list(),  copy  the  information to a local  buffer,  add  any
addresses  desired,  and  issue  a  set_multicast_list().  This  should  be
reversed when the application exits.  If the set_multicast_list() fails due
to NO_SPACE, use set_rcv_mode() to set mode 5 instead.


6.15  get_multicast_list()

extended driver function
       get_multicast_list()            AH == 23

error return:
       carry flag set
       error code                      DH
       possible errors:
               NO_MULTICAST
               NO_SPACE

non-error return:
       carry flag clear
       char far *addrlst;              ES:DI
       int     len;                    CX

On a successful return, addrlst points to len bytes of  multicast addresses
currently in use.  The application program must not modify this information
in-place.  A NO_SPACE error indicates that there wasn't enough room for all
active multicast addresses.


6.16  get_statistics()

extended driver function
       get_statistics(handle)          AH == 24
               int handle;             BX

error return:
       carry flag set
       error code                      DH
       possible errors:
               BAD_HANDLE

non-error return:
       carry flag clear
       char far *stats;                DS:SI

   struct statistics {
       unsigned long   packets_in;     /* Totals across all handles */
       unsigned long   packets_out;
       unsigned long   bytes_in;       /* Including MAC headers */









14                          PC/TCP Version 1.09 Packet Driver Specification
                                                        FTP Software, Inc.


       unsigned long   bytes_out;
       unsigned long   errors_in;      /* Totals across all error types */
       unsigned long   errors_out;
       unsigned long   packets_lost;   /* No buffer from receiver(), card */
                                       /*  out of resources, etc. */
   };

Returns a pointer to a statistics structure for the interface.   The values
are stored as to be normal 80xx 32-bit integers.


6.17  set_address()

extended driver function
       set_address(addr, len)          AH == 25
               char far *addr;         ES:DI
               int len;                CX

error return:
       carry flag set
       error code                      DH
       possible errors:
               CANT_SET
               BAD_ADDRESS

non-error return:
       carry flag clear
       length                          CX

This call  is  used  when  the application or protocol stack needs to use a
specific  LAN  address.   For instance, DECnet protocols on Ethernet encode
the protocol address in the Ethernet address, requiring that it be set when
the protocol  stack  is  loaded.    A  BAD_ADDRESS error indicates that the
Packet Driver  doesn't  like  the  len (too short or too long), or the data
itself.  Note that packet drivers should refuse to change the address (with
a  CANT_SET error) if more than one handle is open (lest it be changed  out
from under another protocol stack).

























PC/TCP Version 1.09 Packet Driver Specification                         A.1
FTP Software, Inc.








                               Appendix A

                       Interface classes and types


The  following  are  defined  as  network  interface  classes,  with  their
individual types listed immediately following the class.

DEC/Intel/Xerox "Bluebook" Ethernet
    Class                    1
    3COM 3C500/3C501         1
    3COM 3C505               2
    Interlan Ni5010          3
    BICC Data Networks 4110  4
    BICC Data Networks 4117  5
    MICOM-Interlan NP600     6
    Ungermann-Bass PC-NIC    8
    Univation NC-516         9
    TRW PC-2000              10
    Interlan Ni5210          11
    3COM 3C503               12
    3COM 3C523               13
    Western Digital WD8003   14
    Spider Systems S4        15
    Torus Frame Level        16
    10NET Communications     17
    Gateway PC-bus           18
    Gateway AT-bus           19
    Gateway MCA-bus          20
    IMC PCnic                21
    IMC PCnic II             22
    IMC PCnic 8bit           23
    Tigan Communications     24
    Micromatic Research      25
    Clarkson "Multiplexor"   26
    D-Link 8-bit             27
    D-Link 16-bit            28
    D-Link PS/2              29
    Research Machines 8      30
    Research Machines 16     31
    Research Machines MCA    32
    Radix Microsys. EXM1 16-bit
    33
    Interlan Ni9210          34
    Interlan Ni6510          35
    Vestra LANMASTER 16-bit  36
    Vestra LANMASTER 8-bit   37









A.2                         PC/TCP Version 1.09 Packet Driver Specification
                                                        FTP Software, Inc.


    Allied Telesis PC/XT/AT  38
    Allied Telesis NEC PC-98 39
    Allied Telesis Fujitsu FMR
    40
    Ungermann-Bass NIC/PS2   41
    Tiara LANCard/E AT       42
    Tiara LANCard/E MC       43
    Tiara LANCard/E TP       44
    Spider Comm. SpiderComm 845
    Spider Comm. SpiderComm 16
    46
    AT&T Starlan NAU         47
    AT&T Starlan-10 NAU      48
    AT&T Ethernet NAU        49
    Intel smart card         50

ProNET-10
    Class                    2
    Proteon p1300            1
    Proteon p1800            2

IEEE 802.5/ProNET-4
    Class                    3
    IBM Token ring adapter   1
    Proteon p1340            2
    Proteon p1344            3
    Gateway PC-bus           4
    Gateway AT-bus           5
    Gateway MCA-bus          6

Omninet
    Class                    4

Appletalk
    Class                    5

Serial line
    Class                    6
    Clarkson 8250-SLIP       1
    Clarkson "Multiplexor"   2

Starlan
    Class                    7    (NOTE: Class has been subsumed by Ethernet)

ArcNet
    Class                    8
    Datapoint RIM            1

AX.25Class                    9

KISS Class                    10











PC/TCP Version 1.09 Packet Driver Specification                         A.3
FTP Software, Inc.


IEE 802.3 w/802.2 hdrs
    Class                    11
    Types as given under DIX Ethernet
    See Appendix D.

FDDI w/802.2 hdrs
    Class                    12

Internet X.25
    Class                    13
    Western Digital          1
    Frontier Technology      2

N.T. LANSTAR (encapsulating DIX)
    Class                    14
    NT LANSTAR/8             1
    NT LANSTAR/MC            2













































PC/TCP Version 1.09 Packet Driver Specification                         B.1
FTP Software, Inc.








                               Appendix B

                          Function call numbers


The  following  decimal  numbers  are  used to specify which operation  the
packet  driver should perform.  The number is stored in register AH on call
to the packet driver.

driver_info                   1
access_type                   2
release_type                  3
send_pkt                      4
terminate                     5
get_address                   6
reset_interface               7
+get_parameters               10
+as_send_pkt                  11
*set_rcv_mode                 20
*get_rcv_mode                 21
*set_multicast_list           22
*get_multicast_list           23
*get_statistics               24
*set_address                  25

+ indicates a high-performance packet driver function
* indicates an extended packet driver function

AH values from 128 through 255 (0x80 through 0xFF) are reserved for
user-developed extensions to this specification.  While FTP Software
cannot support user extensions, we are willing to act as a clearing
house for information about them.  For more information, contact us.
























PC/TCP Version 1.09 Packet Driver Specification                         C.1
FTP Software, Inc.








                               Appendix C

                               Error codes


Packet driver calls  indicate  error  by  setting the carry flag on return.
The  error  code is returned in register DH (a register not  used  to  pass
values  to functions must be used to return the error code).  The following
error codes are defined:

1    BAD_HANDLE               Invalid handle number,

2    NO_CLASS                 No interfaces of specified class found,

3    NO_TYPE                  No interfaces of specified type found,

4    NO_NUMBER                No interfaces of specified number found,

5    BAD_TYPE                 Bad packet type specified,

6    NO_MULTICAST             This interface does not support multicast,

7    CANT_TERMINATE           This packet driver cannot terminate,

8    BAD_MODE                 An invalid receiver mode was specified,

9    NO_SPACE                 Operation failed because of insufficient space,

10   TYPE_INUSE               The type had previously been accessed, and not
                             released,

11   BAD_COMMAND              The command was out of range, or not implemented,

12   CANT_SEND                The packet couldn't be sent (usually hardware error),

13   CANT_SET                 Hardware address couldn't be changed (more than 1
                             handle open),

14   BAD_ADDRESS              Hardware address has bad length or format,

15   CANT_RESET               Couldn't reset interface (more than 1 handle open).















PC/TCP Version 1.09 Packet Driver Specification                         D.1
FTP Software, Inc.








                               Appendix D

                      802.3 vs. Blue Book Ethernet


One weakness of the present specification is that there is no provision for
simultaneous  support  of  802.3  and  Blue Book (the  old  DEC-Intel-Xerox
standard) Ethernet headers via a single Packet Driver (as  defined  by  its
interrupt).  The problem is that the "ethertype" of Blue Book packets is in
bytes 12  and  13  of  the header, and in 802.3 the corresponding bytes are
interpreted as a length.  In 802.3, the field which would appear to be most
useful to begin the type check in is the 802.2 header, starting at byte 14.
This is only a problem on Ethernet and variants (e.g. Starlan), where 802.3
headers and Blue Book headers are likely to need co-exist for many years to
come.

One solution  is  to  redefine  class 1 as Blue Book Ethernet, and define a
parallel class for 802.3 with 802.2  packet  headers.  This requires that a
2nd Packet Driver (as defined by its interrupt) be implemented where  it is
necessary to handle both kinds of packets, although they could both be part
of the same TSR module.

As of v1.07 of this specification, class 11  was  assigned  to  802.3 using
802.2 headers, to implement the above.

Note: According to  this  scheme,  an  application  wishing  to  receive IP
encapsulated with an 802.2 SNAP header and "ethertype" of  0x800,  per  RFC
1042, would specify an typelen argument of 8, and type would point to:

       char    iee_ip[] = {0xAA, 0xAA, 3, 0, 0, 0, 0x00, 0x08};


                                     James B. VanBokkelen
                                     [email protected]
                                     ...!ftp!jbvb



























                            Table of Contents




       1  Document Conventions  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
       2  Introduction and Motivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
       3  Identifying network interfaces  . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
       4  Initiating driver operations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
       5  Link-layer demultiplexing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
       6  Programming interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
          6.1  Entry conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
          6.2  Byte and Bit ordering  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
          6.3  driver_info()  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
          6.4  access_type()  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
          6.5  release_type() . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
          6.6  send_pkt() . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
          6.7  terminate()  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
          6.8  get_address()  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
          6.9  reset_interface()  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
          6.10  get_parameters()  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
          6.11  as_send_pkt() . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
          6.12  set_rcv_mode()  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
          6.13  get_rcv_mode()  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
          6.14  set_multicast_list()  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
          6.15  get_multicast_list()  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
          6.16  get_statistics()  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
          6.17  set_address() . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14

    Appendix A  Interface classes and types                       A-1

    Appendix B  Function call numbers                             B-1

    Appendix C  Error codes                                       C-1

    Appendix D  802.3 vs. Blue Book Ethernet                      D-1

















                                    i