Connection-Oriented Environment (NDIS 5.1)
Note NDIS 5. x has been deprecated and is superseded by NDIS 6. x. For new NDIS driver development, see Network Drivers Starting with Windows Vista. For information about porting NDIS 5. x drivers to NDIS 6. x, see Porting NDIS 5.x Drivers to NDIS 6.0.
NDIS supports the following connection-oriented drivers:
Connection-oriented client
Call manager
Integrated miniport call manager (MCM) driver
Connection-oriented miniport driver
The following figure shows a configuration of connection-oriented clients, a call manager, and a miniport driver.
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The following figure shows a configuration of connection-oriented clients and an integrated MCM driver.
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A connection-oriented miniport driver controls one or more network interface cards (NICs) and provides an interface between connection-oriented protocols (connection-oriented clients and call managers) and the NIC hardware. For a summary of connection-oriented operations performed by a connection-oriented miniport driver, see Connection-Oriented Operations Performed by Miniport Drivers.
A call manager is an NDIS protocol driver that provides call setup and tear-down services for connection-oriented clients. A call manager has the following characteristics:
Uses the send and receive capabilities of a connection-oriented miniport driver to exchange signaling messages with network entities, such as network switches or remote peers.
Supports one or more signaling protocols, such as ATM UNI 3.1, as specified by the ATM Forum. For a summary of connection-oriented operations performed by a call manager, see Connection-Oriented Operations Performed by Call Managers.
An integrated MCM driver is a connection-oriented miniport driver that also provides call manager services to connection-oriented clients. An MCM driver has the following characteristics:
Provides the same connection-oriented services to clients as a call manager that is paired with a connection-oriented miniport driver; however, the call manager-to-miniport driver interface is internal to the driver and therefore opaque to NDIS.
Multiple call managers and MCM drivers can coexist in the same environment.
Each call manager or MCM driver can support multiple signaling protocols.
For a detailed comparison, see How an MCM Driver Differs from a Call Manager.
A connection-oriented client has the following characteristics:
Uses the call setup and tear-down services of a call manager or MCM driver.
Uses the send and receive capabilities of a connection-oriented miniport driver or an MCM driver to send and receive data.
At its upper edge can provide its own network and transport-layer services to a higher-layer application
At its lower edge uses the services of a call manager and a connection-oriented miniport driver, or it uses the services of an MCM driver
Can be an adaptation layer, such as IP/ATM and LAN Emulation (LANE), that resides between a legacy protocol and connection-oriented NDIS.
Both IP/ATM and LAN Emulation (LANE) use call management services to establish underlying connections, but hide the connection-oriented nature of this interface from the connectionless protocols above it.
Note The definition of a connection-oriented client's upper-edge interface is beyond the scope of NDIS documentation. If a client serves as an adaptation layer, its upper-edge interface is defined by the protocol that it adapts to connection-oriented NDIS.
For a summary of connection-oriented operations performed by a connection-oriented client, see Connection-Oriented Operations Performed by Clients.