Miniport Driver with a WDM Lower Interface (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 x has been deprecated and is superseded by NDIS 6.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.
A miniport driver with a Windows Driver Model(WDM) lower interface is also known as an NDIS-WDM miniport driver. Such a miniport driver:
Uses a WDM lower edge.
Can call both NDIS and non-NDIS functions. However, whenever possible, the miniport driver should call NDIS functions.
Can initialize a miniport instance that is used to control devices attached to a particular bus and that communicates with those devices over that bus.
For example, a miniport driver that controls devices on either Universal Serial Bus (USB) or IEEE 1394 (firewire) buses must expose a standard NDIS miniport driver interface at its upper edge and use the class interface for the particular bus at its lower edge. Such a miniport driver communicates with devices that are attached to the bus by sending I/O request packets (IRPs) to the bus.
The following topics describe how to implement a miniport driver that uses a WDM lower edge:
Miniport Driver with a WDM Lower Edge
Registering Miniport Driver Functions for WDM Lower Edge
Initializing a Miniport Driver with a WDM Lower Edge
Issuing Commands to Communicate with Devices
Implementation Tips and Requirements for WDM Lower Edge
Compile Flags for WDM Lower Edge
Windows 98/Me Compatibility Notes
Power Management for WDM Lower Edge
Installing NDIS-WDM Miniport Drivers