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 dlpi(7)                                                             dlpi(7)




 NAME    [Toc]    [Back]
      dlpi - data link provider interface

 DESCRIPTION    [Toc]    [Back]
      This manual page gives a brief description on DLPI (the data link
      provider interface) and how to interface with the set of API's that
      are provided by DLPI.

      HP-UX DLPI serves as a Layer 2 (Data Link Layer) of an OSI
      architecture.  DLPI serves as an interface between LAN device drivers
      and DLPI users.  DLPI is intended for use by experienced network users
      only.

      HP-UX DLPI has two broader sets of interface.  The first set of
      interfaces are provided as per the DLPI 2.0 standard and the second
      set that are HP extensions to the standard.

      HP-UX DLPI also provides interfaces to device drivers to interface
      with STREAMS modules and DLPI applications.

    For STREAMS Modules and DLPI Applications    [Toc]    [Back]
      Hewlett-Packard's implementation of DLPI is a Style 2 service
      provider.  The Style 2 provider requires a DLS user to identify a PPA
      explicitly, using a special attach service primitive.  Refer to the
      lan(7) manual page for more information on PPA.

      HP DLPI offers the following services to STREAMS modules and DLPI
      applications:

           +  Clone (maximum of 3992) and non-clone (maximum of 100) access.

           +  Support for Ethernet/IEEE802.3, FDDI and Token Ring
              interfaces.

           +  Support for connectionless and connection-mode services
              (connection-mode services are supported only over IEEE802.3
              and Token Ring).

           +  Supports raw-mode services.

           +  I_STR ioctl is supported for doing device-specific control and
              diagnostic requests.

           +  Support for third-party device drivers.

           +  Support for all levels of promiscuous mode.

      HP DLPI does not offer the following for STREAMS modules and DLPI
      applications:





 Hewlett-Packard Company            - 1 -   HP-UX 11i Version 2: August 2003






 dlpi(7)                                                             dlpi(7)




           +  Quality of Service (QOS) management.

           +  Connection Management STREAMS: DL_SUBS_BIND_REQ and
              DL_SUBS_UNBIND_REQ over connection-oriented STREAMS.

           +  Acknowledged connectionless-mode services.

      The DLPI requests based on DLPI 2.0 standard are defined in <dlpi.h>;
      see dlpi(4).  HP extensions for DLPI are defined in <dlpi_ext.h>; see
      dlpi_ext(4).

    Device File Format    [Toc]    [Back]
      To access LAN drivers via DLPI interface, DLS users must use the
      following device files:

           Name         Type       Major #     Minor #      Access Type
           ----         ----       -------     -------      -----------
           /dev/dlpi     c           72         0x77        Clone access
           /dev/dlpiX    c           119        0xX         Non-Clone access

    For Device Drivers    [Toc]    [Back]
      HP-UX DLPI is of non-native design.  The drivers and DLPI are not
      coupled together and exists as individual components on the system.
      The non-native DLPI supports two kinds of drivers.  Tightly coupled
      and loosely coupled drivers.

      DLPI provides interfaces to tightly coupled and loosely coupled
      drivers.  DLPI serves as a sole interface to DLS users for tightly
      coupled drivers.  Whereas, a loosely coupled driver depends on DLPI
      only to provide information to user-space command lanscan(1M) for
      display purposes.

      The interfaces for device drivers is defined in <dlpi_drv.h>, see
      dlpi_drv(4).

      DLPI provides the following functionality for tightly coupled drivers:

           +  Infrastructure that allows drivers to communicate with upper
              layer STREAMS modules or applications.

           +  Infrastructure for protocol, multicast and promiscuous
              processing.

           +  Infrastructure for asynchronous processing of control.

           +  Inbound frame processing.

           +  Processing link up and down events.

           +  Repository for all registered interfaces and associated
              information.



 Hewlett-Packard Company            - 2 -   HP-UX 11i Version 2: August 2003






 dlpi(7)                                                             dlpi(7)




           +  Outbound processing before hand off to physical drivers.

      DLPI provides its services through three header files that are
      exported.  The header files <dlpi.h> and <dlpi_ext.h> are for user
      space applications and kernel level STREAMS modules.  The header file
      <dlpi_drv.h> is for physical and logical drivers.

 WARNINGS    [Toc]    [Back]
      Various implementations of DLPI exists within HP-UX for special
      technologies like ATM, Hyper Fabric, etc.; but the DLPI that supports
      LAN class drivers (tightly coupled) is the one covered by this manual
      page.

 AUTHOR    [Toc]    [Back]
      dlpi was developed by HP, based on DLPI 2.0 standard.

 SEE ALSO    [Toc]    [Back]
      lanscan(1M), dlpi(4), dlpi_drv(4), dlpi_ext(4), lan(7).

      DLPI Programmer's Guide, 2003, Hewlett-Packard
      Driver Development Guide, Hewlett-Packard
      Device Driver Reference, Hewlett-Packard


 Hewlett-Packard Company            - 3 -   HP-UX 11i Version 2: August 2003
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