Document revision date: 30 March 2001
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Chapter 1
Local Area Network (LAN) Device Drivers

This chapter describes the QIO interface of local area network (LAN) drivers that control the LAN devices.

In addition to the QIO interface, the OpenVMS operating system supports another interface into LAN drivers. The VMS Communications Interface (VCI) provides a privileged interface that is optimized for network transfers.

1.1 Local Area Network (LAN) Terminology

The following is a list of terms relevant to local area networks:

1.2 Supported Communication Devices

Section 1.2.1 and Section 1.2.2 show the communication devices supported on the OpenVMS operating system.

1.2.1 OpenVMS VAX Lan Devices

On VAX systems, Table 1-1 lists the supported devices.

Table 1-1 Supported OpenVMS VAX Systems LAN Devices
Medium Bus Device Device Name DECnet Name Device Type Version
CSMA/CD XMI DEMNA EXc0 MNA DT$_EX_DEMNA V5.3
CSMA/CD Local SGEC EZc0 ISA DT$_EZ_SGEC V5.3
CSMA/CD Local LANCE ESc0 SVA DT$_ES_LANCE V4.4
CSMA/CD TurboChannel PMAD ECc0 MXE DT$_EC_PMAD V5.5-2HW
CSMA/CD TurboChannel DELTA ECc0 MXE DT$_EC_PMAD V5.5-2HW
CSMA/CD QBUS DESQA ESc0 SVA DT$_ES_LANCE V5.0
CSMA/CD QBUS DELQA XQc0 QNA DT$_XQ_DELOA V5.0
CSMA/CD QBUS DEQTA XQc0 QNA DT$_XQ_DEQTA V5.3
CSMA/CD QBUS DEQNA XQc0 QNA DT$_DEQNA V4.0
CSMA/CD QBUS KFE52 EFc0 KFE DT$_FT_NI V5.4
CSMA/CD UNIBUS DEUNA XEc0 UNA DT$_DEUNA V4.0
CSMA/CD UNIBUS DELUA XEc0 UNA DT$_DELUA V4.0
CSMA/CD BI DEBNA ETc0 BNA DT$_ET_DEBNA V4.4
CSMA/CD BI DEBNK ETc0 BNA DT$_ET_DEBNA V4.4
CSMA/CD BI DEBNT ETc0 BNA DT$_ET_DEBNA V4.4
CSMA/CD BI DEBNI ETc0 BNA DT$_ET_DEBNI V5.2
             
FDDI XMI DEMFA FXc0 MFA DT$_FX_DEMFA V5.4-3
FDDI TurboChannel DEFZA FCc0 FZA DT$_FC_DEFZA V5.5-2HW
FDDI TurboChannel DEFTA FCc0 FZA DT$_FC_DEFTA V6.0
FDDI QBUS DEFQA FQc0 FQA DT$_FQ_DEFQA V6.1

Note

The DEQTA device is also known as the DELQA-YM. Also note that the device name is the name of the template device which is used by applications to identify the LAN device. The "c" in the device name indicates the controller letter, for example, A, B, and so on.

1.2.2 OpenVMS Alpha Lan Devices

On Alpha systems, Table 1-2 lists the supported devices.

Table 1-2 Supported OpenVMS Alpha LAN Devices
Medium Bus Device Device Name DECnet Name Device Type Version
CSMA/CD XMI DEMNA EXc0 MNA DT$_EX_DEMNA V1.0
CSMA/CD CBUS TGEC EZc0 ISA DT$_EZ_TGEC V1.0
CSMA/CD TurboChannel COREIO ESc0 SVA DT$_ES_LANCE V1.0
CSMA/CD TurboChannel PMAD ECc0 MXE DT$_EC_PMAD V1.0
CSMA/CD TurboChannel DELTA ECc0 MXE DT$_EY_NITC2 V6.1
CSMA/CD EISA DE422 ERc0 ERA DT$_ER_DE422 V1.5
CSMA/CD EISA DE425 ERc0 ETA DT$_ER_TULILP V6.1
CSMA/CD ISA DE200 ERc0 ERA DT$_ER_LANCE V6.1
CSMA/CD ISA DE201 ERc0 ERA DT$_ER_LANCE V6.1
CSMA/CD ISA DE202 ERc0 ERA DT$_ER_LANCE V6.1
CSMA/CD ISA DE203 ERc0 ERA DT$_ER_LEMAC V6.2
CSMA/CD ISA DE204 ERc0 ERA DT$_ER_LEMAC V6.2
CSMA/CD ISA DE205 ERc0 ERA DT$_ER_LEMAC V6.2
CSMA/CD PCI Tulip EWc0 EWA DT$_EW_TULIP V6.1
CSMA/CD PCI DE434 EWc0 EWA DT$_EW_DE435 V6.1
CSMA/CD PCI DE435 EWc0 EWA DT$_EW_DE435 V6.1
CSMA/CD PCI DE436 EWc0 EWA DT$_EW_DE435 V6.1
CSMA/CD PCI DE450 EWc0 EWA DT$_EW_DE450 V6.2
CSMA/CD PCI DE500-XA EWc0 EWA DT$_EW_DE500 V6.2
CSMA/CD PCI DE500-AA EWC0 EWA DT$_EW_DE500 V6.2
CSMA/CD PCI DE500-BA EWc0 EWA DT$_EW_DE500 V6.2
CSMA/CD PCI DE504-BA EWc0 EWA DT$_EW_DE504 V7.1-1H1
CSMA/CD PCI DE500-FA EWc0 EWA DT$_EW_DE500 V7.1
CSMA/CD PCMCIA 3COM 3C589B EOc0 CEC DT$_EO_3C589 V6.2-1H2
CSMA/CD PCI DEGPA-SA EWc0 EWA DT$_EW_DEGPA V7.1-2
             
FDDI XMI DEMFA FXc0 MFA DT$_FX_DEMFA V1.0
FDDI FutureBus+ DEFAA FAc0 FAA DT$_FA_DEFAA V1.5
FDDI TurboChannel DEFZA FCc0 FZA DT$_FC_DEFZA V1.0
FDDI TurboChannel DEFTA FCc0 FZA DT$_FC_DEFTA V1.5
FDDI EISA DEFEA FRc0 FEA DT$_FR_DEFEA V1.5-1H1
FDDI PCI DEFPA FWc0 FPA DT$_FW_DEFPA V6.2
             
TokenRing TurboChannel DETRA ICc0 TRA DT$_IC_DETRA V6.1
TokenRing EISA DW300 IRc0 TRE DT$_IR_DW300 V6.1
TokenRing ISA DW110 IRc0 TRE DT$_IR_DW300 V6.2
TokenRing PCI PBXNP-AA IWc0 TRE DT$_IW_TI380PCI V6.2-1H1
TokenRing PCI PBXNP-DA IWc0 TRE DT$_IW_RACORE V7.1-1H1
             
ATM TurboChannel DGLTA HCc0
/ELc0

ELA
DT$_HC_OTTO V6.2
ATM PCI DGLPB HWc0
/ELc0

ELA
DT$_HW_OTTO V7.1-1H1
ATM PCI DGLPA HWc0
/ELc0

ELA
DT$_HW_METEOR V7.1-2

Note

The EL is the emulated LAN device associated with the parent ATM device.

1.2.3 Supported Industry Standards

CSMA/CD drivers support the following features:

FDDI drivers support the following features:

Token Ring drivers support the following features:

ATM drivers over ELAN support the following features:

All LAN drivers support the following features:

Contrary to the IEEE 802.2 Standard, the Global DSAP (FF) must be enabled as a Group SAP to receive messages with the Global DSAP in the destination SAP field.

FDDI conforms to the ANSI Standards defined in the following documents:

1.3 LAN Controller Characteristics

System software and user applications communicate with other systems through the LAN controllers using the QIO interface defined by the OpenVMS LAN driver software. The description of this interface is described later in this chapter. The LAN driver software allows communication with these differing technologies in a consistent manner.

The LAN controllers implement the Ethernet, FDDI, Token Ring, and ATM specifications. The Ethernet specification is described in The Ethernet-Data Link Layer and Physical Specification. The FDDI specifications are available from ANSI. The Token Ring specifications are available from IEEE. The ATM LAN Emulation specifications are available from the ATM Forum.

Ethernet includes Fast Ethernet (802.3u) and Gigabit Ethernet (802.3z). See Section 1.4 and Section 1.5 for more information.

Ethernet, FDDI, Token Ring, and ATM networks can be configured to form a single extended LAN using FDDI-Ethernet bridges, FDDI and Ethernet switches, Token Ring bridges and routers, and ATM switches. This allows applications running on a system connected by a LAN controller of one technology to communicate with applications running on another system connected by a different type of LAN controller.

1.4 Fast Ethernet LANs (Alpha Only)

Fast Ethernet (802.3u) is an extension of the IEEE 802.3 standard. It typically runs over twisted-pair wiring (100BaseT). It increases the data transmission rate from 10 to 100Mbps and decreases the maximum length of a network segment. Fast Ethernet controllers allow either 10 or 100Mbps operation for compatibility with existing 10Mbps controllers on the same network segment. The DE500-FA Fast Ethernet controller provides a fiber-optic connection (100BaseFX).

Table 1-3 shows the types of cabling used for Fast Ethernet.

Table 1-3 Fast Ethernet Cabling
Cable Description
100BaseTX Works with twisted-pair cabling standards. It provides full-duplex performance with network servers, using only two of the four pairs of wires.
100BaseT4 Works with twisted-pair cabling standards. It uses four pairs of wiring with one pair for transmission, another for reception, and two pairs that can be used to either transmit or receive data. It does not support full-duplex operations.
100BaseFX Uses fiber optic cabling. Used mainly for backbones by connecting Fast Ethernet repeaters placed around a building. It gives protection from electromagnetic noise and increases security. It also allows longer distances between network devices.

The OpenVMS operating system supports the following Fast Ethernet adapters on Alpha PCI-based systems:

DE500-XA
DE500-AA
DE500-BA
DE500-FA


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