NDIS Adapter-Binding Management APIs

Windows CE 3.0 supports a set of new NDIS-library APIs that manage the binding and registration of adapters. The following table provides a list of the new functions that can be used for adapter-binding management.

Function Description
NdisRegisterAdapter Allows a client driver for a USB, 1394, or other bus to inform NDIS that a new network adapter has become available.
NdisDeRegisterAdapter Deletes an adapter instance that previously was registered with NDIS.
NdisRebindProtocolsToAdapter Behaves similarly to the NdisMRebindProtocols function. If wszProtocolName is NULL, then the named adapter will be unbound from all of the protocols to which it is bound currently and then re-bound to protocols, as if it were a newly registered adapter. If wszProtocolName is not NULL, then the adapter will be unbound only from the named protocol and then rebound to it.

The NdisMRebindProtocols function allows a network adapter to request that it be unbound from all of the protocol drivers to which it currently is bound and then rebound to protocols, as if it were newly registered with NDIS. For example, a wireless adapter that switches to a base station on a subnet that is different from its current IP address can invoke this function to cause the TCP/IP protocol stack to rerun DHCP to obtain a new IP address for the device. This alleviates the need for the user to "pop out" a network adapter and reinsert it in order to obtain a new address.

The NdisRegisterAdapter function allows a client driver for a USB, 1394, or other bus to inform NDIS that a new network adapter has become available. The client driver must ensure that the registry settings for the miniport and adapter have been set up correctly prior to calling this function. NdisRegisterAdapter requires the following registry keys to be set:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Comm\<MiniportName>
Group="NDIS"
ImagePath="Xxx.dll"

HKLM\Comm\<AdapterInstanceName>\Parms
BusType=xxx
BusNumber=xxx
<other parameters that are specific to the driver, such as I/O address>

 Last updated on Tuesday, July 13, 2004

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