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1994-12-10
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PCMCIA modems, ThinkPads and IBM modems 8/12/94
file name
OSMKPA01.FAX
TITLE
PCMCIA Overview for Data Communications for IBM
Thinkpads and IBM Modems
PCMCIA SUPPORT UNDER OS/2 2.X
This section will highlight support features for PCMCIA
support under OS/2 2.x. The base support for PCMCIA is
enabled in OS/2 2.1 and later releases.
GENERAL PCMCIA OVERVIEW
OS/2 2.1 supports the level 2.0 Personal Computer
Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA)
specification for credit-card sized adapters such as
memory, I/O devices, modems, and LAN Adapters. OS/2 2.1
is enabled to support environments which comply with
the three layers of the PCMCIA architecture. This means
that OS/2 2.1 contains the Card Services support which
allows PCMCIA adapter manufacturers to write Client
Device Drivers and Personal Computer System
Manufacturers to ship Socket Services.
PCMCIA HARDWARE DESCRIPTION
There are three major hardware components defined in
the PCMCIA architecture: Cards, Sockets and Adapters.
PCMCIA cards are treated in much the same way as
standard removable media (such as diskettes). The card
slots (called sockets) are open bays which the cards
are inserted in without removing system covers or
powering off the system unit. Adapters are connected to
the host system's bus. The adapters map the host system
bus technology to the PCMCIA technology.
PCMCIA SOFTWARE DESCRIPTION
There are three major software components defined in
the PCMCIA architecture: Card Services, Clients and
Socket Services. The following sections will give a
description of the required software layers for PCMCIA
support.
CARD SERVICES
The Card Services component is an operating system
specificlayer that provides the Card Services functions
defined in the PCMCIA interface specification. The Card
Services interface functions are provided according to
the operating system's details for the client device
driver model environment. Card Services relies on the
operating system and Socket Services interfaces in
order to facilitate requests from PCMCIA clients. The
functions, features and availability of the Card
Services component is the responsibility of the
operating system developer/manufacturer.
OS/2 2.1 contains the PCMCIA Card Services layer of
support. The OS/2 Card Services support provides PCMCIA
2.00 Card Services conforming interfaces as a 16-bit
inter-device driver communications interface (IDC). The
PCMCIA Card Services layer is responsible for
managing system resources on behalf of the Client
Device Drivers and the Socket Services Layer. Client
Device Drivers must use the Card Services interfaces to
obtain access and configuration support for the various
PC Cards supported by the client.
Card Services are enabled under OS/2 2.1 using the
PCMCIA.SYS and VPCMCIA.SYS device drivers.
CLIENT DEVICE DRIVERS
Clients manage the device characteristics in an
operating system specific environment and can be
generalized as card-specific device drivers. The Client
Device Drivers are required to manipulate the PC Card
and provide the application transparency for the card
devices. Therefore, for any given card (device) there
must be specific device driver for each supported
operating system. In addition, one client device driver
can simultaneously manipulate several cards of the same
type. Clients rely on the Card Services interfaces in
order to set up and remove accessibility to the PCMCIA
cards (devices). The functions,features, and
availability of client device drivers is the
responsibility of the PCMCIA card developer/manufacturer.
Client Device Drivers for OS/2 2.1 use the OS/2 Card
Services IDC interface to setuP and release the various
resources (IRQ, IO ports,Memory addresses, etc.) for PC Cards.
The Client DevicE Drivers are supplied by the adapter
manufacturer.
SOCKET SERVICES AND RESOURCE MAP UTILITIES
The PCMCIA Socket Services component is a
hardware-specific layer that isolates the details of
the adapter and socket logic from the other software
components. The Socket Services component provides the
functions defined in the PCMCIA interface
specification. Ideally, this software layer is built as
a BIOS extension so that a single implementation can
service multiple operating systems. However, it is
acceptable to have device driver versions, since
several situations preclude the availability of ROM
solutions(as would be the case when you are adding
adapters in existing host systems). The functions,
features, and availability of the Socket Services
Component is the responsibility of the hardware
(adapter option or system unit) developer/manufacturer.
The PCMCIA Socket Services layer might be implemented
in either ROM BIOS or as a device driver. OS/2 Card
Services uses the PCMCIA Socket Services 2.00
interfaces implemented in a 16-bit IDC interface. Since
no ROM BIOS implementations of Socket Services were
available to test with, OS/2 2.1 only supports
implementations built as OS/2 Physical Device Drivers.
The Resource Utility is a special Client Device Driver
which should be provided by the PC manufacturer. This
special client is called the Resource Utility or
Resource Client. The Resource Client is responsible for
providing Card Services with a system specific resource
map for the personal computer. The Resource Client does
not own any PC Cards or devices and is only active
during the PCMCIA subsystem initialization. OS/2 Card
Services initialize with a generic default system
resource map which might not utilize the current
system's resources in an optimal manner. Hence, it is
strongly recommended that a system specific Resource
Client be provided by each system manufacturer with
system model resource details.
PCMCIA SUPPORT LAYERS
The following table identifies the various PCMCIA
Layers.
__________________________________________________|
PCMCIA DEVICE TYPE | WHO SHOULD SUPPLY |
__________________________________________________|
Card Services | Operating System |
__________________________________________________|
Client Device Driver | PCMCIA Card Manufacturer |
__________________________________________________|
Socket Services | PC Manufacturer |
__________________________________________________|
Resource Utility | PC Manufacturer |
__________________________________________________|
Table 10-1. PCMCIA SUPPORT LAYERS
PCMCIA AND OS/2 2.1 SUMMARY In summary, OS/2 2.1
provides the PCMCIA Card Services layer. There are
other PCMCIA layers which are required in order to have
a fully functioning PCMCIA configuration. The Socket
Services and Resource Utility should come
with the system unit/adapter option and should be
located on the Hardware Options Reference/Setup
diskette along with installation instructions. The
Client Device Drivers should be provided by the PC
Card/Device manufacturer and should be located on the
PC Card Reference/Setup diskette along with
installation instructions. It should be noted that some
PC Cards do not come with any software support or
hardware reference diskettes. These PC Cards
require/expect a third party program to manage the PC
Card. Care should be taken when purchasing PC Cards as
to what requirements exist. Developers who are
interested in writing OS/2 2.1 device drivers (Socket
Services, Resource Map Utilities or Client Device Drivers)
should consult chapter thirteen in the OS/2 2.1 DDK
Input/Output Device Driver Reference manual(S71G-1898-0)
IBM is aware of our customer's problems in obtaining
these pieces and is working with the PCMCIA
manufacturers to resolve this situation.
12/31/99