The term multipath channel (MPC) describes all z/OS® Communications Server I/O driver support. There are specific I/O drivers under this support that are also referred to as MPC (such as MPCPTP).
MPC is a component of the I/O process model. MPC handles protocol headers and data separately and executes multiple I/O dispatchable units of work. MPC provides support for all devices supported by z/OS Communications Server. The MPC I/O process and the CSM facilities that TCP/IP exploits are part of the VTAM® component of z/OS Communications Server. As a result, VTAM must be configured and active when starting devices on the TCP/IP stack.