DLCETHER Device Manager Nodes

The Standard Ethernet data link control (DLCETHER) device manager on an Ethernet local area network (LAN) operates between two or more nodes using medium access control (MAC) procedures and IEEE 802.2 logical link control (LLC) procedures, as defined in IEEE Project 802 Local Area Network Standards.

The specific state tables implemented can be found in the Token-Ring Network Architecture Reference. The DLCETHER device manager supports:

• Asynchronous disconnected mode (ADM) and asynchronous balanced mode extended (ABME)
• Two-way simultaneous (full-duplex) data flow
• Multiple point-to-point logical attachments on the LAN using network and service access point (SAP) addresses
• Peer-to-peer relationship with remote station
• Both name-discovery and address-resolve services.

The Ethernet data link control provides full-duplex, peer data-transfer capabilities over an Ethernet Version 2 local area network, using the Ethernet Version 2 MAC protocol and a superset of the IEEE 802.2 LLC.

LLC refers to the collection of manager, access channel, and link station subcomponents of a GDLC component such as DLCETHER device manager, as illustrated in the DLC[TOKEN, 8032, ETHER, or FDDI] Component Structure figure (Figure 1).

Each link station (LS) controls the transfer of data on a single logical link. The access channel performs multiplexing and demultiplexing for message units flowing from the link stations and manager to the MAC. The DLC manager performs these actions:

• Establishes and terminates connections
• Creates and deletes link stations
• Routes commands to the proper station.