1IRNET(4) Linux-IrDA man pages IRNET(4)
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6 irnet - IrNET protocol device
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9 File /dev/irnet is used to access and configure the IrNET protocol part
10 of the Linux-IrDA stack.
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12 IrNET is a protocol allowing to create TCP/IP connections between two
13 IrDA peers in an efficient fashion, and generally to enable standard
14 networking over IrDA. It is a thin layer, passing PPP packets to IrTTP
15 and vice versa. It uses PPP in synchronous mode, because IrTTP offer a
16 reliable sequenced packet service (as opposed to a byte stream). In
17 fact, you could see IrNET as carrying TCP/IP in a IrDA socket, using
18 PPP to provide the glue.
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20 The main difference with traditional PPP over IrCOMM is that it avoids
21 the framing and serial emulation which are a performance bottleneck. It
22 also allows multipoint communications in a sensible fashion. And
23 finally, it can automatically handle incoming connections through
24 irnetd.
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26 The main difference with IrLAN is that we use PPP for the link manage‐
27 ment, which is more standard, interoperable and flexible than the IrLAN
28 protocol. For example, PPP adds authentication, encryption, compres‐
29 sion, header compression and automated routing setup. And, as IrNET let
30 PPP do the hard work, the implementation is much simpler than IrLAN.
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32 IrNET connections are initiated and managed with pppd(8). File
33 /dev/irnet also offer a control channel. Reads from /dev/irnet will
34 return various IrNET events. Write to /dev/irnet allow to configure
35 the IrNET connection.
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38 If your system does not have /dev/irnet created already, it can be cre‐
39 ated with the following commands:
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41 mknod -m 644 /dev/irnet c 10 187
42 chown root:root /dev/irnet
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44 You will also need to have IrNET support in your kernel or as module
45 and the Linux-IrDA stack installed and configured (see irattach(8)).
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47 File /dev/irnet is supposed to only be used with the PPP line disci‐
48 pline or for accessing the control channel, other use are unsupported.
49 IrNET support multiple concurrent connections (limited by the IrDA
50 stack), all those connections are multiplexed on a single /dev/irnet
51 device (as opposed to IrCOMM which as one device per connection).
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54 Writing commands to /dev/irnet allow to configure the IrNET connection
55 being made. This need to be done through pppd(8) (see below for exam‐
56 ples). Commands are separated by comas.
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58 name <peer>
59 Connect to the IrDA device which IrDA nickname is <peer>. The
60 IrDA nickname is a string up to 31 characters.
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62 daddr <peer>
63 Connect to the IrDA device which IrDA address is <peer>. The
64 IrDA address is a 32 bits hexadecimal number.
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66 raddr <port>
67 Restrict connections to the local IrDA interface which IrDA
68 address is <port>. The IrDA address is a 32 bits hexadecimal
69 number.
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72 Reading from /dev/irnet will show various IrNET events. This is usu‐
73 ally done with the command cat /dev/irnet.
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75 Found Dump of the current IrNET discovery log.
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77 Discovered
78 New IrNET device discovered.
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80 Expired
81 Previously discovered IrNET device no longer present.
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83 Connected to
84 This computer successfully established an IrNET connection to a
85 peer.
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87 Connection from
88 A peer successfully established an IrNET connection to this com‐
89 puter.
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91 Request from
92 A peer attempted to connect to this computer, but no IrNET con‐
93 nection was waiting for it.
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95 No-answer from
96 This computer attempted to connect to a peer, but no IrNET con‐
97 nection was waiting for it.
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99 Blocked link with
100 The IrDA link of the IrNET connection is currently blocked.
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102 Disconnection from
103 A peer successfully terminated an IrNET connection with this
104 computer.
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106 Disconnected to
107 This computer successfully terminated an IrNET connection with a
108 peer.
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110 File /proc/net/irda/irnet will also show the current state of the vari‐
111 ous IrNET connections.
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114 Start a IrNET server accepting any incoming connection:
115 pppd /dev/irnet 9600 local noauth nolock passive
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117 Start a IrNET client connecting to any IrDA peer:
118 pppd /dev/irnet 9600 local noauth nolock
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120 Start a IrNET client connecting to the IrDA peer called MyIrDANode:
121 pppd /dev/irnet 9600 local noauth nolock connect "echo name MyIr‐
122 DANode"
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124 Start a IrNET server accepting incoming connection from peer with IrDA
125 address 0x12345678 only on IrDA port 0x87654321:
126 pppd /dev/irnet 9600 local noauth nolock passive connect "echo
127 daddr 0x12345678 , saddr 0x87654321"
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130 Jean Tourrilhes - jt@hpl.hp.com
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133 /dev/irnet
134 /proc/net/irda/irnet
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137 irda(7), irnetd(8), pppd(8), irattach(8), irdadump(8).
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141irda-utils 2 May 2003 IRNET(4)