irnet(4)

1IRNET(4)                     Linux-IrDA man pages                     IRNET(4)
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NAME

6       irnet - IrNET protocol device
7

DESCRIPTION

9       File /dev/irnet is used to access and configure the IrNET protocol part
10       of the Linux-IrDA stack.
11
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  incomming connections through
24       irnetd.
25
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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CONFIGURATION

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  concurent  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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PARAMETERS

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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DISPLAY

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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EXAMPLE

114       Start a IrNET server accepting any incomming 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 incomming 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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AUTHOR

130       Jean Tourrilhes - jt@hpl.hp.com
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FILES

133       /dev/irnet
134       /proc/net/irda/irnet
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