GLD(4D) Devices GLD(4D)

NAME

gld - Generic LAN Driver

SYNOPSIS

#include <sys/stropts.h>


#include <sys/stream.h>


#include <sys/dlpi.h>


#include <sys/gld.h>

INTERFACE LEVEL

illumos architecture specific (illumos DDI).

DESCRIPTION

GLD is a multi-threaded, clonable, loadable kernel module providing
support for illumos local area network (LAN) device drivers. LAN drivers
in illumos are STREAMS-based drivers that use the Data Link Provider
Interface (DLPI) to communicate with network protocol stacks. These
protocol stacks use the network drivers to send and receive packets on a
local area network. A network device driver must implement and adhere to
the requirements imposed by the DDI/DKI specification, STREAMS
specification, DLPI specification, and programmatic interface of the
device itself.


GLD implements most STREAMS and DLPI functionality required of an illumos
LAN driver. Several illumos network drivers are implemented using GLD.


An illumos network driver implemented using GLD comprises two distinct
parts: a generic component that deals with STREAMS and DLPI interfaces,
and a device-specific component that deals with the particular hardware
device. The device-specific module indicates its dependency on the GLD
module and registers itself with GLD from within the driver's attach(9E)
function. Once it is successfully loaded, the driver is DLPI-compliant.
The device-specific part of the driver calls gld(9F) functions when it
receives data or needs some service from GLD. GLD makes calls into the
gld(9E) entry points of the device-specific driver through pointers
provided to GLD by the device-specific driver when it registered itself
with GLD. The gld_mac_info(9S) structure is the main data interface
between GLD and the device-specific driver.


The GLD facility currently supports devices of type DL_ETHER, DL_TPR, and
DL_FDDI. GLD drivers are expected to process fully-formed MAC-layer
packets and should not perform logical link control (LLC) handling.

Note -

Support for the DL_TPR and DL_FDDI media types in GLD is obsolete and
may be removed in a future release of illumos.


In some cases, it may be necessary or desirable to implement a full DLPI-
compliant driver without using the GLD facility. This is true for devices
that are not IEEE 802-style LAN devices, or where a device type or DLPI
service not supported by GLD is required.

Device Naming Constraints

The name of the device-specific driver module must adhere to the naming
constraints outlined in the NOTES section of dlpi(4P).

Type DL_ETHER: Ethernet V2 and ISO 8802-3 (IEEE 802.3)
For devices designated type DL_ETHER, GLD provides support for both
Ethernet V2 and ISO 8802-3 (IEEE 802.3) packet processing. Ethernet V2
enables a data link service user to access and use any of a variety of
conforming data link service providers without special knowledge of the
provider's protocol. A service access point (SAP) is the point through
which the user communicates with the service provider.


SAP 0 denotes that the user wishes to use 802.3 mode. In transmission,
GLD checks the destination SAP value of the DL_UNITDATA_REQ and the SAP
value to which the stream is bound. If both are 0, the GLD computes the
length of the packet payload and transmits 802.3 frames having that
length in the MAC frame header type field. Such lengths will never exceed
1500.


All frames received from the media that have a type field in the range
[0-1500] are assumed to be 802.3 frames and are routed up all open
streams that are in 802.3 mode, (those streams bound to a SAP value in
of 0. If more than one stream is in 802.3 mode, the incoming frame is
duplicated and routed up each such stream.


Streams bound to a SAP value of 1536 or greater receive incoming
packets whose Ethernet MAC header type value exactly matches the value of
the SAP to which the stream is bound. SAP values in the range [1-1535]
are undefined and should not be used.

Types DL_TPR and DL_FDDI: SNAP Processing
Note -

Support for the DL_TPR and DL_FDDI media types in GLD is obsolete and
may be removed in a future release of illumos.


For media types DL_TPR and DL_FDDI, GLD implements minimal SNAP (Sub-Net
Access Protocol) processing for SAP values of 1536 or greater. A SAP
value of 0 denotes that the user wishes to use LLC mode. SAP values in
the range [1-1535] have undefined semantics and should not be used.


SNAP headers are carried under LLC headers with destination SAP 0xAA. For
outgoing packets with SAP values greater than 1535, GLD creates an
LLC+SNAP header that always looks like:


``AA AA 03 00 00 00 XX XX''


where ``XX XX'' represents the 16-bit SAP, corresponding to the
Ethernet V2 style ``type.'' This is the only class of SNAP header that is
processed - non-zero OUI fields, and LLC control fields other than 03
are considered to be LLC packets with SAP 0xAA.


A DL_UNITDATA_REQ message specifying a destination SAP value of 0,
passed down a stream bound to SAP 0, is assumed to contain an LLC
packet and will not undergo SNAP processing.


Incoming packets are examined to ascertain whether they fall into the
format specified above. Packets that do will be passed to streams bound
to the packet's 16-bit SNAP type, as well as being passed to any stream
in LLC mode (those bound to a SAP value of 0).

Type DL_TPR: Source Routing
Note -

Support for the DL_TPR media type in GLD is obsolete and may be removed
in a future release of illumos.


For type DL_TPR devices, GLD implements minimal support for source
routing. Source routing enables a station that is sending a packet across
a bridged medium to specify (in the packet MAC header) routing
information that determines the route that the packet will take through
the network.


Functionally, the source routing support provided by GLD learns routes,
solicits and responds to requests for information about possible multiple
routes and selects among the multiple routes that are available. It adds
Routing Information Fields to the MAC headers of outgoing packets and
recognizes such fields in incoming packets.


GLD's source routing support does not implement the full Route
Determination Entity (RDE) specified in ISO 8802-2 (IEEE 802.2) Section
9. However, it is designed to interoperate with any such implementations
that may exist in the same (or a bridged) network.

Style 1 and 2 Providers
GLD implements both Style 1 and Style 2 providers. A physical point of
attachment (PPA) is the point at which a system attaches itself to a
physical communication medium. All communication on that physical medium
funnels through the PPA. The Style 1 provider attaches the stream to a
particular PPA based on the major/minor device that has been opened. The
Style 2 provider requires the DLS user to explicitly identify the desired
PPA using DL_ATTACH_REQ. In this case, open(9E) creates a stream between
the user and GLD and DL_ATTACH_REQ subsequently associates a particular
PPA with that stream. Style 2 is denoted by a minor number of zero. If a
device node whose minor number is not zero is opened, Style 1 is
indicated and the associated PPA is the minor number minus 1. In both
Style 1 and Style 2 opens, the device is cloned.

Implemented DLPI Primitives

GLD implements the following DLPI primitives:


The DL_INFO_REQ primitive requests information about the DLPI stream. The
message consists of one M_PROTO message block. GLD returns device-
dependent values in the DL_INFO_ACK response to this request, based on
information the GLD-based driver specified in the gld_mac_info(9S)
structure passed to gld_register(). However GLD returns the following
values on behalf of all GLD-based drivers:

o The version is DL_VERSION_2.

o The service mode is DL_CLDLS -- GLD implements connectionless-
mode service.

o The provider style is DL_STYLE1 or DL_STYLE2, depending on how
the stream was opened.


The DL_ATTACH_REQ primitive is called to associate a PPA with a stream.
This request is needed for Style 2 DLS providers to identify the physical
medium over which the communication will transpire. Upon completion, the
state changes from DL_UNATTACHED to DL_UNBOUND. The message consists of
one M_PROTO message block. This request may not be issued when using the
driver in Style 1 mode; streams opened using Style 1 are already attached
to a PPA by the time the open completes.


The DL_DETACH_REQ primitive requests to detach the PPA from the stream.
This is only allowed if the stream was opened using Style 2.


The DL_BIND_REQ and DL_UNBIND_REQ primitives bind and unbind a DLSAP to
the stream. The PPA associated with each stream will have been
initialized upon completion of the processing of the DL_BIND_REQ.
Multiple streams may be bound to the same SAP; each such stream receives
a copy of any packets received for that SAP.


The DL_ENABMULTI_REQ and DL_DISABMULTI_REQ primitives enable and disable
reception of individual multicast group addresses. A set of multicast
addresses may be iteratively created and modified on a per-stream basis
using these primitives. The stream must be attached to a PPA for these
primitives to be accepted.


The DL_PROMISCON_REQ and DL_PROMISCOFF_REQ primitives enable and disable
promiscuous mode on a per-stream basis, either at a physical level or at
the SAP level. The DL Provider will route all received messages on the
media to the DLS user until either a DL_DETACH_REQ or a DL_PROMISCOFF_REQ
is received or the stream is closed. Physical level promiscuous mode may
be specified for all packets on the medium or for multicast packets only.
The stream must be attached to a PPA for these primitives to be accepted.


The DL_UNITDATA_REQ primitive is used to send data in a connectionless
transfer. Because this is an unacknowledged service, there is no
guarantee of delivery. The message consists of one M_PROTO message block
followed by one or more M_DATA blocks containing at least one byte of
data.


The DL_UNITDATA_IND type is used when a packet is received and is to be
passed upstream. The packet is put into an M_PROTO message with the
primitive set to DL_UNITDATA_IND.


The DL_PHYS_ADDR_REQ primitive returns the MAC address currently
associated with the PPA attached to the stream, in the DL_PHYS_ADDR_ACK
primitive. When using style 2, this primitive is only valid following a
successful DL_ATTACH_REQ.


The DL_SET_PHYS_ADDR_REQ primitive changes the MAC address currently
associated with the PPA attached to the stream. This primitive affects
all other current and future streams attached to this device. Once
changed, all streams currently or subsequently opened and attached to
this device will obtain this new physical address. The new physical
address will remain in effect until this primitive is used to change the
physical address again or the driver is reloaded.


The DL_GET_STATISTICS_REQ primitive requests a DL_GET_STATISTICS_ACK
response containing statistics information associated with the PPA
attached to the stream. Style 2 streams must be attached to a particular
PPA using DL_ATTACH_REQ before this primitive will be successful.


GLD supports the DL_NOTE_LINK_UP, DL_NOTE_LINK_DOWN and DL_NOTE_SPEED
notifications using the DL_NOTIFY_IND primitive. See dlpi(4P).

Implemented ioctl Functions

GLD implements the DLIOCRAW ioctl described in dlpi(4P). For any other
ioctl command, GLD passes it to the device-specific driver's gldm_ioctl()
function as described in gld(9E).

Requirements on GLD Drivers

GLD-based drivers must include the header file <sys/gld.h>.


GLD-based drivers must also specify a link dependency on "misc/gld".
(See the -N option in ld(1)).


GLD implements the open(9E) and close(9E) functions and the required
STREAMS put(9E) and srv(9E) functions on behalf of the device-specific
driver. GLD also implements the getinfo(9E) function for the driver.


The mi_idname element of the module_info(9S) structure is a string
specifying the name of the driver. This must exactly match the name of
the driver module as it exists in the file system.


The read-side qinit(9S) structure should specify the following elements
as shown below:

qi_putp
NULL


qi_srvp
gld_rsrv


qi_qopen
gld_open


qi_qclose
gld_close


The write-side qinit(9S) structure should specify the following elements
as shown below:

qi_putp
gld_wput


qi_srvp
gld_wsrv


qi_qopen
NULL


qi_qclose
NULL


The devo_getinfo element of the dev_ops(9S) structure should specify
gld_getinfo as the getinfo(9E) routine.


The driver's attach(9E) function does all the work of associating the
hardware-specific device driver with the GLD facility and preparing the
device and driver for use.


The attach(9E) function allocates a gld_mac_info(9S) (``macinfo'')
structure using gld_mac_alloc(). The driver usually needs to save more
information per device than is defined in the macinfo structure; it
should allocate the additional required data structure and save a pointer
to it in the gldm_private member of the gld_mac_info(9S) structure.


The attach(9E) routine must initialize the macinfo structure as described
in gld_mac_info(9S) and then call gld_register() to link the driver with
the GLD module. The driver should map registers if necessary and be fully
initialized and prepared to accept interrupts before calling
gld_register(). The attach(9E) function should add interrupts but not
enable the device to generate them. The driver should reset the hardware
before calling gld_register() to ensure it is quiescent; the device must
not be started or put into a state where it may generate an interrupt
before gld_register() is called. That will be done later when GLD calls
the driver's gldm_start() entry point described in gld(9E). Once
gld_register() succeeds, the gld(9E) entry points may be called by GLD at
any time.


The attach(9E) routine should return DDI_SUCCESS if gld_register()
succeeds. If gld_register() fails, it returns DDI_FAILURE and the
attach(9E) routine should deallocate any resources it allocated before
calling gld_register() and then also return DDI_FAILURE. Under no
circumstances should a failed macinfo structure be reused; it should be
deallocated using gld_mac_free().


The detach(9E) function should attempt to unregister the driver from GLD.
This is done by calling gld_unregister() described in gld(9F). The
detach(9E) routine can get a pointer to the needed gld_mac_info(9S)
structure from the device's private data using
ddi_get_driver_private(9F). gld_unregister() checks certain conditions
that could require that the driver not be detached. If the checks fail,
gld_unregister() returns DDI_FAILURE, in which case the driver's
detach(9E) routine must leave the device operational and return
DDI_FAILURE. If the checks succeed, gld_unregister() ensures that the
device interrupts are stopped, calling the driver's gldm_stop() routine
if necessary, unlinks the driver from the GLD framework, and returns
DDI_SUCCESS. In this case, the detach(9E) routine should remove
interrupts, deallocate any data structures allocated in the attach(9E)
routine, using gld_mac_free() to deallocate the macinfo structure, and
return DDI_SUCCESS. It is important to remove the interrupt before
calling gld_mac_free().

Network Statistics

illumos network drivers must implement statistics variables. GLD itself
tallies some network statistics, but other statistics must be counted by
each GLD-based driver. GLD provides support for GLD-based drivers to
report a standard set of network driver statistics. Statistics are
reported by GLD using the kstat(4D) and kstat(9S) mechanism. The
DL_GET_STATISTICS_REQ DLPI command may also be used to retrieve the
current statistics counters. All statistics are maintained as unsigned,
and all are 32 bits unless otherwise noted.


GLD maintains and reports the following statistics.

rbytes64
Total bytes successfully received on the interface (64
bits).


rbytes
Total bytes successfully received on the interface.


obytes64
Total bytes requested to be transmitted on the interface
(64 bits).


obytes
Total bytes requested to be transmitted on the interface.


ipackets64
Total packets successfully received on the interface (64
bits).


ipackets
Total packets successfully received on the interface.


opackets64
Total packets requested to be transmitted on the interface
(64 bits).


opackets
Total packets requested to be transmitted on the
interface.


multircv
Multicast packets successfully received, including group
and functional addresses (long).


multixmt
Multicast packets requested to be transmitted, including
group and functional addresses (long).


brdcstrcv
Broadcast packets successfully received (long).


brdcstxmt
Broadcast packets requested to be transmitted (long).


unknowns
Valid received packets not accepted by any stream (long).


noxmtbuf
Packets discarded on output because transmit buffer was
busy, or no buffer could be allocated for transmit (long).


blocked
Times a received packet could not be put up a stream
because the queue was flow controlled (long).


xmtretry
Times transmit was retried after having been delayed due
to lack of resources (long).


promisc
Current ``promiscuous'' state of the interface (string).


The device dependent driver counts the following statistics, keeping
track of them in a private per-instance structure. When GLD is asked to
report statistics, it calls the driver's gldm_get_stats() entry point, as
described in gld(9E), to update the device-specific statistics in the
gld_stats(9S) structure. GLD then reports the updated statistics using
the named statistics variables below.

ifspeed
Current estimated bandwidth of the interface in bits per
second (64 bits).


media
Current media type in use by the device (string).


intr
Times interrupt handler was called and claimed the interrupt
(long).


norcvbuf
Times a valid incoming packet was known to have been
discarded because no buffer could be allocated for receive
(long).


ierrors
Total packets received that couldn't be processed because
they contained errors (long).


oerrors
Total packets that weren't successfully transmitted because
of errors (long).


missed
Packets known to have been dropped by the hardware on
receive (long).


uflo
Times FIFO underflowed on transmit (long).


oflo
Times receiver overflowed during receive (long).


The following group of statistics applies to networks of type DL_ETHER;
these are maintained by device-specific drivers of that type, as above.

align_errors
Packets received with framing errors (not an
integral number of octets) (long).


fcs_errors
Packets received with CRC errors (long).


duplex
Current duplex mode of the interface (string).


carrier_errors
Times carrier was lost or never detected on a
transmission attempt (long).


collisions
Ethernet collisions during transmit (long).


ex_collisions
Frames where excess collisions occurred on
transmit, causing transmit failure (long).


tx_late_collisions
Times a transmit collision occurred late (after
512 bit times) (long).


defer_xmts
Packets without collisions where first transmit
attempt was delayed because the medium was busy
(long).


first_collisions
Packets successfully transmitted with exactly one
collision.


multi_collisions
Packets successfully transmitted with multiple
collisions.


sqe_errors
Times SQE test error was reported.


macxmt_errors
Packets encountering transmit MAC failures, except
carrier and collision failures.


macrcv_errors
Packets received with MAC errors, except align,
fcs, and toolong errors.


toolong_errors
Packets received larger than the maximum permitted
length.


runt_errors
Packets received smaller than the minimum
permitted length (long).


The following group of statistics applies to networks of type DL_TPR;
these are maintained by device-specific drivers of that type, as above.

line_errors
Packets received with non-data bits or FCS
errors.


burst_errors
Times an absence of transitions for five half-bit
timers was detected.


signal_losses
Times loss of signal condition on the ring was
detected.


ace_errors
Times an AMP or SMP frame in which A is equal to
C is equal to 0, was followed by another such SMP
frame without an intervening AMP frame.


internal_errors
Times the station recognized an internal error.


lost_frame_errors
Times the TRR timer expired during transmit.


frame_copied_errors
Times a frame addressed to this station was
received with the FS field A bit set to 1.


token_errors
Times the station acting as the active monitor
recognized an error condition that needed a token
transmitted.


freq_errors
Times the frequency of the incoming signal
differed from the expected frequency.


The following group of statistics applies to networks of type DL_FDDI;
these are maintained by device-specific drivers of that type, as above.

mac_errors
Frames detected in error by this MAC that had not
been detected in error by another MAC.


mac_lost_errors
Frames received with format errors such that the
frame was stripped.


mac_tokens
Number of tokens received (total of non-restricted
and restricted).


mac_tvx_expired
Number of times that TVX has expired.


mac_late
Number of TRT expirations since this MAC was reset or
a token was received.


mac_ring_ops
Number of times the ring has entered the
``Ring_Operational'' state from the ``Ring Not
Operational'' state.

FILES

/kernel/misc/gld
loadable kernel module

SEE ALSO

ld(1), kstat(4D), dlpi(4P), attach(9E), gld(9E), open(9E), gld(9F),
gld_mac_info(9S), gld_stats(9S), kstat(9S)


Writing Device Drivers

WARNINGS

Contrary to the DLPI specification, GLD returns the device's correct
address length and broadcast address in DL_INFO_ACK even before the
stream has been attached to a PPA.


Promiscuous mode may only be entered by streams that are attached to a
PPA.


The physical address of a PPA may be changed by the superuser while other
streams are bound to the same PPA.

November 10, 2005 GLD(4D)