Re: Synchronous board drivers

Alan Cox (alan@lxorguk.ukuu.org.uk)
Fri, 2 Jul 1999 17:43:04 +0100 (BST)


> Why is the sync PPP driver different from regular async PPP?

Historical reasons

> Don't you think sync and async PPP should be merged, and async serial
> driver should provide HDLC interface (for PPP etc)? That way, writing

Absolutely.

> async ports with protocols used with sync boards now. Of course, generic
> HDLC would also provide a character-mode interface.

(Character mode interface is too slow for some applications - a T3 in
character mode is unfunny)

> I think real sync board driver should be as simple as possible, with
> the rest done in generic driver. The hardware driver should just provide
> routines to initialize the board and set parameters, send a HDLC frame,
> handle an irq when a frame is received, etc.

That was basically the idea of the Z85230 driver and the cisco/ppp layer.
Someone is doing FR at the moment in the same way.

The "we ought to use pppd" case is quite valid. Its a 'when someone fixes it'
task

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