PPP, Point-to-Point Protocol, is a Datalink implementation of SLIP. PPP was designed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) to improve on SLIP. PPP provides dynamic IP addressing, password support, error checking, and multiple protocols on the same link. At the Physical layer, PPP uses the same point to point-to-point connectivity as SLIP. In addition, it provides physical addressing and error checking at the Datalink layer. PPP and SLIP are futher enhanced with the introduction of IP.

NEC Electronics announced its new V850 NetChip modules. Based on NEC's popular V850 microcontroller, the V850 NetChip networking solutions allow original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to easily connect products to the Internet via local area network (LAN) or modem over standard phone line (PSTN). Jointly developed with Innovada, an embedded communications solutions provider, the V850 NetChip module includes the hardware and software required to develop products that can access the Internet, transfer data, and send and receive e-mail. The modules are ideal for applications such as utility meters; motor control; building automation, including fire and security, heating and air conditioning; and vending machines.

"The demand for Internet connectivity has rapidly expanded beyond traditional Internet appliances to include a broad range of industrial electronic systems," said Steve Ikei, senior engineering manager at NEC Electronics Inc. "Through our joint development efforts with Innovada, which provides the Internet connectivity elements of the design, we are able to provide a cost-effective network solution for our V850 microcontroller customers. In offering a complete hardware/software module, we've taken the guesswork out of Internet access, enabling our customers to simplify their design flow and speed their time to market."

"NEC's V850 microcontroller architecture offers an ideal platform for a low-cost Internet access module," said Irving Gold, vice president of sales and marketing at Innovada. "We have unleashed the power of the V850 RISC controller and developed, together with NEC Electronics, a one-stop-shopping platform that designers can adopt without the need to negotiate additional licensing fees or royalties. Using the V850 NetChip module, our mutual customers can connect practically any product to the Internet without any additional design effort."

About the V850 NetChip Modules NEC Electronics and Innovada have developed two V850 NetChip modules: an Ethernet LAN module and a modem module for dial-up. Both V850 NetChip modules have the same industry-standard form factor, removing any network dependency from the host system. Each module is controlled using a simple serial interface, configurable up to 115 kilobits per second (Kbps), making it an easy addition to most electronic products, even for designers without specialized Internet connectivity design knowledge.

The V850 NetChip LAN module provides 10/100 Base-T Internet serial-to-LAN connectivity with built-in transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP) stacks. The modem module provides dial-up connectivity up to 14,400 bps or V.21, V.22, V.22bis V.32 and V.32bis with V.42 error correction. The module also offers a software data pump and data access arrangement (DAA), as well as embedded peripherals such as an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter and pulse-width modulator (PWM), that normally must be designed with expensive external hardware components. The modules are suitable for connection across a variety of Internet protocols including:

Address resolution protocol (ARP) and dynamic host control protocol (DHCP) for LAN management

Point-to-point protocol (PPP), including link control protocol (LCP); and Internet protocol control protocol (IPCP) with password authentication protocol (PAP) or challenge handshake authentication protocol (CHAP) authentication for dial-up

IP and Internet control message protocol (ICMP) for the network layer

User datagram protocol (UDP) and transmission control protocol (TCP) for application support

Telnet for serial-to-Internet conversion; simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP) and post office protocol 3 (POP3) for e-mail

HTTP for Web page and Java applet support.

Availability The V850 NetChip Module is available now in both modem and LAN configurations from Innovada. NEC Electronics and Innovada can also provide customized Internet access modules as needed. For pricing information, please contact Irving Gold, irving.gold@innovada.com.

NEC Electronics, headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., is one of the leading developers, manufacturers and suppliers of semiconductor products in the United States. Committed to meeting customers' cost, performance and time-to-market requirements, the company offers solutions ranging from standard products, including electron components, to system-on-a-chip (SoC) solutions, as well as customized products for next-generation designs.

Innovada, the device connectivity company, is an innovator of embedded Internet connectivity and device communications solutions. Innovada combines its communications protocol and custom digital signal processing architectures to reduce both the cost and complexity of Internet access. By applying this unique approach, Innovada provides customers with a plug and play capability to meet the exploding demand for wired and wireless Internet device connectivity. Innovada is a global technology company with its corporate headquarters in Mountain View, California, and European headquarters in Dublin, Ireland.

Using and Managing PPP - Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) plays a big role in modern networks, from the Internet on down. It's the most popular way of sending and receiving datagrams across a serial connection--typically a telephone line. In Using and Managing PPP, Andrew Sun reveals the details of this widely used networking technology. Sun starts with an overview of how PPP fits into the Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) networking model and then details the operation of RS-232 (Recommended Standard 232) connections and modems. He describes the anatomy of a PPP link, explaining how a connection gets established and how the protocol breaks data into frames for transport--with particular attention to how TCP/IP packets move across a PPP connection. Using and Managing PPP also attacks PPP from a practical perspective, conveying information about how to set up and use the protocol on several popular platforms. It provides specific instructions for setting up PPP under Solaris, Linux, Windows 3.x, Windows 98, and both versions of Windows NT 4 for both dial-in and dial-out applications. Even Sun acknowledges that those planning to implement PPP in software ought to consult the IEEE documents that define it, though this book lacks sufficient low-level detail for that kind of work. However, Using and Managing PPP serves the purposes of administrators and others interested in getting the most out of PPP from a network-management perspective. This book is for network administrators and others who have to set up computer systems to use PPP. It covers all aspects of the protocol, including how to set up dial-in servers, authentication, debugging, and PPP options. In addition, it contains overviews of related areas, like serial communications, DNS setup, and routing.

PPP Design and Debugging - An introduction and detailed guide to working with Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP), a widely used Internet connection technology, for network administrators, technicians, and programmers. Follows PPP through its three main functions of connecting, authenticating, and sending data to the network, describes PPP protocols in depth, and discusses areas such as design and operation, how PPP works with other networking protocols, and bandwidth management. Material on debugging focuses on how to get packet traces out of common PPP implementations. PPP Design and Debugging offers network administrators, technicians, and programmers the perfect introduction and detailed guide to working with PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol), now the most widely used Internet connection technology. An excellent companion to the official standards documents, this comprehensive book covers PPP in depth, from the bits and bytes transmitted up through its connections to other networking software. It shows how to keep PPP running smoothly and efficiently, and offers the most detailed information available on debugging PPP and maintaining uninterrupted network connections. This convenient volume follows PPP through its three main functions: connecting, authenticating, and sending data to the network. It provides an overview of PPP design and operation-including link-level transmission and reception of data-as well as a look at how PPP works with other networking protocols. Each PPP protocol is described in depth, including: LCP (Link Control Protocol); the network layer protocols that communicate with IP, AppleTalk, SNA, OSI, and others; CCP (Compression Control Protocol) and ECP (Encryption Control Protocol). In addition, the increasingly important topic of bandwidth management is discussed. You will find thorough coverage of PPP debugging techniques that show you how to isolate and solve connection problems. In particular, the book examines a topic of critical concern: how to get packet traces out of common PPP implementations. Plenty of code, implementation strategies, and expert advice throughout make this book an invaluable resource for anyone who works with PPP. PPP Design and Debugging involves PPP, Point-to-Point Protocol, the most widely used Internet connection technology. Following the three functions of the protocol--connecting, identifying, and sending data to the network--this book tells readers how to keep PPP running efficiently and effectively and gives a wide variety of implementation strategies, plenty of code, and tips. This convenient volume follows PPP through its three main functions: connecting, authenticating, and sending data to the network. It provides an overview of PPP design and operationincluding link-level transmission and reception of dataas well as a look at how PPP works with other networking protocols. Each PPP protocol is described in depth, including: LCP (Link Control Protocol); the network layer protocols that communicate with IP, AppleTalk, SNA, OSI, and others; CCP (Compression Control Protocol) and ECP (Encryption Control Protocol). In addition, the increasingly important topic of bandwidth management is discussed. You will find thorough coverage of PPP debugging techniques that show you how to isolate and solve connection problems. In particular, the book examines a topic of critical concern: how to get packet traces out of common PPP implementations. Plenty of code, implementation strategies, and expert advice throughout make this book an invaluable resource for anyone who works with PPP. This book was written for the system designer, network administrator, or technical support specialist who needs to understand PPP at a byte-by-byte level. It covers the line coding techniques, the negotiation model, and the specific protocols that it supports. This book does not cover the configuration or use of any particular implementation in much detail -- there are already a number of books which do this. Instead, it sorts through the sometimes conflicting and often confusing array of standards which comprise PPP and ties them together in a coherent whole. If you are designing a PPP implementation, debugging a link using a protocol analyzer, or are curious about how an important part of the Internet works, then this book is for you. James Carlson spent six years developing and debugging remote access software at the Annex Development Group of Xylogics, now a part of Bay Networks, where he developed portions of the Annex implementation of PPP. Currently he works for IronBridge Networks, a startup company at the leading edge of network technology TOC Contents Acknowledgments Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 PPP Communication Basics Chapter 3 Negotiation, LCP, and Authentication Chapter 4 The Network Layer Protocols Chapter 5 The Transforming Layers Chapter 6 Bandwidth Management Chapter 7 Interpreting Traces Chapter 8 Resources Appendix A: AHDLC Implementation Appendix B: MP Fragmentation Appendix C: PPP RFCs Appendix D: Decimal, Hexadecimal, Octal, and Standard Characters Index