Warning:
--------
* The feature ODI2NDI of the MPTS product does not currently support
FDDI networks.

* On 8540, 8535 and other AT machines you could find some IPL problems
if you use IO base X'0100' (This address is assigned to system registers).
Change IO base address to a free one using DIP switch W4 as described
in the "Installation Guide"

* On some Value Point systems the interrupt level 9 is already used on
the system board. Change the IRQ level using DIP switch W4 as described
in the "Installation Guide"

* On 8540, 8535 and Value Point machines the Optical Bypass feature is not
pluggable today.



ADAPTER CONFIGURABLE PARAMETERS :
_______________________________

The IBM FDDI Adapter device driver allows the followings parameters to
be set via LAPS :


NETADDRESS

This field will contain a local administered address if filled. The range
is from 'X4000 0000 0000' to 'X7FFF FFFF FFFF'


ATTACHMENTCLASS

This parameter specifies, if the FDDI station is a single attached
(value "one") or a dual attached (value "two") station. The NDIS
device driver sets the defaults according to the installed adapter
cards:
-       Base card only: single attached station
-       Base card and Extender card: dual attach station


PMFPASSWORD

This parameter is 16 hexadecimal characters long, and initialized with
'X00', which means the password function is not activated. Once a
password is defined, it must then be included in all SMT Parameter
Management Frames.

This protects the station from an unauthorized setting of MIB
attributes by a remote station using SMT PMF frames.


USERDATA

This field is 32 bytes long and can contain any user data, for example
station name, location, etc.


LERCUTOFFa/b

provides local write access to the LER Cutoff  attribute, registered as
fddiPORT 58 in the SMT standard.  This attribute identifies the
excessive Link Error Rate that removes Port A/B (or Port S).


LERALARMA/B

provides local write access to the LERalarmA/B attribute, registered
as fddiPORT 59 in the SMT standard.  This attribute identifies the
excessive link error rate that signals an alarm at Port A/B (or Port S).


TMAX

provides local write access to the 2's complement T-Max attribute,
registered as fddiMAC 53 in the SMT standard.


TMIN

provides local write access to the 2's complement T-Min attribute,
registered as fddiMAC 55 in the SMT standard.


TREQ

provides local write access to the 2's complement T-Req attribute,
registered as fddiMAC 51 in the SMT standard.


TVX

provides local write access to the TVX attribute, registered as
fddiMAC 54 in the SMT standard.  It provides local control of the
recovery time


KNOWN LIMITATIONS  :
-----------------
Be careful when using the parameter 'Network Adapter Address', the driver
accepts also Multicast and Broadcast addresses.



CONFIGURING SYNCHRONOUS SERVICES  :
________________________________

This file contains information about the adapter parameters you must modify
to configure the synchronous services. These parameters configure the operations
of the ESS and the SBA functions. These functions are part of the device
driver and are installed with it. They must be configured with the LAPS
program before starting the workstation.

For instructions on how to modify SBA and ESS parameters, refer to the
appropriate step of the .DOC file you used to configure your environment.
The following sections describe the function and the valid values for each
parameter.



IMPORTANT     : If you use the static mode and configure this workstation to
                use synchronous transmission, you must change the default value
                for the SbaCommand, SbaPayLoad and SynchTxMode parameters.
                Although you can change default value for the other parameters,
                only advanced users are recommended to do so. Otherwise, a
                system failure may result.



CONFIGURING ADAPTER PARAMETERS
_______________________________


 These 2 tables will give you a summary of parameters used to configure SBA
 and ESS in STATIC mode and in DYNAMIC mode and show their default values.


  ͻ
    S T A T I C                                                              
  ͼ
  Ŀ
                                                                            
   S B A                           E S S                                    
                                                                            
  Ĵ
   Name          Default Value     Name           Default Value             
  Ĵ
   SbaCommand    STOP              SbaPayLoad     0 ( User MUST change it   
                                                      to get bandwidth )    
  Ĵ
   SbaAvailable  50                SbaOverHead    50                        
                 Not Applicable if                Not Applicable (N/A) if   
                 SBACommand = STOP                SbaPayLoad = 0            
  Ĵ
                                   MaxTNeg        25                        
                                                  N/A if SbaPayLoad = 0     
  Ĵ
                                   MinSegmentSize 1                         
                                                  N/A if SbaPayLoad = 0     
  Ĵ
                                   SbaCategory    0                         
                                                  N/A if SbaPayLoad = 0     
  Ĵ
                                   SynchTxMode    SPLIT                     
                                                  N/A if SbaPayLoad = 0     
  





  ͻ
    D Y N A M I C                                                            
  ͼ
  Ŀ
                                                                            
   S B A                           E S S                                    
                                                                            
  Ĵ
   Name          Default Value     Name             Default Value           
  Ĵ
   SbaCommand    STOP              SbaPayLoad      SbaPayLoad MUST be 0.   
  Ĵ                         
   SbaAvailable  50                SbaOverHead     Application will        
                 N/A if                                                    
                 SBACommand = STOP                 request all needed      
  Ĵ                         
                                   MaxTNeg         parameters to Network   
                                                                           
  Ĵ Allocator.              
                                   MinSegmentSize                          
                                                                           
  Ĵ                         
                                   SbaCategory                             
                                                                           
  Ĵ
                                   SynchTxMode    SPLIT                     
  




  Ŀ
    Example of configuration in Static Mode  
  


 To give you an example of configuration where a server S1 has 6 clients
 R1 to R6 with ActionMedia cards supporting videostreams of 1.2 Mbps each.
 This means that the server has to support a payload of 6 x 1.2 Mbps = 7.2 Mbps
 This is equivalent to 112.5 Synchronous Units (see conversion formula
 hereunder). Setting SbaPayLoad to 120 will make sure that your server has
 enough bandwidth to guarantee quality of service for all videostreams.




                            Ŀ  SbaPayLoad = 120 SbaOverHead    =    50
                              S 1                     MaxTNeg        =    25
                             E S S                    MinSegmentSize =   500
                                               SbaCategory    =     0
                                                       SynchTxMode    = SPLIT
                                
                                
             ͻ
                                                       Ŀ
                    F D D I     S E G M E N T       ĳ S B A 
                                                       
             ͼ   SbaCommand   = START
                                                   SbaAvailable =    50
                                           
                Ŀ Ŀ Ŀ Ŀ Ŀ Ŀ
                R 1 R 2 R 3 R 4 R 5 R 6
                     





PARAMETERS DESCRIPTIONS
_______________________

  Ŀ
    SBA Parameter   
  

   SbaCommand

   Valid Range: "START" , "STOP"
   Default Value: "STOP"
     The SbaCommand keyword specifies an SBA local action to start or stop
     the SBA application and is an IBM specific attribute.
     Note: There should be only one active SBA application in the same segment.

   SbaAvailable

   Valid Range: 0 - 100
   Default Value: 50
     The SbaAvailable keyword defines the maximum synchronous bandwidth (in
     percent) available for the primary path.
     If a value is specified which lies outside the valid range, the upper or
     lower limit will be taken. The effective value remains zero until the SBA
     application is enabled and active.


                          ******************************


  Ŀ
    ESS Parameters  
  

   SbaPayLoad

   Valid Range: 0 - 1562
   Default Value: 0
     * The SbaPayLoad keyword defines the requested synchronous bandwidth for
       manual static allocations in synchronous units ( SU ).
       The synchronous unit is the number of bytes transmitted in 125
       microseconds.

     * Valid values are from 0 to 1562 bytes per 125 microseconds.
       (1562 SU = 100 Mbits / sec).

     * The correlation between a payload in Mbits/sec and in Synchronous
       Units, as specified in the SMT ANSI Standard, is shown in the following
       table.

  Ŀ
   Mbits/sec  1   2   3   4   5   10   15   20   25   30   35   40   45   50 
  Ĵ
   Payload   16  32  47  63  79  157  235  313  391  469  547  625  704  782 
  


     * The default value is zero - no synchronous bandwidth is used.

     * If a value is specified which lies outside the valid range, the upper or
       lower limit will be taken (for example SbaPayLoad = 800 is corrected
       to 782).


     * You must define the amount of bandwidth in order to send synchronous
       frames. If the SbaPayLoad keyword is not specified, the SbaOverHead,
       MaxTNeg, MinSegmentSize and SbaCategory keywords have no effect.

     * The workstation supports either the static allocation mode, where
       the requested payload is specified by the  SbaPayLoad keyword, or the
       dynamic allocation mode ( where the required synchronous bandwidth is
       allocated directly by the multimedia application). Therefore, if you are
       using a multimedia application which can dynamically allocate the
       bandwidth, do not specify a value for the SbaPayLoad keyword.


     * Conversion formula:

       (Requested Payload(Mbits/sec)  8)x 125E-6 = SbaPayLoad (Synchronous
                                                                      Units)
       For example, if the required bandwidth is 1 MBit/sec (125,000 Bytes/sec),
       the value of the payload is 125,000 x 125E-6 = 15.625 (rounded up to
       16 SU).

   SbaOverHead

   Valid Range: 0 - 5000
   Default Value: 50
     The SbaOverHead keyword defines the requested overhead for static
     allocations. If a value is specified which lies outside the valid range,
     the upper or lower limit will be taken.
   Note:  This keyword has only an effect, if the keyword SbaPayLoad is
          specified.



   MaxTNeg

   Valid Range: 5 - 165
   Default Value: 25
     This MaxTNeg keyword defines the maximum token rotation delay
     accepted by the application(s) using synchronous bandwidth.
     If a value is specified which lies outside the limits, the upper or
     lower limit will be taken.
   Note:  This keyword has only an effect, if the keyword SbaPayLoad is
          specified.



   MinSegmentSize

   Valid Range: 1 - 4478
   Default Value: 500
     The MinSegmentSize keyword defines the minimum synchronous segmentation
     size. This value corresponds to the amount of bytes to be transmitted
     per token opportunity. If a value is specified which lies outside the
     limits, the upper or lower limit will be taken.
   Note:  This keyword has only an effect, if the keyword SbaPayLoad is
          specified.



   SbaCategory

   Valid Range: 0 - 65535
   Default Value: 0
     The SbaCategory keyword defines the session ID of the SBA_Category for
     the static allocation. If a value is specified which lies outside the
     limits, the upper or lower limit will be taken.
   Note:  This keyword has only an effect, if the keyword SbaPayLoad is
          specified.


   SynchTxMode

   Valid Range: "ALL" , "SPLIT"
   Default Value: "SPLIT"
     The SynchTxMode keyword defines the synchronous transmission mode.
     The default value is 'SPLIT', where only frames identified as
     synchronous frames are transmitted by the synchronous queue.
     The other possible value is 'ALL', where all LLC frames received
     from upper layers are transmitted via the synchronous queue.
     This keyword only has an effect, if the ESS is able to receive
     the required synchronous bandwidth from the SBA.




KNOWN LIMITATIONS / COMPATIBILITY
_________________________________


   The synchronous traffic is perfectly compatible and has been successfully
   tested with following IBM products :
                IBM 8240 FDDI Concentrator,
                IBM 8244 FDDI Workgroup Concentrator,
                IBM 8250 Multiprotocol Intelligent Hub,
                IBM 3172 Interconnect Controller Model 2,


   The following IBM products cannot support synchronous services :

                IBM 3172 Interconnect Controller Model 3,
                IBM FDDI PS2 Adapters /A,
                IBM FDDI RS6000 Adapters /A,
                IBM FDDI MCA , ISA , EISA Base Adapter (Driver V2.0).

   If you already have some IBM FDDI Base Adapters , you must upgrade your
   device driver to this latest level (V3.0). To do this installation,
   proceed using the LAPS program as if it was the first installation
   and do not forget to specify paramaters specific to Synchronous
   Services if needed.




LAN SERVER ULTIMEDIA
____________________

If you are using LAN SERVER ULTIMEDIA V1.0 with LAN Server v3.0 you must apply
the APAR EC07262 providing a new NETBEUI driver for FDDI in synchronous mode.


PROBLEM DETERMINATION
_____________________


When problems arise in synchronous transmission, always ask your network
administrator for help.
The following questions can help you to determine the failing part in the
network.
These following questions assume that your adapter has been correctly installed
If it has not been correctly installed, refer to Chapter 4 of the Installation
and Test Instructions: Problem Determination .


Q: Is there an SBA active on the segment ?

     A1: Check the SBACommand and verify it is correctly set to START.
         (default value : "STOP").
         Check also the SbaAvailable parameter (default is 50).
     A2: Check the fddiPATHSbaAvailable attribute (fddiPATH 20) with
         a network manager on the station where you started the SBA.
         If it is 0, the SBA is not started. Check the SbaCommand and
         SbaAvailable parameters and reboot the station.
     A3: Check if there is only one SBA instance on the segment. Multiple SBA
         on one segment may give you conflicts at workstation level between
         bandwidth allocation requests.


Q: Has the ESS received an answer from the SBA (request granted or denied) ?

     A: Check the fddiPATHSbaPayload attribute (fddiPATH 15) with a network
        manager on the station where you enabled the ESS.
        If it is 0, the SBA has denied the payload requested by the ESS.
        The ESS will keep requesting payload to the SBA every 10 seconds.
        Call your network administrator if the problem persists.


Q: My ESS has had payload granted by the SBA. When I reboot it, is this payload
   still granted for this station or will the ESS send a new request ?

     A: Every time the ESS station boots, it sends an allocation request
        to the SBA, asking for payload according to the value specified
        in its PROTOCOL.INI file. The SBA grants or denies this request
        according to the bandwidth available. If the request is granted,
        the ESS is allowed to use this bandwidth.
        A communication protocol between the ESS and the SBA prevents
        the SBA from allocating payload more than once for an ESS.



Q: My ESS has had payload granted by the SBA and is now disconnected from
   the segment. What happens with the payload allocated for it ? Is it lost
   or could it be allocated for another station ?

     A: If ESS has been disconnected from the FDDI segment , SBA will detect
     it no longer than 8 minutes after ESS quits the segment. If this happens,
     the SBA is allowed to allocate this bandwidth to new requests.




