RFC 1088 (rfc1088) - Page 2 of 3
Standard for the transmission of IP datagrams over NetBIOS networks
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
RFC 1088 IP over NetBIOS networks February 1989
For these internet protocol applications, IP.XX.XX.XX.XX is the
NetBIOS name for any IP over NetBIOS host where XX represents the
ascii hexadecimal representation of that byte of the internet
address.
This addressing scheme allows for the multiplexing of standard
datagram protocols over NetBIOS as well as easy visual confirmation
of the correctness of a given packet's address.
Broadcast and Multicast Addresses
Broadcast Internet addresses are represented by the NetBIOS group
name IP.FF.FF.FF.FF. Currently, no attempt is made to provide
support of IP multicast addresses using NetBIOS group names.
Maximum Transmission Unit
The maximum data size of a NetBIOS datagram, and therefore the
Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) for IP over NetBIOS networks, is 512
bytes. Therefore, any hosts communicating with a host on a NetBIOS
network may be required to reassemble fragmented datagrams.
Implementation
To support IP on a NetBIOS host for any given IP address the
initialization code must:
1) Add IP.XX.XX.XX.XX to the host's NetBIOS name table.
2) Add IP.FF.FF.FF.FF to the host's NetBIOS group name table.
3) Submit a receive datagram request for the reception of NetBIOS
datagrams destined for IP.XX.XX.XX.XX.
4) Submit a receive datagram request for the reception of NetBIOS
datagrams destined for IP.FF.FF.FF.FF.
When a NetBIOS datagram to either address is received, it is
processed by the protocol stack and another receive datagram request
is submitted.
When an IP datagram is sent, it is considered to be NetBIOS datagram
data and sent by a send datagram request to either IP.XX.XX.XX.XX or
IP.FF.FF.FF.FF.
Optionally, the IP software may desire to make adapter status queries
of the NetBIOS network. As support for SNMP becomes a requirement
for IP hosts, these adapter status queries may become mandatory.
McLaughlin