TCP/IP Application Development for Windows Mobile-based Devices
The TCP/IP suite for Windows CE-based devices was designed to ease integration of Microsoft systems into the embedded market, telecommunications, the enterprise, the consumer market, government, and public networks. It also provides the ability to operate over those networks in a more secure manner. Windows CE is an Internet-ready operating system.
Windows CE supports the following standard characteristics:
- The ability to bind to multiple network adapters with different media types, for example, 802.3 and 802.5.
- Logical and physical multihoming capabilities.
- Internal IP routing capability.
- Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) (IP Multicasting).
- Duplicate IP address detection.
- Multiple default gateways.
- Dead gateway detection.
- Automatic Path Maximum Transmission Unit (PMTU) discovery.
- Virtual Private Networks (VPNs).
Windows CE also has the following performance improvements:
- Protocol stack tuning, including increased default window sizes.
- TCP Scalable Window sizes (RFC 1323 support).
- Selective Acknowledgments (SACK).
- TCP Fast Retransmit.
- Windows CE .NET 4.1 and later supports both Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) and version 6 (IPv6).
The following topics provide more information about the TCP/IP stack.
The following table shows services that Windows CE provides.
| Service | Description |
|---|---|
| Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) client | DHCP clients are dynamically assigned with various configuration parameters, such as an IP address, subnet mask, default gateway, and other critical network configuration information.
For more information, see TCP/IP and the DHCP Client. Note Although Windows Mobile supports DHCPLite, prefix delegation is not supported in this version. |
| Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) | WINS is a NetBIOS name client that manages the name resolution process by maintaining an up-to-date list of NetBIOS computer names and their respective IP addresses.
For more information, see TCP/IP and WINS. |
| Domain Name System (DNS) client | Windows CE does not support hosting a DNS server. However, Windows CE queries a DNS server for name resolution if such a server exists on the network.
For more information, see TCP/IP and the DNS Client. |
| Dial-up (PPP/SLIP) support. | Windows CE implements dial-up networking with Remote Access Service (RAS) and Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP).
For more information, see TCP/IP and Dial-up Support. |
| TCP/IP network printing | In Windows CE, TCP/IP supports network printing through the Server Message Block (SMB) protocol. It does not provide the Windows Line Printer Remote (LPR) Spooler. However, independent software vendors (ISVs) and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) can add this support. |
| Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) extension agent | The SNMP extension agent provides an MIB-2 subagent that allows the state of TCP/IP to be monitored and controlled.
For more information, see SNMP Extension Agent. |
| Wide area network (WAN) support | This service provides users with access to the Internet. |
| Network Utilities | Many network troubleshooting tools are available for Windows CE, for example, ipconfig, iPv6, ipv6tun, netstat, ping route, and tracert.
For more information, see Network Utilities. |
| Internet Protocol Helper (IP Helper) | IP Helper provides application programming interfaces (APIs) that assist in the network administration of the local computer.
For more information, see TCP/IP and IP Helper. |
| Remote Procedure Call (RPC) | Microsoft® Remote Procedure Call (RPC) is used to creating distributed client/server programs. The RPC run-time stubs and libraries manage most of the processes relating to network protocols and communication. This enables you to focus on the details of an application rather than the details of the network.
For more information, see this Microsoft Web site, and then search for Remote Procedure Call (RPC). Note The RPC functionality in Windows CE is used only by DCOM. It is not supported in other deployment scenarios. |
| Windows HTTP Services (WinHTTP) | WinHTTP provides developers with a server-supported, high-level interface to the HTTP/1.1 Internet protocol.
For more information, see TCP/IP and WinHTTP. |
| Windows Internet (WinInet) | WinInet handles all communication between an application and Winsock.
For more information, see TCP/IP and WinInet. |
| Windows Sockets (Winsock) | Applications access the TCP/IP stack through the Winsock interface.
For more information, see TCP/IP and Windows Sockets. |
See Also
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