Client Communication NIC is Really The physical hardware plus Software: device driver Upper-layer software talks to device driver Together, implement subnet layer protocols NIC and Device driver Together handle PHY, MAC, LLC Device Driver NIC
Client Communication Client PC has Multiple Transport-Internet Layer Protocol Stacks for Different Protocols NDIS in Windows Governs their Communication with the Single NIC TCP SPX IP IPX NDIS
Client Communication NDIS routes incoming packets to correct stack (IPX to SPX/IPX, etc.) TCP SPX IP IPX NDIS
Client Communication NDIS feeds outgoing packets one at a time to the NIC TCP SPX IP IPX NDIS