rackland@csis.dit.csiro.au (Ross Ackland) (05/15/91)
I have been using a lowcost fax card (Nichetek ATFAX) for some time now
and have found the file transfer facility particularly useful. These cards
cost about AUS$300 (from Taiwan) which makes 9600 baud file transfer quite
cheap.
Also, I have been able to obtain the driver interface to this card (running
under DOS) to allow me to develop my own user interface. It has calls like:
send_fax, poll_for_incoming_fax, send_file, poll_rec_file, etc...
I now want to add a facility to allow the cards to be used in a Bulletin Board
setup. The driver interface will need to be enhanced to allow for things
like connect_request, connect_accept, send_packet, receive_packet,
clear_request, and appropriate flow control for the V.29 half duplex interface
used by the fax card.
So, a user with one of these cards could send/rec faxes as well as dialing up
a private BBS to get mail, upload/download files etc.
Before I put my driver interface enhancements to the manufacturer I thought
it would be a good idea to post this on the net.
Are there existing low cost cards that already have this facility?
Am I heading towards a low cost WAN, but going about it the wrong way?
Could someone suggest a starting point for a protocol specification to be
used for the driver interface (eg variation of NetBios, IP, X.25) ??
Any ideas or suggestions welcomed!
Ross Ackland
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