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IETF RFC 1051
Standard for the transmission of IP datagrams and ARP packets over ARCNET networks
Last modified on Thursday, March 24th, 1988
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Network Working Group P. Prindeville
Request for Comments: 1051 McGill University
March 1988
A Standard for the Transmission of IP Datagrams
and ARP Packets over ARCNET Networks
 Status of this Memo
This RFC specifies a standard protocol for the Internet community.
Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
Introduction
This RFC specifies a standard method of encapsulating Internet
Protocol (IP) [1] and Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) [2] datagrams
on an ARCNET [3].
Acknowledgements
The author wishes to express thanks to Robert Craig of the McGill
University Computing Centre and Bruce Hughes of Datapoint Corporation
for their generous support of facilities and information. I also
extend my gratitude to the readers of the PCIP mailing list for their
helpful ideas and comments.
Frame Format
IP and ARP datagrams are transmitted in standard ARCNET packets. As
required by Datapoint Corporation, the first octet of the data field
is reserved for the network layer protocol identification (the
"system code" in Datapoint nomenclature), and must contain the value
240 (F0 hex) for IP or 241 (F1 hex) for ARP. The ARP hardware
address type for ARCNET is 7 [9].
ARCNET supports packet formats containing 1-253 octets of data
(normal format) and 257-508 octets of data (extended format),
inclusive of system code. Note that there exists a range of data
lengths (254-256) which are 'forbidden'. IP packets within this
range should be padded (with octets of zero) to meet the minimum
extended packet size of 257 data octets. This padding is not part of
the IP packet and is not included in the total length field of the IP
header.
Prindeville PAGE 1 
RFC 1051 IP and ARP on ARCNET March 1988
On networks where some hosts do not support extended packet format,
the IP Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) should be set to 253, though
implementors are encouraged to support the extended packet format
mode of operation.
Because the ARCNET maximum packet length is less than the Internet
default MTU, implementations are strongly encouraged to support IP
level fragmentation and reassembly. Hosts not supporting this should
take steps to discourage others from sending fragmented packets, such
as using the TCP Maximum Segment Size option [4].
The frame format is:
Normal Packet Extended Packet
+----------------+ +----------------+
| ALERT* | | ALERT* |
+----------------+ +----------------+
| SOH (1) | | SOH (1) |
+----------------+ +----------------+
| SID | | SID |
+----------------+ +----------------+
| | | |
+ DID + + DID +
| | | |
+----------------+ +----------------+
| COUNT | | NUL (0) |
+----------------+ + +
| SYSTEM CODE | | COUNT |
+----------------+ +----------------+
| | | SYSTEM CODE |
: DATA : +----------------+
| | | |
+----------------+ : DATA :
| | | |
+ CRC + +----------------+
| | | |
+----------------+ + CRC +
| |
+----------------+
ALERT*: Six mark bits signifying the beginning of a frame.
SID: Sender's node ID.
DID: Receipient's node ID (repeated for reliability).
COUNT: Length of data and system code (one's complement).
SYSTEM CODE: 240 for IP, 241 for ARP (decimal).
DATA: Is either an IP or an ARP packet, padded with NULs so
as to not be between 254 and 256 octets long.
CRC: Cyclic redundancy check (CRC-16).
Prindeville PAGE 2
RFC 1051 IP and ARP on ARCNET March 1988
Address Mappings
The mappings between 32-bit Internet addresses to 8-bit ARCNET
addresses can be done several ways, recommended are:
Host Number Extraction
The easiest thing to do is to use the last eight bits of host
number part of the Internet address as the host's node id. This
has been implemented on Experimental Ethernet [5] and ProNET-10
[6].
Dynamic Discovery
Mappings between 32-bit Internet addresses and 8-bit ARCNET node
ids could be accomplished through ARP. Internet addresses are
assigned arbitrarily on some Internet networks. All
implementations supporting ARP must have a means of disabling ARP
and using the above Host Number Extraction method of address
mapping so that systems may interoperate.
The use of ARP is optional. However, ARP is desirable when using
IP implementations that don't support subnetting [7], as in the
Proxy ARP scenario [8].
Broadcast Address
The broadcast Internet address (the address on the network with a
host part of all binary ones) should be mapped to the broadcast node
id 0.
Prindeville PAGE 3
RFC 1051 IP and ARP on ARCNET March 1988
References
[1] Postel, J., "Internet Protocol", RFC 791, Network Information
Center, SRI, September 1981.
[2] Plummer, D., "An Ethernet Address Resolution Protocol", RFC- 826,
Network Information Center, SRI, November 1982.
[3] "ARCNET Designer's Handbook", Order Number 61610, Datapoint
Corporation, 1983.
[4] Postel, J., "The TCP Maximum Segment Size Option and Related
Topics", RFC 879, Network Information Center, SRI, November 1983.
[5] Postel, J., "A Standard for the Transmission of IP Datagrams over
Experimental Ethernet Networks", RFC 895, Network Information
Center, SRI, April 1984.
[6] "ProNET-10 Model p1300 IBM PC Interface System Installation and
Programming Guide", Version 4.0, Proteon Inc., July 1986.
[7] Mogul, J. and J. Postel, "Internet Standard Subnetting
Procedure", RFC 950, Network Information Center, SRI, October
1984.
[8] Carl-Mitchell, S. and J.S. Quarterman, "Using ARP to Implement
Transparent Subnet Gateways", RFC 1027, Network Information
Center, SRI, October 1987.
[9] Reynolds, J., and J. Postel, "Assigned Numbers", RFC 1010,
Network Information Center, SRI, May 1987.
Prindeville PAGE 4
Standard for the transmission of IP datagrams and ARP packets over ARCNET networks
RFC TOTAL SIZE: 7553 bytes
PUBLICATION DATE: Thursday, March 24th, 1988
LEGAL RIGHTS: The IETF Trust (see BCP 78)
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