OBEX Protocols Overview (Windows Embedded CE 6.0)
1/6/2010
The OBEX protocols enable synchronous and asynchronous device discovery. The asynchronous device discovery procedure uses fewer system resources than synchronous device discovery.
OBEX uses the Infrared Data Association (IrDA) protocols to transfer data. The OBEX server uses the IrOBEX 1.2 protocol to facilitate information exchange.
Note
In the context of wireless data exchange, a device that initiates a connection to another device is a client. A device that listens for incoming connections from a client is an OBEX server.
The OBEX server acts as a protocol translator and forwards packets to the appropriate transport layer. It is implemented as Obex.dll, a service/device driver capable of running in the context of device.exe. The server supports two types of networking media: IrDA and TCP/IP.
Note
The TCP/IP transport is disabled by default because there is no generic authentication support, and default server extensions do not implement authentication on their own. Enabling the TCP/IP transport is not recommended.
Packet interpretation and request servicing is deferred to OBEX server extensions, which are supplied by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and independent software vendors (ISVs). The ObexInbx.dll offers default inbox server extensions that support object pushing by using MIME types.
See Also
Concepts
Implementing Synchronous Device Discovery
Implementing Asynchronous Device Discovery
Registry Settings for OBEX Server