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Winsock 2.2

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Windows Sockets (Winsock) provides a general-purpose networking application programming interface (API) based on the socket interface from the University of California at Berkeley. Winsock is designed to run efficiently on Windows OSs while maintaining compatibility with the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) standard, known as Berkeley Sockets. Most Windows CE network communication passes through the Winsock interface. Windows CE .NET implements the Winsock 2.2 and is fully backward compatible with the Winsock 1.1.

Winsock is an interface, not a protocol. It provides a protocol-independent interface fully capable of supporting emerging networking capabilities, such as real-time multimedia communications. As an interface, it is used to discover and utilize the communications capabilities of any number of underlying transport protocols. Because it is not a protocol, it does not in any way affect the**bits on the wire, and does not need to be utilized on both ends of a communications link.

Winsock provides access to multiple transport protocols allowing you to create applications that support multiple socket types. Winsock's support of multiple protocols also includes IPv6. Following the Windows Open System Architecture (WOSA) model, Winsock defines a standard service provider interface (SPI) between the application programming interface (API), with its functions exported from the Winsock DLL, Ws2.dll, and the protocol stacks. You can use the Winsock SPI to create your own transport service provider or extend an existing transport service provider by implementing a Layered Service Provider (LSP).

Windows CE .NET also supports socket-based infrared communications called Infrared Sockets (IrSock) by using industry standard Infrared Data Association (IrDA) Protocols. Applications implement Infrared Sockets in the same way as conventional Winsock, although several Winsock functions are used differently. Windows CE .NET also supports Private Communication Technology 1.0 and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) versions 2.0 and 3.0 security protocols. These protocols are available either directly from Winsock or through WinInet.

See Also

Winsock Features | Winsock Application Development | Layered Service Provider | Windows Sockets Support for IPv6 | Winsock Secure Sockets | Creating an Infrared Winsock Application | Backward Compatibility for Windows Sockets 1.1 Applications

 Last updated on Saturday, April 10, 2004

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