NCM Drivers

The networking performance standard for high-speed, 4G and 5G mobile devices.

Product

Learn all about MCCI’s Network Control Model (NCM) Solution for next generation networks.

When a USB device bridges from USB to the Internet, the best choices for speed and throughput are the MCCI® NCM (Networking Control Model) drivers. MCCI has off-the-shelf host drivers available for Windows, Apple macOS, Linux, Green Hills INTEGRITY OS, RTEMS, FreeRTOS, eCos, QNX, and other operating systems. (We also have matching device-side firmware.)

What NCM Is

The NCM specification optimizes transfer of Ethernet frames over USB by combining multiple frames into a single USB transfer. This minimizes USB hardware interrupts for a given frame rate, and thereby minimizes overhead, especially on the NCM device. As data rates climb for 5G products and 10 Gbps and faster Ethernet, NCM provides a standards-based data transport that can scale up as needed.

MCCI’s NCM Know-How

MCCI chaired the NCM committee throughout the development of the NCM specification, and was the technical editor of the released CDC NCM specification.

Like many specifications, the NCM standard is very detailed about data formats and options, but not very detailed regarding “why”. Because we wrote the specification, we know how best to use the features of the standard to enable high performance from your device.

Beyond that, MCCI has critical practical experience working with real world implementations, including those that deviate from the NCM specification. Our drivers routinely achieve the maximum performance possible with the targeted devices. This is not just knowing the spec; it’s knowing how to use the spec in real-world systems.

What you can do with NCM

NCM provides TCP/IP connectivity, with IPv4 and IPv6. It can bridge to a physical USB adapter, it can connect to a wireless LTE modem, or it can connect to a TCP/IP stack on the USB device.

NCM is also used for embedded AV systems like MirrorLink and CarPlay, where it serves as a way of mapping IP-based multi-media protocols like VNC and RTP onto USB (with Wi-Fi as another possible option).

NCM can be used by itself as the only USB function in a configuration, or as part of a multi-function device. In a multi-function device, an NCM function may be combined with other functions, for example a DFU interface for firmware update, a CDC ACM interface for LTE call management, and mass storage (for loading application software or drivers into the target system).

Single vendor solutions

Although our host drivers support any NCM device implementation, MCCI also has complete embedded NCM device support for creating USB devices that use NCM. MCCI’s firmware and driver implementations allow a wide variety of USB hardware to be used. This allows you to work with a single vendor for all your USB requirements.

MCCI can further adapt to meet special requirements you may have.

For More Info…

Interested in more information about MCCI’s NCM drivers? Send us email, and one of our engineers will help you understand our products and how our NCM drivers can meet your needs.

Contact MCCI