AVM System Architecture
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ISDN-Controller B1 v3.0 – 13 AVM System Architecture
13 AVM System Architecture
This chapter presents information about the ISDN interface
CAPI 2.0, the IDM architecture and the AVM system drivers
included in the package, along with special CAPI features of
the AVM ISDN-Controller B1 v3.0.
13.1 The Applications Interface CAPI 2.0
After the ISDN-Controller B1 v3.0 has been installed, the IS-
DN interface CAPI 2.0 is available in the computer. This inter-
face allows you to use all features of ISDN.
What is CAPI?
CAPI (COMMON-ISDN-CAPI) is a standardized software inter-
face that provides applications with access to ISDN adapters
on basic-rate and primary-rate lines. Applications that build
on this standard interface use uniform mechanisms for com-
munication over ISDN connections, and thus do not need to
adapt to the peculiarities of particular manufacturers’ hard-
ware. This means that such applications are also unaffected
by future extensions or hardware modifications: CAPI makes
such changes transparent to the application. ISDN hardware
manufacturers benefit from this standard too, since it makes
all kinds of applications compatible with their products.
CAPI contains an abstract definition of ISDN services which
is not dependent on the specifics of underlying telecommu-
nications networks or the adapter cards used to connect
computers to ISDN. The specification provides an interface
that is easy for application programmers to use, and thus of-
fers uniform access to the various ISDN services, such as da-
ta, voice and fax transmission, video conferencing and tele-
phony.
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