Dynamically assigned TCP/IP parameters

When you add a host to the network or connect your host to the Internet, you need to assign an IP address to your host and set some other configuration parameters.

There are a few common mechanisms for doing this:

• Dial-up providers use the Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP).
• Broadband providers, such as Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) or Cable, use Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE) or DHCP.
• A typical corporate network deploys DHCP.

Along with your IP address, the servers implementing these protocols can supply your gateway, netmask, name servers, and even your printer in the case of a corporate network. Users don't need to manually configure their host to use the network.

QNX Neutrino also implements another autoconfiguration protocol called AutoIP (zeroconf IETF draft). This autoconfiguration protocol is used to assign link-local IP addresses to hosts in a small network. It uses a peer-negotiation scheme to determine the link-local IP address to use instead of relying on a central server.