As mentioned above, protocol definitions are coded as simple text files. When the MNC program starts, it compiles the protocols needed for it's equipment setup to memory. Writing a protocol definition means editing such a text file and storing it at a place in the MNC computer where the MNC program searches for these files.
In a communication protocol definition file, you compose the protocol frame around a command from elements like characters, checksums or strings using a couple of keywords. The protocol definition language is quite simple, but powerful enough to specify almost all communication protocols used by satcom equipment.
A MNC system keeps all protocol definitions in a subdirectory called protocols. On standard installations this is the directory /home/satnms/protocols . The names of the protocol files consist of the protocol name followed by the extension .proto .
If you are writing the device driver on a Linux based MNC or NMS computer, you may want to use the VI text editor or mcedit (included in midnight commander) text editor for this. Both has been configured to colorize device driver files on these machines. We also providing syntax definitions for Visual Studio Code. Please ask your contact at SatService for details.
You also may copy protocol definition files to a MS-Windows based computer to edit them there. If you do this, you should consider the following: