Obtaining Pool Handles

The following NDIS pool allocation functions require a handle to allocate resources:

• NdisAllocateNetBufferPool

• NdisAllocateNetBufferListPool

NDIS 6.0 drivers obtain a handle as follows:

Protocol drivers
Protocol drivers call the NdisRegisterProtocolDriver function to obtain a handle.

Miniport drivers
NDIS calls the MiniportInitializeEx function to pass the handle to the miniport driver.

Intermediate drivers
Intermediate drivers call the NdisRegisterProtocolDriver function to obtain a handle for pools used in send operations and NDIS calls MiniportInitializeEx to pass the handle to the intermediate driver for pools used in receive operations.

Filter drivers
NDIS calls the FilterAttach function to pass the handle to the filter driver.

Other drivers
If a driver cannot obtain a handle through one of the preceding methods, the driver can call the NdisAllocateGenericObject function to get a handle.