SDLI is a general interface to the services of any SDL provider. However, areas have been documented in this specification where SDL provider-specific information can be conveyed and interpreted. This subsection summarizes all provider-specific issues as an aid to developers of SDL provider implementations. As such, it forms a checklist of required information that should be documented in some manner as part of the provider implementation. The areas SDL provider-specific addendum documentation must address are: 

For each area listed, a brief description of the provider-specific item(s) associated with it will be presented, including references to the appropriate section in this specification. 

A phsyical point of attachment (PPA) is referenced in SDLI by a PPA identifier, which is of type 'ulong'. The format of this identifier is provider-specific. The SDL provider addendum documentation should describe the format and generation of PPA identifiers for all physical media it is expected to control. It should also describe how a PPA is controlled, the capabilities of a PPA, the number of PPAs supported, and the administrative interface. 

Multiplexing capabilities of a PPA should also be described in the SDL provider addendum documentation. This conveys information on the number of PPAs supported. 

Another item that should be described is the manner in which a PPA is initialized. Section 2.3.1.1, PPA Initializaiton/De-Initialization, presents the alternative methods supported by SDLI for initializing a PPA. The interactions of auto-initialization or pre-initialization with the Attach and Enable services should be discussed, and the following items should be addressed. 

The LMI_INFO_ACK primitive specifies information on a SDL provider's restrictions and capabilities. The SDL provider addendum documentation should describe the values for all fields in the LMI_INFO_ACK, and how they are determined (static, tunable, dynamic). At a minimum, the addendum must describe the provider style supported by the SDL provider. 

The overall services that a specific SDL provider supports should be described. These include how a SDL user selects the appropriate service set. For example, the service set may be mapped directly to a specific major/minor device, and the user selects an appropriate set by opening the corresponding special file. Alternatively, a SDL provider which supports multiple sets may enable a SDL user to select the set on the LMI_ENABLE_REQ. 

The file name(s) used to access a particular SDL provider and/or specific service sets of that privder must also be documented.