Understanding Windows kernel-level socket programming APIs

In Windows application development, the name WinSock was the original name for TCP/IP socket implementation in the mid-1990s. Today, we take a TCP/IP stack in the operating system for granted, but these libraries for software applications were mainly for user more applications, running outside the kernel.

But as time goes on, even kernel developers needs more features, and this is what the kernel-level socket programming APIs are for.

In kernel development, an implementation of the WinSock Kernel (WSK) is available. This allows kernel lever drives to work with the same TCP/IP stack, and using the common socket interface to work with network communications.