When the physical device driver is enabled for this mode of operation, it transmits an XOFF when its receive queue gets close to full, and an XON when its receive queue is about half full.

The normal mode of Automatic Receive Flow Control causes the ASYNC device driver to stop transmitting all data after it sends an XOFF character until its receive queue lowers to about half full, when it sends the XON character. This behavior is suitable for most devices, but reduces transmit throughput significantly in Full-Duplex (Transmit and Receive) communications scenarios. By setting the Full-Duplex mode of Automatic Receive Flow Control, the physical ASYNC device driver continues to send application data after it sends the XOFF character. See IOCtl ASYNC_SETDCBINFO.