Communication Environments for Local Networks.
Abstract
This report studies the problem of providing high performance communication services to computers on a local network, or other high-speed network, without sacrificing compatibility with existing communication protocols. The focus of the investigation is the network interface, the I/O controller which interfaces computers to the network medium. The network interface proposed in this report contains a novel processing element called the filter, in addition to a fairly common microprocessor. based architecture. The filter is a high-speed custom processor and a memory which holds programmable descriptions of packet formats and connection records for the protocols supported by the interface. The filter could be implemented using VLSI or a small amount of readily available bit-slice components. The filter enables the interface to process most transmissions as they arrive on the communications medium. Filter processing adds negligible delay to the overall communication path and, in most cases, replaces processing which is conventionally performed in the software of the interface microprocessor or the host. Thus, communications systems built with the new interface are limited by the speed of the medium and not by processing delays. The filter interface is shown to be practical for a 10 Mbps medium and several protocols, including the Internet Protocol (IP) and the Transmission Control Protocol(TCP). (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 1982
- Accession Number
- ADA125441
Entities
People
- Paul V. Mockapetris
Organizations
- University of Southern California