Remote Pipes and Procedures for Efficient Distributed Communication.
Abstract
The advantages of remote procedure call are combined with the efficient transfer of bulk data and the ability to return incremental results in a new communication model for distributed systems. Three ideas form the basis of this model. First, remote procedures are first-class values which can be freely exchanged among nodes, thus enabling a greater variety of protocols to be directly implemented in a remote procedure call framework. Second, a new type of abstract object called a pipe allows bulk data and incremental results to be efficiently transported in a type safe manner. Unlike procedure calls, pipe calls do not return values and do not block a caller. Data sent down a pipe is received by the pipe's sink node in strict FIFO order. Third, the relative sequencing of pipes and procedures can be controlled by combining them into channel groups. A channel group provides f FIFO sequencing invariant over a collection of channels. Application experience with this model, which we call the Remote Pipe and Procedure Model, is reported.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 1986
- Accession Number
- ADA182176
Entities
People
- David K. Gifford
Organizations
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology