The local network has evolved for the conveyance of speech-band signals in an efficient manner. Fortuitously, this network can also carry higher frequency signals, although with some restrictions. The advent of modern semiconductor technology has allowed engineers to exploit these higher frequencies to provide additional services.Initially these additional services were generally restricted to analogue pair-gain and alarm systems but, with the birth of the information technology age, the capability of the local network to carry high-speed digital signals is being exploited.From a review of the characteristics of the local network and an assessment of its ability to carry digital signals a perception of the future evolution of the local network and the likely penetration of digital systems emerges.
A user of computer networks has many choices for communication protocols. Current application programming interfaces (APls), such as sockets and CPI-C, run over some of these protocols. The trend toward global interorganizational networks is handicapped because programs written to one interface will often run on only one t>pe of transport network, and two programs must run on the same full protocol stack lo communicate. Ad hoc solutions exist, hut they are expensive and limited.The Multiprotocol rrangport Networking (XIPTh) architecture proposed in this paper is a general solution to providing interconnectivity far applications. The XIPTU architecture provides a protocol-independent system interface that includes most functions provided by existing transport protocols. As a result, the M P TN architecture decouples higher-layer protocols, application programming interfaces, and applications from protocols at the transport layer and helow. Using the MPTN architecture, existing and new applications can function unmodified over any transport supported under the ZlPTN interface. In addition, M P T N transport-layer gateways provide an end-to-end communication facility across a number of networks running different protocols. Therefore, a collection of networks running different protocols can serve as a single logical network.The paper describes four major aspects of the MPTN solution: a transport-layer protocol boundary, providing generic semantics at the transport layer so that the applications can he transport-independent; protocol compensation, adjusting for discrepancies between services required by generic transport layers and those provided by individual transport protocols; address mapping, resolving the difference u-hen the application and the protocol used to trarisport data use different address types; and general transport-level galeways, connecting networks running difkrent protocols. I This author is currently with Computer
Status of this Memo This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for improvements. Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state and status of this protocol. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.