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rfc:rfc36

Network Working Group S. Crocker Request for Comments: 36 16 March 1970

                           Protocol Notes

I Overview

  1. ——-
 The network protocol provides three facilities:
       1.  Connection establishment
       2.  Flow control
       3.  Reconnection
 Reconnection is considered separately from connection establishment
 partly because of the complexity of reconnection and partly because I
 don't have enough experience with the protocol to present these
 concepts in an integrated fashion.
 Connection Establishment
 ------------------------
 Connection establishment works essentially the same as in NWG/RFC
 #33.  The major change is that a more general form of switching is
 provided independently of establishment, so establishment is
 simplified by not including switching procedures.
 A rough scenario for connection establishment follows:
 1.  Process PA in host A grabs socket SA and requests connection with
     socket SB.  Process PA accomplishes this through a system call.
 2.  Concurrently with the above, process PB in host B grabs socket SB
     and requests connection with socket SA.
 3.  In response to process PA's request, the network control program
     in host A (referred to as NCPA) sends a Request-for-Connection
     (RFC) command to host B.  NCPB in host B sends a similar command
     to host A.  No ordering is implied: NCPB may send the command to
     NCPA before or after receiving the command from NCPA.
 4.  NCPA and NCPB are both aware the connection is established when
     each has received a RFC command and each has received the RFNM
     for the one it has sent.  They then notify processes PA and PB,
     respectively, that the connection is established.

Crocker [Page 1] RFC 36 Protocol Notes March 1970

 One of the rules adhered to is that either SA is a send socket and SB
 is a receive socket or vice versa.  This condition is sometimes
 stated as "SA and SB must be  a send/receive pair."
 5.  The sending process may now send.
 Flow Control
 ------------
 In order to prevent a sending process from flooding a receiving
 processes it is necessary for the receiving process to be able to
 stop the flow(*).  Flow control is integrated into the network RFNM
 handling.  When a receiving host wishes to inhibit flow on a
 particular link, the host sends a special message to its IMP which
 causes the next RFNM on that link to be modified.  The sending host
 interprets this message as a RFNM and as a request to stop sending.
 A confirming control command is returned.
 When the receiving host is ready to receive again, it sends a command
 (RSM) telling the sending host to resume sending.
 Reconnection
 ------------
 For a great many reasons it is desirable to be able to switch one (or
 both) ends of a connection from one socket to another.  Depending
 upon the restrictions placed upon the switching process, it may be
 easy or hard to implement.  To achieve maximum generality, I present
 here a scheme for dynamic reconnection, which means that reconnection
 can take place even after flow has started.  It may turn out that for
 the majority of cases, this scheme is much more expensive than it
 needs to be; however, the following virtues are claimed:
    1. All various forms of switching connections are provided.
    2. Reconnection introduces no overhead in the processing of
       messages sent over a connection i.e., the whole cost is borne
       in processing the protocol.
  1. ————————————————–
  • BB&N argues that unlimited buffering should be provided. It is

possible that this would be a proper strategy: but it is foreign to

 my way of thinking, and I have based the protocol design on the
 assumption that only a small buffer is provided on the receive end of
 each connection.

Crocker [Page 2] RFC 36 Protocol Notes March 1970

II Data Structures

  1. ————–
  1.  Connection Table
  2.  Process Table
  3.  Input Link Table
  4.  Output Link Table
  5.  Link Assignment Table
 Connection Table
 ----------------
 This holds all information pertaining to local sockets, particularly
 whether a socket is engaged in a connection, and if so, what state
 the connection is in.  Entries are keyed by local socket, but other
 tables have pointers into this table also.  (See the Process Table,
 Input Link Table, and Output Link Table.)
 Each entry contains the following information:
       a)  local socket (key)
       b)  foreign socket
       c)  link
       d)  connection state
       e)  flow state and buffer control
       f)  pointer to user's process
       g)  reconnection control state
       h)  queue of waiting callers
 The local socket is a 32 bit number.  If no entry exists for a
 particular socket, it may be created with null values.
 The foreign socket is a 40 bit number.  This field will be unassigned
 if no connection is established.
 The link is an 8 bit number and is the link over which data is sent
 from the sender to the receiver.  A socket is a receive socket iff
 its low-order bit is zero.
 Connection state refers to whether a connection is open or not, etc.
 The following possibilities may occur.
       a)  local process has requested a connection
       b)  foreign process(es) has/have requested a connection
       c)  connection established
       d)  reconnection in progress
       e)  close waiting
       f)  reconnection waiting

Crocker [Page 3] RFC 36 Protocol Notes March 1970

 Flow state and buffer control refer to checking for RFNM's sending
 and accepting cease, suspend and resume commands, and keeping track
 of incoming or outgoing data.
 A pointer to the user's process is necessary if the process has
 requested a connection.
 If reconnection is in progress, it is necessary to keep track of the
 sequence of events.  A socket engaged in reconnection is either an
 end or a middle.  If it's a middle, it is necessary to store the
 eight bit name of the other middle attached to the same process, and
 to record receipt of END and RDY commands.
 Finally, if RFC's are received either when the socket is busy or when
 no process has engaged it, the RFC's are stacked first-in-first-out
 on a queue for the named local socket.
 Process Table
 -------------
 This table associates a process with a socket.  It is used to process
 system calls.
 Input Link Table
 ----------------
 This table associates receive links with local sockets.  It is used
 to decide for whom incoming messages are destined.
 Output Link Table
 -----------------
 This table associates send links with local sockets.  It is used to
 interpret RFNM's and RSM commands.
 Link Assignment Table
 ---------------------
 Links are assigned by receivers.  This table shows which links are
 free.

Crocker [Page 4] RFC 36 Protocol Notes March 1970

III Control Commands

  1. —————
                        Command Summary
 0         <NOP>
 1         <RFC> <me> <you>   or   <RFC> <me> <you> <link>
 2         <CLS> <me> <you>
 3         <RSM> <link>
 4         <SPD> <link>
 5         <FND> <me> <you> <asker>
 6         <END> <link> <end>
 7         <RDY> <link>
 8         <ASG> <me> <you> <link>
                             Commands

No Operation

 Form:    NOP
          NOP  is X'00'
 Purpose:  This command is included for completeness and
           convenience.

Request for connection

 Form:    <RFC> <my socket>  <your socket>
   or     <RFC> <my socket>  <your socket>  <link>
          <RFC> is X'01'
          <my socket> is a 32 bit socket number local to the
          sender
          <your socket> is a 32 bit socket number local to the
          receiver
          <link> is an eight bit link number.
          <my socket> and your socket must be a send/receive pair.
          <link> is included if and only if <my socket> is a
          receive socket
 Purpose:  This command is used to initiate a connection.  When
           two hosts have exchanged  RFC  commands with the same
           arguments (reversed), the connection is established.
           Links are assigned by the receiver.

Crocker [Page 5] RFC 36 Protocol Notes March 1970

Close

 Form:    <CLS> <my socket> <your socket>
          <CLS> is X'02'
          <my socket> and <your socket> are the same as for <RFC>
 Purpose:  This command is used to block a connection.  It may
           also be used to abort the establishment of a connection
           or to refuse a request.  It may happen that no
           connection between the named sockets was established,
           or was in the process of being established.  In this
           event, the <CLS> should be discarded.

Resume

 Form:    <RSM> <link>
          <RSM> is X'03'
 Purpose:  This command is sent by a receiving host to cause the
           sending host to resume transmission on the named link.
           A sending host suspends sending if it receives a
           special RFNM for some message.  (Special RFNM's are
           generated by the receiving IMP upon request by its
           host.)

Suspended

 Form:    <SPD> <link>
          <SPD> is X'04'
 Purpose:  This command is sent by a sending host to acknowledge
           that it has stopped sending over the named link.
           Transmission will resume if a <RSM> command is
           received.

Final End

 Form:    <FND> <my socket> <your socket> <asker>
          <FND> is X'05'
          <my socket> is a 32 bit socket number of a socket local
          to the sender
          <your socket> is a 32 bit socket number of a socket
          local to the receiver
          <my socket> and <your socket> form a send/receive pair.
          A connection should be established between them.
          <asker> is a 40 bit socket number of the same type as
          <my socket>

Crocker [Page 6] RFC 36 Protocol Notes March 1970

 Purpose:  If a process decides to short-circuit itself by connecting
           one of its receive sockets to one of its send sockets, the
           NCP sends out two <FND> commands -- one in each direction.
           Each one has <asker> initialized to <my socket>.
           Upon receiving an <FND> command, the NCP checks its <your
           socket>.  If <your socket> is already engaged in a
           reconnection, the command is passed on with a new <my
           socket> and <your socket>.  However, before it is passed
           on, the <asker> is compared with the new <my socket>.  If
           they are equal, a loop has been detected and both sockets
           are closed.
           If <your socket> is not engaged in a reconnection, it is
           marked as the end of a chain of reconnections and an <END>
           is sent back.
           If the connection named is not in progress, a <CLS> is sent
           back and the <FND> is discarded.

End Found

 Form:    <END> <link> <end socket>
          <END> is X'06'
          <link> is an 8 bit link
          <end socket> is a 40 bit socket
 Purpose:  This command indicates which socket is at the end of a
           chain of reconnections.  It is generated at <end
           socket> and passed back to the other terminal socket
           via all the intermediate sockets.  If <end socket> is a
           send socket, <link> refers to a connection with the
           send socket in the sending host and the receive socket
           in the receiving host.  If <end socket> is a receive
           socket, <link> refers to a connection with the send
           socket in the receiving host and the receive socket in
           the sending hose.  ("sending" end "receiving" refer to
           the transmission of this control command.)

Crocker [Page 7] RFC 36 Protocol Notes March 1970

Ready

 Form:    <RDY> <link>
          <RDY> is X'07'
          <link> is an 8 bit link number
 Purpose:  This command is sent from a send socket to a receive
           socket to indicate that all messages have been
           forwarded and that reconnection may occur.

Assign New Link

 Form:    <ASG> <my socket> <your socket> <link>
          <ASG> is X'08'
 Purpose:  This command completes a reconnection.  It is sent from
           a receive socket to a send socket after the receive
           socket has received a <RDY>.  A new link is assigned
           and transmission commences.
        [ This RFC was put into machine readable form for entry ]
         [ into the online RFC archives by Marc Blanchett 3/00 ]

Crocker [Page 8]

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