From: Chuck Reeves (creeves@cs.washington.edu)
Date: Tue Oct 05 2004 - 23:32:14 PDT
The paper “A Protocol for Packet Network Interconnection” was written by
Vinton Cerf and Robert Kahn in 1974. It details a transmission control
protocol designed to enable the sharing of resources across distinct
heterogeneous packet switched networks. It includes descriptions of the
packet byte structures as well as the processing requirements for end points
(HOSTS) and switches (GATEWAYS). The protocol accommodates variations in
individual packet network sizes, transmission failures, sequencing, flow
control and error checking. While the text is not detailed enough to be used
as a specification, it was an effective introduction to the scheme and
general behaviors associated with TCP. I thought the description of how the
sliding window mechanism was used to effect flow control was very detailed
and informative. Additionally, the subject of how gateways should handle
fragmentation was well presented. I thought the author’s text contrasting
connections and associations (a poorly justified new term) was the weakest
part of the paper. That said, I think this document will provide a solid
introduction for my project, which involves the development of a TCP stack.
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