Higher performance and implementation independence: downloading a protocol onto a communication card

Operating system costs form a substantial part of the overhead faced by communication protocols. Running the protocol on board a communication interface card, which has a simple, real-time operating system eliminates many of these overheads and gives rise to higher throughput. The authors describe a novel approach of downloading a protocol, in the form of STREAMS modules, onto such cards. This implementation is also independent of the communication interface card and allows the use of parts of the same or different protocols to meet varying service requirements