An efficient implementation of a high-speed protocol without data copying

Abstract

An efficient approach for implementing a method of minimizing data copying developed by M.L. Woodside et al. (1989) is advocated. The method, referred to as buffer cut through (BCT), allows the passing of data buffer through layers without copying, relying on the principle of passing responsibility for the buffer from one layer to another. The method proposed for the implementation of BCT is the upcall approach of D. Clark (1985) which permits the use of efficient synchronous procedure calls. Arguments are presented to justify the idea that an upcall approach can support the implementation of BCT. A proposed BCT implementation scheme within the PC transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP) using upcalls is presented. It is also concluded that uniform layer interface with m-map upcall can be a general solution to software communications between network layers.<>