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A Discrete Event Systems Approach for Protocol Conversion

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Abstract

A protocol mismatch occurs when heterogeneous networks try to communicate with each other. Such mismatches are inevitable due to the proliferation of a multitude of networking architectures, hardware, and software on one hand, and the need for global connectivity on the other hand. In order to circumvent this problem the solution of protocol conversion has been proposed. In this paper we present a systematic approach to protocol conversion using the theory of supervisory control of discrete event systems, which was partially first addressed by Inan. We study the problem of designing a converter for a given mismatched pair of protocols, using their specifications, and the specifications for the channel and the user services. We introduce the notion of converter languages and use it to obtain a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of protocol converter and present an effective algorithm for computing it whenever it exists.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, 40506-0046

    Ratnesh Kumar & Sudhir Nelvagal

  2. Department of Electrical Engineering and Institute of Systems Research, University of Maryland at College Park, College Park, MD, 20742

    Steven I. Marcus

Authors
  1. Ratnesh Kumar
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  2. Sudhir Nelvagal
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  3. Steven I. Marcus
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Kumar, R., Nelvagal, S. & Marcus, S.I. A Discrete Event Systems Approach for Protocol Conversion. Discrete Event Dynamic Systems 7, 295–315 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008258331497

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