Memory and processor efficient network communications protocol

• US 20060098662A1
• Filed: 11/09/2004
• Published: 05/11/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/09/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Texas Instruments, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Texas Instruments, Inc.
• Inventors: Cole, David Michael, Andrews, Tanner Robert, Gupta, Sunil, Udayamurthy, Sekar, Milheron, Patrick Michael, Brady, Corey
• Application Number:
  US10/984,139
• Publication Number:
  US 20060098662A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/401
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0041 Arrangements at the transmitter end
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0061 Error detection codes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0072 Error control for data other than payload data, e.g. control data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1841 Resequencing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/663 Transport layer addresses, e.g. aspects of transmission control protocol [TCP] or user datagram protocol [UDP] ports
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/14 Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/326 in the transport layer [OSI layer 4] H04L69/16 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

System and method for a full featured network communications protocol that is both memory and processor efficient. A preferred embodiment comprises a method for transmitting information between electronic devices, the method comprising creating a connection between a pair of electronic devices, sending a packet between the pair, acknowledging a receipt of the packet by a receiver of the packet, and dissolving the connection when it is no longer needed. The creating of the connection comprises assigning a port number to the connection at an initiating electronic device and then transmitting a connection request containing the port number to a servicing electronic device. After the transmitting, the creating further comprises receiving a second port number to the connection from the servicing electronic device.

Claims

1. A method for communicating between electronic devices in a communications network, the method comprising:

creating a connection between a first electronic device and a second electronic device, wherein the creating comprises,

assigning a first port number to the connection at the first electronic device;

transmitting a connection request to the second electronic device;

receiving a second port number to the connection from the second electronic device;

sending a packet between the first electronic device and the second electronic device, wherein the packet contains at least a portion of the communications being transmitted, wherein the packet can originate at either the first electronic device or the second electronic device;

acknowledging a receipt of the packet by a receiver of the packet; and

dissolving the connection.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising after the sending, repeating the sending and acknowledging for additional packets.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising, at the second electronic device:

receiving the connection request from the first electronic device;

assigning the second port number to the connection at the second electronic device; and

transmitting the second port number to the connection to the first electronic device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the creating is repeated for every pair of electronic devices that are communicating.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein an electronic device can execute multiple applications simultaneously, wherein multiple connections between a single pair of electronic devices can exist, and wherein each connection connects a different pair of applications.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising prior to the creating, acquiring a protocol address for the first electronic device and the second electronic device.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the acquiring comprises:

sending an inquiry to a host when an electronic device is connected to the communications network; and

receiving a protocol address from the host.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the acquiring further comprises resetting a sequence number after the receiving.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising after the sending, reordering the packet.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the reordering comprises:

comparing a sequence number from the packet with an internal sequence number associated with the connection;

if the sequence number from the packet is equal to the internal sequence number,

incrementing the internal sequence number;

processing contents of the packet; and

if the sequence number from the packet is not equal to the internal sequence number,

resequencing the packet.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the packet has a source, and wherein the resequencing comprises sending a negative acknowledgment to the source of the packet.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the packet has a source, and wherein the resequencing comprises:

checking for sufficient space in a buffer to store the packet;

inserting the packet in the buffer if there is sufficient space in the buffer; and

sending a negative acknowledgment to the source of the packet if there is insufficient space in the buffer.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the acknowledging comprises:

checking the packet for damage;

sending a negative acknowledgment if the packet is damaged;

if the packet is undamaged,

sending an acknowledgment;

processing the packet;

checking a sequence number of the packet with an internal sequence number;

buffering the packet if the sequence number of the packet is not equal to the internal sequence number and if there is sufficient space in a buffer to store the packet; and

sending a negative acknowledgment if there is no space in the buffer to store the packet.

14. The method of claim 1 further comprising after the acknowledging, processing the packet.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the packet has a sequence number, and wherein the processing comprises:

determining if the packet is either an ACK packet or a NAK packet;

if the packet is an ACK packet, marking transmitted packets with sequence numbers less than or equal to a sequence number in the ACK packet as successfully transmitted;

if the packet is a NAK packet, resending transmitted packets with sequence number greater than or equal to a sequence number in the NAK packet;

if the packet is not an ACK packet or a NAK packet, providing the packet to an application associated with the connection.

16. A header for a transmission packet comprising:

an identifier field comprising data to distinguish traffic type;

a source address field following the identifier field, the source address field comprising an address of a source device and a source port of the header;

a destination address field following the source address field, the destination address field comprising an address of a destination device and a destination port of the header;

a payload error check code field following the destination address field, the payload error check code field comprising an error check for a data payload contained in the transmission packet;

a payload size field following the payload error check code field, the payload size field comprising a size indicator of the data payload;

a hop count field following the payload size field, the hop count field comprises a count of a maximum number of routes the transmission packet can traverse;

a sequencing field following the hop count field, the sequencing field comprising a value used to order the transmission packet; and

a header error check code field following the sequencing field, the header error check code field comprising an error check for the header.

17. The header of claim 16, wherein the header comprises a sixteen byte binary stream.

18. The header of claim 17, wherein the identifier field comprises a two byte binary stream, wherein the source address field comprises a four byte binary stream, wherein the destination address field comprises a four byte binary stream, wherein the payload error check code field comprises a two byte binary stream, wherein the payload size field comprises a one byte binary stream, wherein the hop count field comprises a one byte binary stream, wherein the sequencing number comprises a one byte binary stream, and wherein the header error check code field comprises a one byte binary stream.

19. The header of claim 16, wherein the error check in the payload error check code field comprises a value computed using a cyclic redundancy code of length 16 (CRC-16) code, and wherein a polynomial expressed as:

X¹⁶+X¹²+X⁵+1 is used to generate the CRC-16 value.

20. The header of claim 16, wherein the sequencing field comprises a value ranging from 1 to 254.

21. The header of claim 16, wherein the data payload immediately follows the header in the transmission packet.