Message handling system for different message delivery types

• US 6,101,545 A
• Filed: 10/21/1996
• Issued: 08/08/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 10/21/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hughes Electronics Corporation (Rtx Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Hughes Electronics Corporation (Rtx Corporation)
• Inventors: Balcerowski, John P., Dunnam, Milton
• Primary Examiner(s): Dinh, Dung C.
• Assistant Examiner(s): LE, QUOC KHANH
• Application Number:
  US08/734,213
• Time in Patent Office: 1,387 Days
• Field of Search: 395/200.6, 395/200.32-200.38, 395/200.61, 395/200.62, 395/200.66, 395/200.75, 395/500, 395/200.1, 395/500.464, 364/200, 364/300, 370/249, 370/85.13, 370/60, 370/68.1, 370/60.1, 370/58.1, 370/58.2, 370/58.3, 370/252, 370/448, 370/232, 370/465, 370/468, 379/90, 379/201, 709/228, 709/230, 709/236, 709/300, 709/235, 709/231
• US Class Current: 709/230
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/23 Reliability checks, e.g. acknowledgments or fault reporting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/18 Multiprotocol handlers, e.g. single devices capable of handling multiple protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/28 Timers or timing mechanisms used in protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

An message handling system for handling the delivery of critical and time critical messages for a near-real-time or real-time simulation environment. A message delivery type (38) accompanies each message (34) to designate whether the message (34) is delivery critical (46) or time critical (42). A message receiver (50) receives the message (34). A message delivery selector (58) selects a protocol based on the message delivery type (38) as determined by a message type determinator (54). The selected protocol conforms to a message format which has a common header and a message component. The message (34) is then sent to the intended recipient computer via the selected protocol.

Claims

1. A Message Handling System for delivering a simulation mode control command message between a first computer and a second computer over a network, said system comprising:

a first computer, said first computer being a simulation controller computer;

a second computer, said second computer being a simulator computer;

a network being connected to said first and said second computer and multiple additional simulator computers;

a message receiver for receiving the message from said first computer, said message having a message delivery type field being indicative of either a time critical delivery characteristic or a delivery critical characteristic;

a message type determinator coupled to said message receiver for determining the message delivery type of said message;

a message delivery selector coupled to said message type determinator for selecting a delivery protocol from a predetermined group of delivery protocols based upon the message delivery type field of said message, said predetermined group of delivery protocols including time critical and delivery critical message protocols, said time critical message protocol delivering messages having said time critical delivery characteristic, said delivery critical message protocol delivering messages having said delivery critical characteristic, said delivery critical message protocol including a message timer for timing the delivery of the message, an acknowledgment for acknowledging, said transported message, and a sequence number for uniquely identifying the message; and

a message transporter coupled to said message delivery selector for transporting the message to the second computer using said selected delivery protocol, said message transporter further transporting delivery critical messages to a predetermined subset of said multiple simulation computers.

2. A method for delivering a simulation mode control command message between a first simulation controller computer and a second simulation controller computer over a network connected to multiple simulator computers, said method comprising the steps of:

receiving the message from said first computer, said message having a message delivery type field being indicative of a delivery characteristic, said message delivery type field being indicative of either a time critical delivery characteristic or a delivery critical characteristic;

determining the message delivery type of said message;

selecting a delivery protocol from a predetermined group of delivery protocols based upon the message delivery type field of said message, said predetermined group of delivery protocols including time critical and delivery critical message protocols, said time critical message protocol delivering messages having said time critical delivery characteristic, said delivery critical message protocol delivering messages having said delivery critical characteristic, said delivery critical message protocol including a message timer for timing the delivery of the message, an acknowledgment for acknowledging said transported message, and a sequence number for uniquely identifying the message; and

transporting the message to the second computer using said selected delivery protocol, said delivery critical messages being transported to a predetermined subset of said multiple simulation computers.

3. The Method according to claim 2 wherein said message delivery type field is indicative of either a time critical delivery characteristic or a delivery critical characteristic, and wherein said predetermined group of delivery protocols includes time critical and delivery critical message protocols, said time critical message protocol delivering messages having said time critical delivery characteristic, said delivery critical message protocol delivering messages having said delivery critical characteristic.