





Network Working Group                                        Y. Pouffary
Request For Comments: 1859                 Digital Equipment Corporation
Category: Informational                                     October 1995


    ISO Transport Class 2 Non-use of Explicit Flow Control over TCP
                           RFC1006 extension

Status of this Memo

   This memo provides information for the Internet community.  This memo
   does not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of
   this memo is unlimited.

Table of Contents

   1. Introduction - General recommendations.......................2
   2. The protocol.................................................3
   2.1 TCP service as a Network Service - The Primitives...........3
   2.2 Connection Establishment....................................4
   2.3 Data Transfer...............................................5
   2.4 Connection Release..........................................6
   3. Packet Format................................................6
   4. DIGITAL DECnet over TCP/IP...................................8
   Acknowledgements................................................9
   References......................................................9
   Author's Address................................................9

1. Introduction - General recommendations

   This document is an extension to STD35, RFC1006, a standard for the
   Internet community. The document does not duplicate the protocol
   definitions contained in RFC1006 and in International Standard ISO
   8073.  It supplements that information with the description of how to
   implement ISO Transport Class 2 Non-use of Explicit Flow Control on
   top of TCP.

   The document should be used in conjunction with the RFC1006 and ISO
   8073.

   The RFC1006 standard defines how to implement ISO 8073 Transport
   Class 0 on top of TCP. This memo defines how to implement ISO 8073
   Transport Class 2 Non-use of Explicit Flow Control on top of TCP.
   Like ISO Transport Class 0, Class 2 Non-use of Explicit Flow Control
   provides basic connection with minimal overhead.

   A Transport protocol class is selected for a particular Transport
   connection based upon the characteristics of the lower layers and the



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   requirements of the upper layer. Use of class 2 Non-use of Explicit
   Flow Control is suitable when the use of separate virtual data
   channels for normal and expedited Data are desirable or when an
   explicit disconnection of the Transport connection is desirable.

   Hosts which choose to implement this extension are expected to listen
   on the well-known TCP port number 399.

   It is recommended that the well-known RFC1006 TCP port 102 not be
   used. This recommendation is done to minimise impact to an existing
   RFC1006 implementation.

   The memo also describes the use of this extension within the DIGITAL
   Network Architecture (DNA).

2. The protocol

   The protocol specified by this memo is fundamentally equivalent to
   the protocol ISO 8073 Transport Class 2 Non-use of Explicit Flow
   Control, with the following extensions:

   - Expedited Data service is supported.

   - Splitting and Recombining may be used for Expedited Data
     transmission.

   - The Network Service used is provided by TCP.

   The ISO 8073 Transport protocol Class 2 allows Multiplexing. It is
   recommended that this capability not be use for performance reasons.

   The ISO 8073 Transport protocol exchanges information between peers
   in discrete units of information called transport protocol data units
   (TPDUs).  The protocol defined in this memo encapsulates these TPDUs
   in discrete units called TPKTs.  The structure of these TPKTs and
   their relationship to TPDUs are discussed in the next sections.

2.1 TCP service as a Network Service - The Primitives

   The mapping between the TCP service primitives and the service
   primitives expected by ISO 8073 Transport when operation over
   Connection-oriented network service is straightforward.









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   Note: The following description of the mapping is a repeat from the
   RFC1006 standard.

   network service                 TCP
   ---------------                 ---
   CONNECTION ESTABLISHMENT

           N-CONNECT.REQUEST       open completes

           N-CONNECT.INDICATION    listen (PASSIVE open) finishes

           N-CONNECT.RESPONSE      listen completes

           N-CONNECT.CONFIRMATION  open (ACTIVE open) finishes

   DATA TRANSFER

           N-DATA.REQUEST          send data

           N-DATA.INDICATION       data ready followed by read data

   CONNECTION RELEASE

           N-DISCONNECT.REQUEST    close

           N-DISCONNECT.INDICATION connection closes or errors

   Mapping parameters between the TCP service and the network service is
   also straightforward:

   network service                 TCP
   ---------------                 ---
   CONNECTION ESTABLISHMENT

           Called address          server's IP address (4 octets)

           Calling address         client's IP address (4 octets)

           all others              ignored

   DATA TRANSFER

           NS-user data (NSDU)     data

   CONNECTION RELEASE

           all parameters          ignored




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2.2 Connection Establishment

   The principles used in connection establishment are based upon those
   described in ISO 8073, with the following extensions.

   - Connection Request and Connection Confirmation TPDUs may negotiate
     the use of Expedited Data transfer using the negotiation mechanism
     specified in ISO 8073.

   - Connection Request and Connection Confirmation TPDUs must not
     negotiate the Use of Explicit Flow Control.

   To perform an N-CONNECT.REQUEST action, the TS-peer performs an
   active open to the desired IP address using the well know TCP port
   399.  When the TCP signals either success or failure, this results in
   an N-CONNECT.INDICATION action.

   To await an N-CONNECT.INDICATION event, a server listens on the well
   know TCP port 399.  When a client successfully connects to this port,
   the event occurs and an implicit N-CONNECT.RESPONSE action is
   performed.

2.3 Data Transfer

   The elements of procedure used during transfer are based upon those
   presented in ISO 8073, with the two following extensions.

   - Expedited Data may be supported (if negotiated during connection
     establishment).

     In Non-Use of Explicit Flow Control Expedited Data requires no
     Expedited Data Acknowledgement.

   - Splitting and Recombining may be used for Expedited Data
     transmission.

     The procedure of Splitting and Recombining allows a transport
     connection to make use of multiple TCP connections.
     TCP connections created for Splitting purposes should also use
     the primitives described in 2.1.

     It is recommended to only create a second TCP connection for
     Expedited Data when transmission of Expedited Data is requested.

     Expedited Data must only be sent over an outgoing TCP connection.
     This second TCP connection must not be shared among transport
     connections and must remain established until the transport
     connection is terminated, at which time it must be closed.



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   Implementors note: The procedure of Splitting and Recombining for
   Expedited Data transmission guaranties that a congested Normal Data
   TCP connection cannot block an Expedited Data TCP connection. It also
   ensures independence of the Normal Data TCP connection from the
   Expedited Data TCP connection.

   To perform an N-DATA.REQUEST action, the TS-peer constructs the
   desired TPKT and uses the TCP send data primitive.

   To trigger an N-DATA.INDICATION action, the TCP indicates that data
   is ready and a TPKT is read using the TCP read data primitive.

2.4 Connection Release

   The elements of procedure used during a connection release are
   identical to those presented in ISO 8073.

   A connection can be terminated by the user in one of two ways:

   - Abort Disconnect specifies that all messages at the source are not
     required to be sent to the destination before the connection is
     disconnected.

   - Synchronous Disconnect specifies that all messages at the source
     must be sent to the destination, and that all messages at the
     destination must be delivered, before the connection is
     disconnected.

   Disconnect Request and Disconnect Confirmation TPDUs are exchanged in
   both cases. The Disconnect Request TPDU carries a code indicating the
   reason for the disconnection.

   In the case of a Synchronous Disconnect the Disconnect Request reason
   code is normal (80 hex). For an Abort Disconnect the Disconnect
   Request reason code is normal with additional information parameter
   value set to (c0 hex).

   Upon receipt of a Disconnect Confirmation TPDU a N-DISCONNECT.REQUEST
   action is performed to close the TCP connection.

   If the TCP connection fails for some other reason, this generates an
   N-DISCONNECT.INDICATION event.

3. Packet Format

   A fundamental difference between TCP and the network service expected
   by ISO transport is that TCP manages a continuous stream of octets,
   with no explicit boundaries.



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   The protocol described in RFC1006 uses a simple packetization scheme
   in order to delimit TPDUs. Each packet, termed a TPKT, consists of
   two parts: a packet-header and a TPDU.

   We use the same scheme described in RFC1006 for this extension.
   There is no need to change the version number. The ISO transport TPDU
   sufficiently describes the transport protocol class being used.

   The format of the packet-header described below is a repeat from
   RFC1006.

       0                   1                   2                   3
       0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |      vrsn     |    reserved   |          packet length        |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

         where:

         vrsn                         8 bits

         This field is always 3 for the version of the protocol
         described in this memo.

         packet length                16 bits (min=7, max=65535)

         The packet length is the length of the entire packet in
         octets, including packet-header.

   The format of the ISO transport TPDU is defined in ISO 8073.

4. DIGITAL DECnet over TCP/IP

   DECnet over TCP/IP is implemented using the DECnet Session Control
   layer over this RFC1006 extension protocol.

   The informational RFC defined in this document provides the Transport
   Service functionality required by DECnet Applications while operating
   over TCP/IP.

   The next paragraph is a brief summary of the role of the DECnet
   Session Control Layer. For further details, refer to the DIGITAL DNA
   Session Control Layer Specification.

   The DECnet Session Control Layer makes a Transport Service available
   to End Users of a network. This layer is concerned with system-
   dependent functions related to creating, maintaining, and destroying
   Transport Connections.  Separate virtual data channels, known  as



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   "Normal"  and  "Expedited",  are provided to End Users. DECnet
   Session Control must be guaranteed independence of these channels by
   the Transport Layer. Expedited Data transmission cannot be blocked by
   a congested normal data channel. DECnet Session Control requires that
   all data in transit be delivered before initiating the release of the
   Transport Connection.

   DECnet, DNA, and the DIGITAL logo are trademarks of Digital Equipment
   Corporation.

Acknowledgements

   Bill Duane, Jim Bound, David Sullivan, Mike Dyer, Matt Thomas, Dan
   Harrington and many other members of the DECnet engineering team.

References

   [ISO8072]  ISO. "International Standard 8072.  Information
              Processing Systems -- Open Systems Interconnection:
              Transport Service Definition."

   [ISO8073]  ISO. "International Standard 8073.  Information
              Processing Systems -- Open Systems Interconnection:
              Transport Protocol Specification."

   [ISO8327]  ISO. "International Standard 8327.  Information
              Processing Systems -- Open Systems Interconnection:
              Session Protocol Specification."

   [RFC791]   Postel, J., "Internet Protocol - DARPA Internet Program
              Protocol Specification", STD 5, RFC 791,
              USC/Information Sciences Institute, September 1981.

   [RFC793]   Postel, J., "Transmission Control Protocol - DARPA
              Internet Program Protocol Specification", STD 7, RFC
              793, USC/Information Sciences Institute, September 1981.

   [RFC1006]  Rose, M., and D. Cass, "ISO Transport Services on Top of
              the TCP - Version: 3", STD 35, RFC 1006, Northrop
              Research and Technology Center, May 1987.











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Security Considerations

   Security issues are not discussed in this memo.

Author's Address

   Yanick Pouffary
   End Systems Networking
   Digital Equipment Corporation
   Centre Technique (Europe)
   B.P. 027
   950 Routes des colles
   06901 Sophia antipolis, France

   Phone: +33 92-95-62-85
   Fax:   +33 92-95-62-32
   EMail: pouffary@taec.enet.dec.com


































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