One document matched: draft-dicecco-vitcp-00.txt


Network Working Group                                       S. DiCecco
Internet-Draft                                             J. Williams
<draft-dicecco-vitcp-00.txt>                             GigaNet, Inc.
Expires January 2001                                     July 14, 2000

                         VI / TCP (Internet VI)

Status of this memo

This document is an Internet-Draft and is offered in full accordance
with all provisions of Section 10 of RFC 2026.  Internet-Drafts are
working documents of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), its
areas, and its working groups.  Note that other groups may also 
distribute working documents as Internet-Drafts.

Internet-Draft documents are valid for a maximum of six months and may
be updated, replaced, or rendered obsolete by other documents at any
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or to site them other than as "work in progress".

The list of current Internet-Drafts can be accessed at
http://www.ietf.org/lid-abstracts.txt

The list of Internet-Draft Shadow Directories can be accessed at
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The keywords "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
"SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
memo are to be interpreted as described in RFC2119.

Table of Contents

1  Abstract                                                        2
2  Overview                                                        3
2.1  VI Architectural Components                                   3
2.2  VI/TCP                                                        4
2.2.1  Extensions to VI                                            4
2.2.2  VI/TCP Overview                                             4
2.2.2.1  Basic VI Components                                       4
2.2.2.2  Introduction to VI/TCP                                    5
2.2.2.2.1  VI/TCP Addressing                                       5
2.2.2.2.2  VI/TCP Connection Management                            5



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2.2.2.2.3  VI/TCP Protocol Messaging                               6
2.2.2.2.4  TCP/IP Options and VI/TCP                               6
2.2.2.2.5  VI/TCP Retransmissions                                  6
2.2.2.2.6  Note on Outstanding RDMA Reads                          7
3  The VI/TCP Protocol                                             7
3.1  VI/TCP Segment Header                                         8
3.2  VI/TCP Connection Establishment (CE) Header                  12
3.3  VI/TCP RDMA Header                                           14
4  VI/TCP Connection Establishment                                15
4.1  Basic Connection Establishment Timeline                      15
4.2  Connection Establishment - Active                            16
4.3  Connection Establishment - Passive                           17
5  Security Considerations                                        18
6  References                                                     18
7  Author's Addresses                                             19



1.  Abstract

     The Virtual Interface (VI) architecture [VIAR] describes a high
performance design for interfacing distributed applications to 
accelerated protocol processing.  VI seeks to improve the performance 
of such applications by reducing the latency and overheads associated 
with standard communications protocol stack processing.  VI greatly 
reduces the processing overhead associated with traditional network 
architectures by providing applications a protected, directly 
accessible interface to network hardware - a Virtual Interface.

This memo describes extensions to the VI Architecture designed to 
facilitate operation over TCP/IP.  These extensions take the form of 
enhancements to the VI Provider Library API defined in the VI 
Architecture Developer's Guide [VIDG], and a "VI Protocol" which 
supports VI functionality during operation over TCP/IP.

The extensions to the VI Architecture which support operation over
TCP/IP are intended to be fully compliant with the VI Architecture
[VIAR] and its associated Developer's Guide [VIDG].







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2.  Overview

     This section contains a brief overview of VI components and a 
functional overview of VI operation over TCP/IP


2.1.  VI Architectural Components

     VI is comprised of four architectural components - Virtual 
Interfaces, Completion Queues, VI Providers, and VI Consumers.

Virtual Interfaces (VIs) are the mechanisms that allow VI Consumers
direct access to the data transfer services of VI Providers.  VI 
Consumers post data transfer requests, in the form of Descriptors, 
directly to the VI Provider.  Descriptors are structures that contain 
the information necessary for the VI Provider to process the data 
transfer (e.g.,data location).  Descriptors are posted to Work Queues 
(send and receive) associated with the VI.  Facilities are provided to 
signal VI Descriptor postings to the network adapter.  Processing of 
posted Descriptors is asynchronous and descriptors are marked when 
processing completes.  VI Consumers remove completed descriptors from 
Work Queues for reuse in subsequent requests.

Completion Queues provide a facility whereby VI Consumers can create a
single point of notification for processing completed Descriptors.  
Once a Work Queue is associated with a Completion Queue, handling of 
all completions are handled via that Completions Queue.

The VI Provider consists of a physical network interface (NIC) and
driver functionality.  The VI NIC implements the Virtual Interfaces and
Completion Queues, and directly performs data transfers.  VI NIC 
drivers provide the control and resource management functions to 
maintain the VI between consumers and VI NICs.

VI Consumers are typically applications programs and their supporting
operating system functions.  VI Consumers represent the users of a 
Virtual Interface.  Access to the Virtual Interface is through a 
library referred to as the VI Provider Library [VIDG].  The VI Provider 
Library provides an application programming interface for hardware 
connection, endpoint creation and destruction, connection management, 
memory handling, data transfer, queue management, informational



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queries, name services, and error handling.


2.2.  VI/TCP

     This section introduces the fundamentals of VI operation over TCP.


2.2.1.  Extensions to VI

     The proposed protocol supports the VI Architecture as currently
defined.  In addition, the protocol supports certain enhancements to 
VI. Extensions to the API defined in [VIDG] would be required to 
exploit such enhancements.  Proposed enhancements are as follows:

- Descriptor Flow Control:  Transmit descriptors may be posted in
advance of the corresponding receive descriptors.  The VI Provider will
supply flow control.

- Security Field:           A security field is contained in the 
Connect Request and Connect Accept PDUs.  Use of this field is to be 
defined.

- Attribute Negotiation:    VI Architecture requires that incoming 
connection establishment attempts be rejected unless the calling and 
called VI Attributes match (e.g., Maximum Transfer Unit Size).  The 
protocol permits downward negotiation of MTU sizes.


2.2.2.  VI/TCP Overview

     This Section provides an overview of how the components of a 
Virtual Interface are created, managed, and destroyed, and also 
introduces the data transfer models.


2.2.2.1.  Basic VI Components

     Operations on basic VI architectural components remain largely
unchanged with VI/TCP. VI functionality is invoked by a VI Consumer
through the API defined in [VIDG].  Access to a VI NIC is achieved by
opening a handle to the driver representing the NIC.  This handle is
used in subsequent operations.  All memory used in data transfer is

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"registered" with the VI Provider.  Memory handles are used to identify
the region and to qualify virtual memory addresses. VIs are created by
the VI Provider upon request by the VI Consumer.  Connections are not
established by creation of a VI and no data transfer can occur until 
the VI is connected to another.  VI Work Queues may be associated with 
Completion Queues to provide a single handling point for completed VI
Descriptors.  VI provides a connection-oriented data transfer service.
Newly created VIs are not pre-associated with other VIs; a VI must be
explicitly connected to another to enter its data transfer phase. VI
provides two types of data transfers - traditional Send/Receive, and
Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA).


2.2.2.2.  Introduction to VI/TCP

     This Section serves as an introduction to VI operation over 
TCP/IP.


2.2.2.2.1.  VI/TCP Addressing

     The VI Architecture defines a generic "VI Network Address" format
consisting of an "address" portion and a "discriminator" portion.  When
operating VI/TCP, the address portion contains an IP address and the
discriminator is per the VI Architecture [VIAR].  One transport layer
port is reserved for passive connection establishment.  All incoming VI
connections are through this port and VI applications distinguish 
themselves by the VI Network Address discriminator.  For active 
connection establishment, multiple transport layer ports are used.


2.2.2.2.2.  VI/TCP Connection Management

     With VI/TCP, all VI connections are implemented over an underlying
TCP connection.  The VI/TCP connection establishment process requires 
an underlying TCP connection over which VI/TCP protocol may be 
exchanged. VI connections have a one-to-one correspondence with TCP 
connections. This is referred to as the VI/TCP connection. When a VI 
connection is closed, the underlying TCP connection must be closed.  
Similarly, when a TCP connection is closed, the associated VI 
connection must be closed. VI Provider's handling VIP_Connect Request 
primitives [VIDG], first request TCP establish its connection and then 
perform VI/TCP protocol messaging over this underlying connection.  VI 
Providers must have

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accepted an underlying TCP connection before the associated VI 
connection is accepted.  VI/TCP Provider's MUST check that 
address/handles are valid for the underlying connection.  From the 
perspective of a VI/TCP Provider, TCP connection setup is an atomic 
operation that either succeeds or fails.  If the operation succeeds, VI 
connection establishment is initiated; otherwise, the VI connection is 
rejected.


2.2.2.2.3.  VI/TCP Protocol Messaging

     VI/TCP functionality is invoked by a VI Consumer through the API
defined in [VIDG].  The VI Provider supplies this functionality.  The 
VI Provider, through use of the VI Protocol, supports this VI/TCP 
functionality.  The VI Protocol defines "messages" to implement VI 
these functions (e.g., connections establishment).  Typically, there is 
one message per Transmit Descriptor.  Each message has a type (e.g., 
RDMA Write).

VI messages are divided into "segments".  These segments are sent, in
order, over the associated TCP connection.  It is recommended, but not
required, that there be exactly zero or one VI segment for each TCP 
segment and that VI segments not be fragmented to span multiple TCP 
segments.  All segments for one VI message will be transmitted before 
the next message is started.  An exception is provided in that RDMA 
Read Response segments may be interleaved with segments of any message 
type other than another RDMA Read Response.


2.2.2.2.4.  TCP/IP Options and VI/TCP

     It is strongly recommended that TCP connections supporting VI/TCP
implement the timestamp option for PAWS (protection against wrapped
sequence numbers) as defined in RFC1323, TCP Extensions for High 
Performance [PAWS].


2.2.2.2.5.  VI/TCP Retransmissions

     VI/TCP will retransmit dropped segments, as required.  It is 
recommended that retransmitted segments contain the same data as the 
original dropped segment.  In certain circumstances, this will not be 
possible without undue burden on an implementation.  The following 
exceptions are 


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noted:

- The "RX Descriptors Posted" field of the protocol's "VI Segment
Header" may contain the current value instead of the value at the time
of its original posting.  Senders must not assume that this value has
actually been received since there are no facilities for determining
which of the two values has been received from the acknowledgement.

- Retransmission is required, but data access results in an access 
violation and retransmission cannot occur.

- Retransmission is required, but cannot occur because the VI/TCP 
connection has been closed.

If a VI NIC is unable to retransmit original data, it may pad and 
should set the "Transmit Error" bit in the "Type" field of the "VI 
Segment Header".


2.2.2.2.6.  Note on Outstanding RDMA Reads

     For each RDMA Read Request received, memory allocated for the
request must be held until the response is acknowledged.  The number of
outstanding RDMA Reads must be limited to control resource exhaustion.
Discarding excessive RDMA Reads pending completions of outstanding
requests does not seem viable in the absence of a deadlock avoidance
mechanism.  It is proposed that the VI Protocol be extended to provide
negotiation of the number of outstanding RDMA Reads during connection
establishment.  This number would represent a per VI limit and the 
negotiated value would remain for the lifetime of the VI/TCP 
connection.


3.  The VI/TCP Protocol

     This section provides the VI/TCP protocol data unit formats.  All
multibyte formats are to be represented in network byte order (i.e.,
big-endian).  Each VI/TCP PDU contains a VI Segment Header. Optionally, 
an RDMA Header or CE (connection establishment) Header may be present. 
The VI/TCP Segment Header provides sufficient features to support non-
RDMA send/receives.  The RDMA Header must be included for RDMA 
transfers.  The CE Header must be included for connection 
establishment. Encapsulations are as follows:





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 |           Lower Layer Headers          |
 +----------------------------------------+
 |               IP Header                |
 +----------------------------------------+
 |               TCP Header               |
 +----------------------------------------+
 |          VI/TCP Segment Header         |
 +----------------------------------------+
 |  (optional) VI/TCP RDMA or CE Header   |
 +----------------------------------------+
 |          VI/TCP Consumer's Data        |



3.1.  VI/TCP Segment Header

     The VI/TCP Segment Header is defined as follows.


 |    Byte 0     |    Byte 1     |    Byte 2     |    Byte 3     |
 |7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0|7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0|7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0|7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0|
 +---------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+
 |    Version    |  Type/Flags   |         Segment Length        |
 +---------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+
 |                          Data Offset                          |
 +---------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+
 |                         Immediate Data                        |
 +---------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+
 |                         Message Number                        |
 +---------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+
 |                          Message ACK                          |
 +---------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+
 |     Rx Descriptors Posted     |       Remote Error Code       |
 +---------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+
 |                       VI/TCP User Data                        |
 |                                                               |






Version

This is an 8-bit field indicating the VI/TCP version.


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Type/Flags

Type is a 5-bit field indicating the packet type.  Valid message types
are:

    - Send
    - RDMA Read Request
    - RDMA Read Response
    - RDMA Write
    - NOP
    - Connect Request
    - Connect Accept
    - Connect Reject
    - Connect No Match

Flags is a 3-bit field defined as follows:

- BIT 1 :  Immediate Data Valid
           As defined by the VI Architecture [VIAR]

- BIT 2 :  End of Message
           Indicates the current segment is the last of a message

- BIT 3 :  Transmit Error
           Indicates either transmit length or protection error

Segment Length

Segment Length is a 16-bit field containing the length of the VI/TCP
segment including the VI/TCP Segment Header

Data Offset

For the initial segment of any message, this 32-bit field will contain
zero.  For subsequent segments, it will contain the number of bytes
already transferred for this message in prior segments.  Only segment
payload is included in this count; headers are specifically not
included.

Immediate Data

May hold 32-bits of optional user data as described by the VI



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Architecture [VIAR].

Message Number

Messages are sequentially number by the VI/TCP Provider.  The initial
Message Number may be varied by an implementation.  For RDMA Read
Responses, Message Number carries the message number of the 
corresponding RDMA Read Request.  Any two segments with the same type 
are part of the same message if and only if their message numbers are 
equal.  Segments within a message may be processed out of order.  
Reordering messages is not supported.

Rx Descriptors Posted

Indicates the number of receive Descriptors, modulo 2^16, that have 
been posted during the lifetime of the VI/TCP connection.  If 
Descriptor flow control is in effect, the VI/TCP provider must delay 
any transmission which would consume receive Descriptors until receive 
descriptors complete and become available.

Notes on NOP

NOPs are used to send a Message ACK when a VI has no data to transmit.
If a VI has data to transmit, the Rx Descriptors Posted number is
included in the transferred segments.  However, if a transmitter is
idle, a NOP is utilized to permit conveyance of Rx Descriptors Posted 
in the absence of use data message segments.  Idle VI/TCP connections 
that have an updated Rx Descriptors Posted value, must use NOP to 
convey this information.  NOPs should be sent whenever there have been 
Rx Descriptors Posted since the last segment sent and the number of 
unused credits falls below some threshold.  Unused credits are the 
number of Rx Descriptors of which the remote VI has been notified but 
has not yet used.  The threshold value should be set at the time of 
connection establishment.

Message ACK

Message ACK is valid only for VI/TCP connections at the Reliable 
Delivery Level [VIAR].  Message ACK is used in conjunction with Remote 
Error Code to provide information relating to memory protection or VI 
Descriptor errors and also to provide facilities for implementation 
specific error handling.  If the VI Error subfield of the Remote Error 
Code



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(Remote Error Codes, next section) indicates "No Error", then Message
ACK contains the Message Number from the last VI Message received 
without error.  If VI Error is OTHER THAN "No Error", then Message ACK 
contains the Message Number of the message segment in error.  Message 
ACK should not be indicated for messages until both message data has 
been written to host memory and the doorbell has been rung.  Message 
ACKs may be included in any VI Message Segment including that of a NOP 
message.

When a VI/TCP connection is supporting level Reliable Reception, the
Message ACK field must be valid and will be used determine when 
transmit Descriptors will be completed.  RDMA Reads are completed upon 
receipt of a valid response.  Message ACK are indicated for messages 
received in error.  In this case, the VI Error Type field of Remote 
Error Code is set to reflect the appropriate VI error.  Remote Error 
Code is defined in the following paragraph.  Message ACK is invalid on 
subsequent messages.

When a VI/TCP connection is supporting level Reliable Delivery or 
Unreliable Delivery, the contents of Message ACK are undefined and must 
be ignored by a receiver.

Remote Error Code

Remote Error Code is comprised of two subfields - the VI Error Type, 
and the IS Error Code.  Both VI Error Type and IS Error Code apply to 
VI message identified by the Message ACK field.  These are defined in 
the following paragraphs.

IS Error Code

IS Error Code is an Implementation Specific error code, its semantics
are implementation dependent and considered outside the scope of this
document.  If the IS Error Code is set, Message ACK must be set to 
indicate the VI Message on which the error occurred.  Note that VI 
errors (see next paragraph) and local errors need not be mutually 
exclusive and this field may be used to provide supplemental status 
information.

VI Error Type

VI Error Type indicates one of the following

    - No Error



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    - RDMA Memory Protection Error
    - VI Descriptor Error

When a VI/TCP connection is supporting level Reliable Reception, the VI
Error Type field must be valid and is used to update the Status of the
VI Descriptor's Control Segment.

When a VI/TCP connection is supporting level Reliable Delivery or 
Unreliable Delivery, VI Error Type shall indicate No Error and be 
ignored by a receiver.


3.2.  VI/TCP Connection Establishment (CE) Header

     The VI/TCP CE Header is defined as follows.






























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     |    Byte 0     |    Byte 1     |    Byte 2     |    Byte 3     |
     |7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0|7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0|7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0|7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0|
     +---------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+
     |     Calling Attributes        | Calling Discriminator Length  |
     +---------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+
     |                           MTU Size                            |
     +---------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+
     |                                                               |
     +-                                                             -+
     |                                                               |
     +-                    Calling Discriminator                    -+
     |                                                               |
     +-                                                             -+
     |                                                               |
     +---------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+
     |   Calling RDMA Read Window    |  Called Discriminator Length  |
     +---------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+
     |                                                               |
     +-                                                             -+
     |                                                               |
     +-                    Called Discriminator                     -+
     |                                                               |
     +-                                                             -+
     |                                                               |
     +---------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+
     |                     Security Information                      |



Calling Attributes

The Calling Attributes field contains the following flag bits

    - Reliable :  Reliable reception and delivery are merged
    - RDMA Write Enable
    - RDMA Read Enable
    - Descriptor Flow Control Enabled
    - Peer-to-peer Connection Establishment

Calling/Called Discriminator and Discriminator Lengths

These fields are as defined by the VI Architecture [VIAR]



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MTU Size

MTU Size is "proposed" in Connect Request PDUs and is considered an
"agreed" value in a Connect Accept.  The agreed value must be the 
lesser of the called/calling VI/TCP Provider's MTU capability.

Security Information

To be supplied.  A VI/TCP Consumer may use this feature as an 
additional basis for accepting or rejecting calls.  This feature is 
currently unsupported by the VI Architecture [VIAR] and the programming 
API [VIDG].  Extensions to the API to expose this feature are to be 
supplied.


3.2.1.  VI/TCP RDMA Header

     The VI/TCP RDMA Header is defined as follows.


  |    Byte 0     |    Byte 1     |    Byte 2     |    Byte 3     |
  |7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0|7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0|7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0|7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0|
  +---------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+
  |                                                               |
  +-                         RDMA Address                        -+
  |                                                               |
  +---------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+
  |                   Registered Memory Handle                    |
  +---------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+
  |                          RDMA Length                          |
  +---------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+
  |                                                               |
  |                     VI/TCP Consumer's Data                    |
  |                                                               |



RDMA Address

The RDMA Address field contains the 64-bit data address of the first
data segment from the VI Descriptor




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Registered Memory Handle

The Registered Memory Handle field contains the Memory Handle returned
when the region of memory containing the data segment was registered
with the VI Provider.  This is the same memory handle required by the 
VI Descriptor.

RDMA Length

The RDMA Length field contains the length field from the VI Descriptor
that indicates the total number of bytes to be transferred across all
segments of a message.


4.  VI/TCP Connection Establishment

     This section contains the state machines governing VI/TCP 
connection establishment.  Both active and passive (e.g., listens) 
scenarios are presented.  For peer-to-peer connection establishment, 
conflicts are resolved lexicographically on IP address.  "Lower" (in 
the lexicographic sense) IP addressed hosts concede to "higher" 
addressed host during peer connection establishment and the process 
reverts that of the active/passive case.  Receiving a Connect No Match 
VI/TCP packet type during peer connection establishment results it 
repeated attempts for a period specified by the VI Consumer's 
connection timeout value.


4.1.  Basic Connection Establishment Timeline

















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  VIPL API [VIDG]      |   VI/TCP Protocol    |             VIPL API
  ------------------------------------------------------------------
                       |                      |
                       |                      |       VipConnectWait
  VipConnectRequest    |                      | <-----------------
    -----------------> |                      |
                       | setup TCP connection |
                       |                      |
                       |   Connect Request    |
                       | -------------------> |  VipConnectWait(ret)
                       |                      | ----------------->
                       |                      |          VipPostRecv
                       |                      | <-----------------
                       |                      |     VipConnectAccept
                       |    Connect Accept    |  <----------------
  VipConnectReq (ret)  | <------------------- |
    <----------------- |  or Connect Reject   |
                       |  or Connect No Match |



4.2.  Connection Establishment - Active

     The state machine governing active VI/TCP connection establishment
is as follows:




















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             +----------------+  (Legend: event - action)
             |  Disconnected  | <--------------------------------<+
             +----------------+                                   ^
                     |  VipConnectRequest                         |
                     |  - Setup TCP connection                    |
                     |                                            |
                    \|/                                           |
             +----------------+   TCP setup fail                  ^
     +------>|   Connecting   +>--------------------------------->+
     |       +----------------+                                   ^
     | TCP Closes    |  TCP connection established                |
     | -             |  - ConnectRequest                          |
     | Reestablish  \|/                                           |
     |       +----------------+  ConnectReject or Timeout         ^
     +------<| Pending Accept |>--------------------------------->+
             +----------------+  - close TCP connect.             ^
                     |                                            |
                     | ConnectAccept                              |
                    \|/                                           |
             +----------------+  Vip or TCP disconnect            ^
             |   Connected    |>--------------------------------->+
             +----------------+  - close TCP connection



4.3.  "Connection Establishment - Passive"

     The state machine governing passive VI/TCP connection 
establishment is as follows:
















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   +----------------+                                +--------------+
   |  Listening on  |  ( Listen is implied by        + Disconnected +
   |   VI/TCP Port  |    1'st VipCreateVI )          +--------------+
   +----------------+                                               ^
           |                                                        |
           |  incoming TCP connection - Accept TCP connection       |
           |          (Legend: event - action)                      |
          \|/                                                       |
   +----------------+  Timeout - close TCP connection               ^
   |    Incoming    |---------------------------------------------->+
   +----------------+  TCP connection closes                        ^
           |                                                        |
           |  incoming Connect Request                              |
          \|/                                                       |
   +----------------+  No Matching Discriminator                    ^
   |    Matching    +---------------------------------------------->+
   +----------------+  - Send Connect NoMatch; close TCP connection ^
           |                                                        |
           |  Discriminator match                                   |
          \|/                                                       |
   +----------------+  ConnectReject - VipConnectReject, close TCP  ^
   | Pending Accept |---------------------------------------------->+
   +----------------+                                               ^
           |                                                        |
           |  VipConnectAccept - ConnectAccept                      |
          \|/                                                      
   +----------------+  Vip or TCP disconnect - close TCP connection ^
   |   Connected    |---------------------------------------------->+
   +----------------+



5.  Security Considerations

     No special security considerations exist at this time.

6.  References








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     [VIAR]  "Virtual Interface Architecture Specification", Compaq
              Computer Corp., Intel Corporation, Microsoft Corporation,
              1997.

     [VIDG]  "Intel Virtual Interface (VI) Architecture Developer's
             Guide", Intel Corporation, September 1998.

     [PAWS]  Jacobsen, Braden, Borman, "TCP Extensions for High
             Performance", RFC 1323, May 1992.



7.  Author's Addresses


     Stephen DiCecco
     James Williams
     GigaNet, Inc.
     Concord Office Center
     2352 Main Street
     Concord, Massachusetts  01742
     978.461.0402 (tel)
     978.461.0430 (fax)
     www.giganet.com
     Email:
     sdicecco@giganet.com
     jimw@giganet.com


















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