Design principles for network interconnection

ABSTRACT

With the development of individual computer networks comes the need to interconnect them. Network designers are faced with heterogeneity of networks just as they were previously faced with heterogeneity of computers within a single network. This paper shows that similar structuring techniques, namely multiplexing, switching, cascading, wrapping and layering, can be applied, and that a set of simple principles can be derived which facilitate greatly the design of the interconnection of computer networks. These simple principles are applied to the analysis of some typical examples of network interconnection problems, in the areas of addressing, routing, non-equivalent communication services, error control, flow control and terminal access. It is suggested that similar principles could be applied to some unresolved issues in computer network interconnection, such as congestion control or administrative functions. It is finally claimed that the final objective of network interconnection studies would be to determine the set of international standards which are required to make network interconnection straightforward in the near future.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  B. Hardware
  B.4 INPUT/OUTPUT AND DATA COMMUNICATIONS
      B.4.3 Interconnections (subsystems)

Additional Classification:
  C. Computer Systems Organization
  C.2 COMPUTER-COMMUNICATION NETWORKS

  G. Mathematics of Computing
  G.2 DISCRETE MATHEMATICS
      G.2.2 Graph Theory
          Subjects: Network problems

General Terms:
Design