EFFICIENT TRANSPORT AND DISTRIBUTION OF NETWORK CONTROL INFORMATION IN NBBS

With the advances in fiber-based transmission systems that operate at gigabit rates and with the introduction of high-speed networks, the co urse of communication and computer technologies has changed forever. T his change requires that new attention be focused first on the creatio n, then on the control of networks, which now contain high-speed links and integrate heterogeneous traffic. IBM's Networking BroadBand Servi ces (NBBS) architecture has been designed to enable this networking re volution and, in particular is designed for the high-speed, multimedia networks needed by emerging applications. In this paper, we present t he Rapid Transport Protocol (RTP). Its simple and efficient mechanisms enable NBBS control information to be transported and distributed, ta king advantage of high-speed links by eliminating as much nodal proces sing as possible. RTP provides point-to-point and point-to-multipoint transport services with a reliable delivery option. In addition, we pr esent a simple and efficient mechanism for fast dissemination of time- critical network configuration and path update messages to every node in an NBBS network, making use of RTP.