Report Number: CS-TR-89-1273
Institution: Stanford University, Department of Computer Science
Title: Sirpent[TM]: a high-performance internetworking approach
Author: Cheriton, David R.
Date: July 1989
Abstract: A clear target for computer communication technology is to support a high-performance global internetwork. Current internetworking approaches use either concatenated virtual circuits, as in X.75, or a "universal" internetwork datagram, as in the DoD Internet IP protocol and the IS0 connectionless network protocol (CLNP). Both approaches have significant disadvantages. This paper describes Sirpent[TM] (Source Internetwork Routing Protocol with Extended Network Transfer), a new approach to an internetwork architecture that makes source routing the basis for interconnection, rather than an option as in IP. Its benefits include simple switching with low per-packet processing and delay, support for accounting and congestion control, and scalability to a global internetwork. It also supports flexible, user-controlled routing such as required for security, policy-based routing and real-time applications. We also propose a specific internetwork protocol, called VIPER[TM], as a realization of the Sirpent approach.
http://i.stanford.edu/pub/cstr/reports/cs/tr/89/1273/CS-TR-89-1273.pdf