Conversion Between Computer Network Protocols using Graph Matching Technique

Abstract

The basic problem in designing a heterogeneous internetwork is the mismatch between the internal architectures of the component networks, known as protocol mismatch. An immediate solution to this internetworking problem is the incorporation of a protocol conversion mechanism into the gateway constituting a heterogeneous protocol system of two incompatible peer processes communicating through a converter in between. The function of a protocol converter is to transparently map a message m_A of network A to a message m_B of network B in such a way that, inspite of being syntactically unlike, m_A and m_B will bear the same protocol semantics. This paper concerns the design of an efficient protocol converter using finite state machine model. A general solution to derive the converter machine using a matching relation between the message sets and considering the dummy states has been reported with an example design of a converter between two mismatched connection management protocols. Simulation studies of the converter machine with the help of reachability analysis shows positive results regarding the correctness of the model.

Indexing terms:

• Network interconnection
• Gateway
• Protocol mismatch
• Protocol conversion
• Finite state machine
• Matching relation
• Degree of mismatch
• Graph matching technique