Many moons ago I was part of the
Credit Net project,
which built
a 622Mb/s ATM LAN, including a
credit-based link-by-link flow control protocol.
Issues associated with building such a network included:
- signalling and routing
- defining service models
- ensuring that the services guaranteed by the network are actually
made visible through multiple layers of host software
- investigating how applications can specify their needs and usage
patterns so that underlying software can meet their needs efficiently
- taking advantage of networks which provide connections rather than
just packets
- interactions between a guaranteed-service backbone and mobile hosts
- handling bandwidth mismatches at network boundaries
- gaining experience with applications
- debugging and monitoring networks which provide guarantees
I was largely responsible for the design of the
Credit Net
host adaptor's transmit scheduling mechanism.
