A high speed protocol processor to boost gateway performance

The authors propose a high-speed protocol processor for gateways based on the following concept: normal data transfer is executed by special-purpose hardware and a general-purpose microprocessor handles abnormal data transfer and connection control. To analyze the quantitative effect of this proposal, a high-speed protocol processor which can execute OSI (open systems interconnection) layers two to four was manufactured, and its performance was measured. The protocol processing time for normal data transfer in the experimental system is 1/12 that of the conventional system on the transmission side and 1/7 that of the conventional system on the reception side. This result shows that application of the high-speed protocol processor in protocol-converting gateways is effective for improving performance.<
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