An experimental bulk transport service using a satellite link in DSA environment

To benefit from the high data transmission rates made available by satellite systems, an experimental bulk transport service has been designed. The hardware resources description includes the design of a hybrid machine which integrates both the network processor facilities of the data net 7100, and the general purpose M0D400 system functionalities; a communication controller which provides the interface with the high speed link; a satellite simulator which is designed to reproduce satellite transmission characteristics; and a multimicroprocessor 722OC communications controller. An overview of the software developments is also presented. The transport protocol, which is designed for bulk transfer through satellite links, provides for error correction, and flow control, and reports termination of the upper communication layers. Communications layers 1 through 3 provide the standard interfaces and the HDLC frame envelope, and error detection. A joint experiment to investigate the impact of such telecommunication satellite systems on the distributed systems architecture is being designed to determine the efficiency of the new hardware and new software.