Design and implementation of a unix portable communication handler for a wide area network

Abstract This paper deals with the problem of interfacing a generical UNIX microcomputer with a network of interconnected mini and microcomputers. The work has been developed for the CED-Borsa (EDP departement of the Milan stock exchange) to support the “BORSAMAT” project, that will connect through a computer network all the users (banks, stock exchange operators…) of all the Italian stock exchanges. The UNIX microcomputer will be the workstation of the generical user of the “BORSAMAT” system. The software that manages the communication on the UNIX microcomputer, that will be described in this paper, should be portable on different microcomputers (supporting the UNIX operating system) so to allow the users to choose the UNIX machine that fits best their needs in term of computing performance, memory space and cost.