A Framework for Dynamic Protocol Configuration

Traditional end-system protocols are not able to support the wide range of Quality of Service (QoS) requirements of existing and emerging distributed multimedia applications on top ofcurrent networks. The aim of protocol configuration in Da Capo (Dynamic Configuration of Protocols) is to combine fine granular software and hardware building blocks at runtime in such a manner that the resulting protocol configuration fulfills the application requirements and needs as less resources as possible. Main features of Da Capo include a formal model, a new approach for specifying application requirements as objective functions, and a unified module interface that allows syntactically unconstrained configuration of software and hardware building blocks. The performance evaluation of the prototype implementation demonstrates that the overhead introduced by the flexible approach is marginal compared to modules that access multiple bytes in each packet. Thus, decreasing protocol complexity by configuring appropriate protocols distinctly increases protocol performance. Furthermore, the flexible approach is able to support the broad range of QoS requirements and is open for future developments.