Memory and processor efficient network communications protocol

Abstract

System and method for a full featured network communications protocol that is both memory and processor efficient. A preferred embodiment comprises a method for transmitting information between electronic devices, the method comprising creating a connection between a pair of electronic devices, sending a packet between the pair, acknowledging a receipt of the packet by a receiver of the packet, and dissolving the connection when it is no longer needed. The creating of the connection comprises assigning a port number to the connection at an initiating electronic device and then transmitting a connection request containing the port number to a servicing electronic device. After the transmitting, the creating further comprises receiving a second port number to the connection from the servicing electronic device.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates generally to a system and method for digital communications, and more particularly to a system and method for a full featured network communications protocol that is both memory and processor efficient. BACKGROUND [0002] There are a large number of network communications protocols that can be used to provide a way for electronic devices, such as computers, personal digital assistants, electronic calculators, telemetry devices, and so forth, to exchange information and data. The capabilities of the available network communications protocols can vary widely, ranging from simple and small to large and complex. [0003] The simple and small network communications protocols typically trade-off a rich feature set and fault tolerance for the ability to operate on electronic devices with limited processing capability and memory capacity. Furthermore, the simple and small network communications protocols usually offer good performance due to...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0011] An advantage of a preferred embodiment of the present invention is that it has been designed to provide a wide range of routing functionality with a degree of fault tolerance with small processor and memory requirements.

[0012] A further advantage of a preferred embodiment of the present invention is that since it has been designed with specific requirements in mind, it has minimal overhead, just sufficient to meet the requirements.

[0013] Yet another advantage of a preferred embodiment of the present invention is that with small processor and memory requirements, the present invention can be used in a wide range of applications with a variety of electronic devices.

Problems solved by technology

The large and complex network communications protocols usually require electronic devices with some minimum level of processing capacity and memory.

However, in return, the large and complex network communications protocols will usually provide a wide variety of message routing options and the ability to tolerate certain types of faults.

While the large and complex network communications protocols offer a rich feature set, along with fault tolerance, their computation and memory requirements may preclude their use in applications wherein the electronic devices do not meet the requirements.

One disadvantage of the prior art is even if the existing network communications protocol has computation and memory requirements that can be met by the electronic devices, there may not be any assurance that the electronic devices will be able to meet the computation and memory requirements of the modified network communications protocol.

A second disadvantage of the prior art is that if too many modifications are made to the existing network communications protocol, the amount of development may be similar to the development required to create a network communications protocol from scratch and will not adhere to the standards set by the protocol.

Hence tools that are built for that protocol may no longer work.

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