Toward the design of a network manager for a distributed computer network

Abstract

This paper describes a controlling entity called the Network Manager which integrates and controls the activities of a network of distributed processes. The processes may be realized by special-purpose hardware devices, minicomputers, large-scale processing systems, or a combination of these. The Network Manager presents a well-defined hardware and software interface to the processes and provides control functions which are executive or operating system functions found in traditional software systems. Where appropriate, these functions are optimized by implementing them in hardware. The control functions are delineated in detail in this paper along with the basic hardware configuration of the Network Manager.

This research was supported by the Naval Electronics Laboratory Center, San Diego, California, under Contract No. N00123-73-C-2130.