Application of OSI standard tranfer syntax in real-time networks

Abstract

The abstract/transfer syntax facility of OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) communication stacks can be used to interconnect heterogeneous machines and overcome the incompatibilities in their data representation. However, the interoperability benefit of abstract/transfer syntaxes could be greatly offset by the computational overhead of the data transformation process associated with these syntaxes. In this paper, we present the results of a performance evaluation study to measure the overhead of the OSI transfer syntax, and assess its impact on the delay encountered by the PDUs of a real-time application. An approach for a modified transfer syntax that allows for the flexible decoding of transmitted PDUs at the receiving host is also discussed.