TACT: A Protocol Conversion Toolkit

Abstract

This paper describes TACT, a toolkit (or software function library) for synthesizing conversions between different transport interfaces. TACT classifies transport interfaces according to their abstraction type or basic model of communication. Each actual transport interface is converted to or from a canonical form for its abstraction type, and TACT provides sufficient abstraction converters to convert between all of the canonical forms. A TACT conversion is accomplished by combining some number of elementary conversions which execute in series. Also provided are remedies for other sources of heterogeneity, such as differences in endpoint naming or buffer management. A program which has been augmented with TACT functions can adapt to different available transports at run time. This paper describes the toolkit, contrasts it with other approaches, shows how it can be used to solve various problems, and provides details on its implementation. © 1990 IEEE