Modules as building blocks for protocol configuration

Da CaPo provides an environment for the dynamic configuration of protocols. Configuration is done with respect to application requirements, properties of the offered network services, and the available resources in the end systems. The goal of the configuration is to provide a service with minimal necessary functionality for each request, i.e., to diminish protocol complexity and so to increase protocol performance. Modules serve as basic building blocks for the protocol configuration. Common software engineering principles like encapsulation and information hiding as well as a unified module interface allow the unconstrained configuration of modules to protocols. The Da CaPo runtime environment links modules to protocols in one UNIX process and realizes an efficient data transport inside the end systems because performance reducing operations like data copying or process switches are minimized