CATNIP: Common Architecture for the Internet
M. McGovern, R. Ullmann · 1994
This paper describes a common architecture for the network layer protocol.The Common Architecture for Next Generation Internet Protocol (CATNIP) provides a compressed form of the existing network layer protocols.Each compression is defined so that the resulting network protocol data units are identical in format.The fixed part of the compressed format is 16 bytes in length, and may often be the only part transmitted on the subnetwork.With some attention paid to details, it is possible for a transport layer protocol (such as TCP) to operate properly with one end system using one network layer (e.g.IP version 4) and the other using some other network protocol, such as CLNP.Using the CATNIP definitions, all the existing transport layer protocols used on connectionless network services will operate over any existing network layer protocol.The CATNIP uses cache handles to provide both rapid identification of the next hop in high performance routing as well as abbreviation of the network header by permitting the addresses to be omitted when a valid cache handle is available.The fixed part of the network layer header carries the cache handles.