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X3S3.3/90-85R
20 April, 1990
ACCREDITED STANDARDS COMMITTEE
X3 - INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEMS
Proposed
Standards Development Project
for
TRANSMISSION CONTROL PROTOCOL (TCP)
SECRETARIAT:
Computer and Business Equipment Manufacturers Association (CBEMA)
Page 2
1 IDENTIFICATION OF PROPOSED PROJECT
1.1 Title: TRANSMISSION CONTROL PROTOCOL
1.2 Proposer: Task Group X3S3.3 (Network and Transport Layers)
A. Lyman Chapin, Chairman
Data General Corporation
4400 Computer Drive
Westborough, MA 01580
(508) 870-6056
1.3 Date Submitted: 20 April, 1990
Page 3
2 JUSTIFICATION OF PROPOSED STANDARD
2.1 Needs
The evolution of the Transmission Control Protocol (universally
referred to as "TCP") began with the publication of Request for
Comment (RFC) number 675 by Vinton Cerf in 1974, the result of work
that Cerf and Robert Kahn performed in 1973 as part of Kahn's
Internet program at the DARPA Information Processing Techniques
Office. In its original form, TCP version 1 included the functions
of both an end-to-end transport protocol and a connectionless
internetwork protocol. Version 2 was published as Internet Experi-
mental Note (IEN) 5 in 1977; Version 3 (which separated the tran-
sport and internetwork functions, retaining the transport functions
in TCP and moving the internetwork functions to a new protocol, the
Internetwork Protocol (IP)) as IEN 21 in 1978; and Version 4 as IEN
40 in 1978. Version 4 became the basis for the TCP Internet
Standard, published as RFC 793 in 1981, and for the US Department
of Defense Military Standard for TCP, MIL-STD-1778, published in
August 1983.
Although there have been no further official versions of TCP, none
of the three Version 4 documents (IEN 40, RFC 793, and
MIL-STD-1778) is considered today to be a definitive specification
of TCP, which has continued to evolve. The widespread availability
of TCP after its incorporation into the University of
California/Berkeley version of the Unix operating system in 1983
(release 4.2 of the Berkeley Software Distribution, commonly
referred to as "4.2bsd") encouraged the development of many imple-
mentation improvements to TCP. Current TCP implementations repre-
sent a combination of the basic Version 4 internet standard, some
or all of the extensions that have been documented since 1983 (in,
for example, RFCs 813, 879, and 1072), and a set of agreements and
conventions concerning the "best" way to implement TCP functions
and algorithms, now documented in RFC 1122, "Requirements for
Internet Hosts", which consolidates in a single document the
implementation practices of the Internet community.
The need for an American National Standard for TCP is based on the
widespread market penetration and growing commercial importance of
computer systems that use TCP for host-to-host communication.
Users and vendors would benefit greatly from a consolidated speci-
fication of TCP, drawn from the existing Internet Request for
Comments (RFC) documentation, which could be used to evaluate the
conformance of products that implement it and to place TCP in a
formal context in which its relationship to other standard proto-
Page 4
cols may be clearly established.
2.2 Recommended Scope of Standard
The proposed standard will specify TCP as it is currently under-
stood within the Internet engineering community. The scope of the
proposed standards development project does not include the speci-
fication of any function or feature that has not been accepted
within the community that is currently implementing, deploying, and
using TCP.
2.3 Existing Practice in Area of Proposed Standard
The proposed standard will formalize accepted existing practice,
based on existing documentation, in which TCP is used as the
end-to-end transport protocol in conjunction with other protocols
that are generally referred to as the "TCP/IP protocol suite".
2.4 Expected Stability of Proposed Standard
Technological advance in the area of end-to-end transport protocols
has been, and is expected to continue to be, very rapid. However,
the architecture of TCP and the closely-related Internetwork
Protocol is well understood and stable. New architectures for
end-to-end communications are likely to generate entirely new sets
of standards, rather than destabilize the standard for TCP.
3 DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED PROJECT
3.1 Type of Document
The proposed development project will produce an American National
Standard for Transmission Control Protocol.
3.2 Definitions of Concepts and Special Terms
Page 5
3.3 Expected Relationship with Approved X3 Reference Models
The proposed standard will define a protocol that supports the
end-to-end functions and capabilities associated with the Transport
layer of the Open Systems Interconnection Reference Model (ISO
7498) architecture. It will not, however, define an "OSI Transport
Layer Protocol".
3.4 Recommended Program of Work
The program of work will consist of the preparation, from existing
documentation concerning TCP, of a document that captures all of
the currently accepted TCP practice, in a form that is as close to
the existing internet documentation as the rules for the presenta-
tion of American National Standards permit.
3.5 Resources
The resources of Task Group X3S3.3, Network and Transport Layers,
are expected to be available to carry out the program of work.
X3S3.3 has 26 voting members, representing a broad spectrum of
users and suppliers of computer and communications equipment and
services. The resources of the Internet Activities Board, which
administers the internet standards that apply to the operation of
the internet, and of the Internet Engineering Task Force, which is
responsible for the technical specification of TCP (and the other
internet protocols), are also expected to be available.
3.6 Recommended X3 Development Technical Committee
It is recommended that the proposed project, if approved, be
assigned to Task Group X3S3.3, Network and Transport Layers, of X3
Technical Committee X3S3, Data Communications. The proposed
project is closely related, both technically and administratively,
to projects 332 and 674, which have previously been assigned to
X3S3.3.
3.7 Anticipated Frequency and Duration of Meetings
If the proposed project is pursued by task group X3S3.3, as recom-
mended above, it is anticipated that the equivalent of half a day
during each of the task group's 6 five-day meetings each year will
Page 6
be devoted to work on the project.
3.8 Target Date for dpANS to X3
A draft proposal for an American National Standard Transmission
Control Protocol could be conveyed to X3 by October 1, 1990.
3.9 Estimated Useful Life of Standard
The useful life of the proposed standard coincides with the useful
life of the set of internet standards that comprise the "TCP/IP
protocol suite". This lifetime is expected to be very long,
spanning at least several decades.
4 IMPLEMENTATION IMPACTS
4.1 Impact on Existing User Practices and Investments
The proposed standard will formalize existing user practice in the
area without modification. The impact of the proposed standard
will therefore be limited to the salutary regularization of the
documentation and points of reference for TCP.
4.2 Impact on Supplier Products and Support
As above; with the additional benefit that suppliers of products
that implement or use TCP will be able to focus their evaluation of
TCP standard compliance requirements on a single reference point.
4.3 Techniques and Costs for Compliance Verification
Verification of compliance with the proposed standard will require
the development of test purposes and test suites in accordance with
ISO 9646, "OSI Conformance Testing Methodology and Framework". The
cost of conformance testing is expected to be similar to the costs
associated with OSI Transport protocol conformance testing.
Page 7
4.4 Legal Considerations
No special legal issues are raised by the proposed project, which
covers material that is non-proprietary and freely distributed.
5 CLOSELY RELATED STANDARDS ACTIVITIES
5.1 Existing Standards
The proposed project will formalize the existing internet standard
for TCP, for which the basic references are RFCs 793 and 1122.
5.2 X3 Standards Development Projects
The proposed project is closely related to the work on the OSI
Transport service and protocol under X3 projects 332 and 674.
5.3 X3/SPARC Study Groups
The proposed project has no relationship to any existing X3/SPARC
Study Group.
5.4 Other Related Domestic Standards Efforts
The internet standards effort pursued by the Internet Engineering
Task Force and its parent organization, the Internet Activities
Board, is and will continue to be the source of technical input to
the process of developing an American National Standard for TCP.
5.5 ISO Standards Development Projects
There is no related ISO standards development project, and it is
not anticipated that the proposed project will result in the
initiation of any new work in ISO.
Page 8
5.6 Other Related International Standards Development Projects
As above.
5.7 Recommendations for Coordinating Liaison
None.
5.8 Recommendations for Close Liaison
Close liaison, in the form of joint development work and/or joint
meetings, with the Internet Activities Board and the Internet
Engineering Task Force (and/or its appropriate working groups) will
be essential.
