multi-transport discovery; transport probing; transport querying; address-to-device mapping; transport accessibility
Description/Abstract
In order to utilize multiple transports, devices must discover common mechanisms for communication, a procedure we call Multi-Transport Discovery. The Multi-Transport Discovery algorithm presented in this paper is a four-phase procedure (Transport Probing, Transport Querying, Address-to-Device Mapping, and Transport Accessibility) that can discover common transports within a multi-transport environment. Transport Probing uses a transport-dependent device discovery mechanism to discover an initial link. Transport Querying communicates over the probed link to query additional transports. Address-to-Device Mapping correctly correlates each transport to a remote device. Finally, Transport Accessibility periodically ascertains link availability during an application session.