A responsive network architecture is essential in future open distributed systems. In this paper, a framework that provides the foundations for a responsive network architecture for an internetworking environment is proposed. It is called the Virtually Separated Link (VSL) model. By incorporating this framework, communication of both data and control information can be completed in bounded time. Consequently, a protocol can initiate a recovery mechanism in bounded time, or allow an application to do the same. Its functionalities augment existing resource reservation protocols that support multimedia communication. An overview of a real-time network protocol that is based on this framework is also presented.

Ethernet is a scheme of local computer networking, which has been widely utilized. Acknowledging Ethernet insures immediate acknowledgement by providing an acknowledgement mechanism in the MAC (Media Access Control) layer protocol. Although Acknowledging Ethernet gives both higher reliability and higher performance, this scheme is not compatible with DIX or IEEE 802 Ethernet. In this paper, a modified scheme which is compatible with the original Ethernet, called the Compatible Acknowledging Ethernet (CAE), is proposed. The CAE scheme allows sharing of the same cable with Ethernet. CAE can be implemented by adding a small amount of logic to the Network Interface Unit of the original Ethernet.