System and method for encapsulating legacy data transport protocols for IEEE 1394 serial bus

A method for transmitting a message from a source node to a destination node having at least one memory cell over a memory mapped serial bus that conforms to an IEEE 1394 standard, the message being transmitted in one or more data units of a packet size not exceeding a maximum packet size specified by the IEEE 1394 standard, the method comprising the steps of:

• maintaining a cell availability register at the source node that holds information indicating whether the memory cell at the destination node is available to receive one or more data units;
• maintaining a cell servicing register at the destination node that holds information indicating whether the memory cell at the destination node is ready to be serviced;
• determining if the message is larger than the packet size;
• segmenting the message into a sequence of data units, each of the data units not encoding information for ordering the sequence of data units, when the message is larger than the packet size;
• examining the cell availability register at the source node to determine if the memory cell at the destination node is available to receive any data units;
• transmitting the sequence of data units from the source node to the destination node over the serial bus;
• storing the sequence of data units in the memory cell at the destination node such that the message may be recreated from the sequence of data units in the memory cell at the destination node;
• updating the cell availability register at the source node to indicate that the memory cell at the destination node is unavailable;
• and
• updating the cell servicing register at the destination node to indicate that the memory cell at the destination node is ready to be serviced.

A distributed data processing system for transmitting messages over a serial bus that complies with an IEEE 1394 standard between a local node and remote node on the bus comprising:

• a local memory cell array located at the local node disposed to temporarily store messages as discrete data units transmitted over the IEEE 1394 serial bus;
• a remote memory cell array located at the remote node disposed to temporarily store messages as discrete data units transferred over the IEEE 1394 serial bus, the remote memory cell array including a selected memory cell;
• a local databus manager at the local node for managing an exchange of the data units over the IEEE 1394 serial bus, the local databus manager segmenting data as a sequence of data units lacking encoded ordering information;
• and
• a remote databus manager disposed to receive the sequence of data units, and building the message in the selected memory cell from the sequence in which the data units are placed in the selected memory cell at the remote node.

A method for sending data from a source node to a destination node across an IEEE 1394 compliant serial bus, the serial bus included in a distributed computing environment, the method comprising the steps of:

• generating data packets at the source node that are capable of being transmitted over an interconnected network of computers but not over an IEEE 1394 compliant serial bus;
• converting the data packets at the source node into compatible data packets that are in a format which is compatible with transmission over the IEEE 1394 compliant serial bus without removing data stored in the data packets;
• transmitting the compatible data packets over the IEEE 1394 compliant serial bus from the source node to the destination node;
• and
• indicating that transmission of a predetermined number of compatible data packets has been completed.

A method for sending data from a source node to a destination node across an IEEE 1394 compliant serial bus, the serial bus included in a distributed computing environment, the method comprising the steps of:

• generating data packets at the source node that are capable of being transmitted over an interconnected network of computers but not over an IEEE 1394 compliant serial bus;
• converting the data packets at the source node into compatible data packets that are in a format which is compatible with transmission over the IEEE 1394 compliant serial bus without removing data stored in the data packets;
• transmitting the compatible data packets over the IEEE 1394 compliant serial bus from the source node to the destination node;
• and
• determining that a memory cell in a buffer at the destination node is available to receive one or more data packets.

A method for sending data from a source node to a destination node across an IEEE 1394 compliant serial bus, the serial bus included in a distributed computing environment, the method comprising the steps of:

• generating data packets at the source node that are capable of being transmitted over an interconnected network of computers but not over an IEEE 1394 compliant serial bus;
• converting the data packets at the source node into compatible data packets that are in a format which is compatible with transmission over the IEEE 1394 compliant serial bus without removing data stored in the data packets;
• transmitting the compatible data packets over the IEEE 1394 compliant serial bus from the source node to the destination node;
• and
• providing a first signal to indicate that a memory cell at the destination node is unavailable to receive one or more data packets.