IEN 180


                                                             Danny Cohen
                                                               USC / ISI
                                                              March 1981


         A suggestion for internet message forwarding for MOSIS
         ------------------------------------------------------

Messages  are  forwarded across (between) networks by Message Forwarding
Programs (MFP) which live on hosts with access to more than one network.

Note that in this discussion the term NETWORK means  a  message  system.
These  message  systems typically live on different networks but this is
not necessarily so.

The operation of the scheme is based on the following two fields:

   - FSR: Forward-Source-Route, and

   - RSR: Return-Source-Route.

These two field are  to  be  included  in  the  BODY  of  the  messages.
However,  the  TO,  the  FROM and the SUBJECT fields, mentioned later in
this note, are the native ones of the message systems in use, if any.

The basic operation of an MFP is:

   - To verify that this message was indeed sent to it (this  MFP),
     by  comparing the first address in the FSR field with its (the
     MFP's) address. This address is expacted to be the same as the
     TO field  (if  any)  of  the  message  in  the  previous  hop,
     augmented by the designation of that network.

   - To  direct  each  message to its next destination which is the
     second address in the FSR field.

   - To appends to the beginning of the the RSR its own (the MFP's)
     address as used in the environment to  which  the  message  is
     forwarded.  This  is expacted to be the same as the FROM field
     (if any) of the message in its  next  hop,  augmented  by  the
     designation of that network.










                                  -1-

Each  address  in  the FRS should contain an indication (designation) of
the network to which the message should be forwarded.   This  indication
has  to  be  stripped  before forwarding the message to that environment
because most (all?) networks  do  not  recognize  the  fact  that  their
address   space  (name  space)  does  not  cover  the  entire  universe.
Similarly, when any address is appended to  the  RSR  the  name  of  the
network in which it is valid has to be included, too.

If  the  final  destination  of  the  FSR  is an MFP then it will not be
forwarded any further, obviously.

Similarly, if a MFP is asked to forward  a  message  to  an  environment
(net)  to  which  it  has  no  immediate  access  it may (i) discard the
message, (ii) discard the messages and send  an  error  message  to  the
originator,  or  (iii) cooperate with a smarter MFP which is as smart as
internet gateways and can figure how to get there from here.

For the MOSIS application, type-(i) MFPs will suffice.

When the message  arrives  to  its  final  destination,  the  FSR  field
includes  only  the  address  of  this  destination.   Similarly, when a
message leaves its source, the RSR field includes only  the  address  of
this source.

It  is  suggested that the SUBJECT field will be carried through without
changes, whenever possible. Hence, it is an End/End entity.

It is also suggested that all the other header fields (i.e., except  the
SUBJECT field) will be discarded at each MFP.
























                                -2-

                             E x a m p l e

Suppose  that S on net-A wants to send a message to R on net-C.  Suppose
also that S knows that MFP-1 has access both to net-A and to net-B,  and
that  MFP-2  has  access  both  to net-B and to net-C.  The addresses of
MFP-1 are a1 and b1 on nets A and B, respectively, and  those  of  MFP-2
are b2 and c2 on nets B and C.

While  traversing  net-A  (from  S  to  MFP-1) the message will have the
following format:

        To:     a1
        From:   S
        FSR:    [A] a1 // [B] b2 // [C] R
        RSR:    [A] S

While traversing net-B (from MFP-1 to MFP-2) the message will  have  the
following format:

        To:     b2
        From:   b1
        FSR:    [B] b2 // [C] R
        RSR:    [B] b1 // [A] S

While  traversing  net-C  (from  MFP-2  to  R) the message will have the
following format:

        To:     R
        From:   c2
        FSR:    [C] R
        RSR:    [C] c2 // [B] b1 // [A] S

While  traversing  net-C  (from  R  to  MFP-2)  the  reply will have the
following format:

        To:     c2
        From:   R
        FSR:    [C] c2 // [B] b1 // [A] S
        RSR:    [C] R

and so on. Note that the total number of addresses, in both the FSR  and
the RSR fields, does not change while traversing the IN-environment.












                                -3-

                  An Actual Proposal for InterMailing
                  -----------------------------------

We propose to implement the above by having a TOPS-20 program running in
[ISIF]<InterMail>.

This  program  would  run periodically, every 10 minutes or so and check
the mail box of this directory.  Any message which is found  there  will
be forwarded according to its FSR list.

Messages  with  bad  format or illegal FSR or RSR will not be forwarded,
and NO error message will be sent anywhere.  Hence, they  are  discarded
for  all practical purposes.  Such illegal messages are those without an
FSR starting within the first 20 lines, bad format, any  network  (i.e.,
mail  system)  not  served  yet, first net in the RSR not same as in the
FSR, etc.

The format of the FSR is a contiguous set of lines each of  the  format:
"FSR:  [<Network>]<address>"  where  <network>  is  either  "ARPANET" or
"TELEMAIL" (more may be added later) and <address> is a mail box address
in that mail-system.  Note that the net designation must be in brackets.

The RSR is of similar format as the FSR except that each  of  its  lines
starts  with  "RSR:"  instead of "FSR:".  The first RSR line must follow
immediately the last FSR line, without any blank lines in between.

The addresses of this InterMailer are:

                On the ARPAnet side:   InterMail@ISIF,    and
                On the TELEMAIL side:  InterMail/USCISI.

Hence, a message from the user FOO at  UCLA  on  TELEMAIL  addressed  to
MOSIS  at ISIF on the ARPAnet may have the following lines when given to
TELEMAIL for delivery via InterMail/USCISI:

                FSR: [TELEMAIL]InterMail/USCISI
                FSR: [ARPAnet] MOSIS@ISIF
                RSR: [TELEMAIL]FOO/UCLA

The return message from MOSIS may have the following lines when given to
the ARPAnet for delivery via InterMail@ISIF:

                FSR: [ARPAnet] InterMail@ISIF
                FSR: [TELEMAIL]FOO/UCLA
                RSR: [ARPAnet] MOSIS@ISIF








                                -4-