ubcVTP: An Implementation of ISO VTP
Abstract Virtual terminal protocols provide remote terminal-oriented communications between network users. They are designed to allow terminals and hosts on a heterogeneous network to communicate without requiring one side to know the terminal characteristics handled by the other side. With the diversification of different types of terminals, there is a tremendous interest in research and design of such protocols. In this paper, we describe the design and implementation of a virtual terminal protocol, that is, the Basic Class VTP defined by International Standard Organization (ISO). Focus of the paper will be the description of the VT model, in particular the one that is defined by the local VTP implementation, and the mapping between terminal type specific I/O and the VT abstract operations. Furthermore, we compare the ISO VTP with other terminal protocols, such as ARPANET TELNET and CCITT PAD Facility, pointing out their differences and short-comings.