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Network Working Group W. Shakespeare
Request for Comments: 1605 Globe Communications
Category: Informational 1 April 1994
SONET to Sonnet Translation
Status of this Memo
This memo provides information for the Internet community. This memo
does not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of
this memo is unlimited.
Abstract
Because Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) transmits data in frames
of bytes, it is fairly easy to envision ways to compress SONET frames
to yield higher bandwidth over a given fiber optic link. This memo
describes a particular method, SONET Over Novel English Translation
(SONNET).
Protocol Overview
In brief, SONNET is a method for compressing 810-byte (9 lines by 90
bytes) SONET OC-1 frames into approximately 400-byte (fourteen line
decasyllabic) English sonnets. This compression scheme yields a
roughly 50% average compression, and thus SONNET compression speeds
are designated OCh-#, where 'h' indicates 50% (one half) compression
and the # is the speed of the uncompressed link. The acronym is
pronounced "owch."
Mapping of the 2**704 possible SONET payloads is achieved by matching
each possible payload pattern with its equivalent Cerf catalog number
(see [1], which lists a vast number of sonnets in English, many of
which are truly terrible but suffice for the purposes of this memo).
Basic Transmission Rules
The basic transmission rules are quite simple. The basic SONET OC-1
frame is replaced with the corresponding sonnet at the transmission
end converted back from the sonnet to SONET at the receiving end.
Thus, for example, SONET frame 12 is transmitted as:
When do I count the clock that tells the time
And see the brave day sunk in hideous night;
When I behold the violet past prime,
And sable curls,...
Shakespeare [Page 1]
RFC 1605 SONET to Sonnet Translation 1 April 1994 For rates higher than OC-1, the OC-1 frames may either come interleaved or concatenated into larger frames. Under SONNET conversion rules, interleaved frames have their corresponding sonnet representations interleaved. Thus SONET frames 33, 29 and 138 in an OC-3 frame would be converted to the sequence: Full many a glorious morning have I seen When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes, When my loves swears that she is made of truth Flatter the mountain-tops with sovereign eye I all alone beweep my outcast state, I do believe her, though I know she lies Kissing with golden face... while in an OC-3c frame, the individual OC-1 frames concatenated, one after another, viz.: Full many a glorious morning have I seen Flatter the mountain- tops with sovereign eye Kissing with golden face... When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes, I all alone beweep my outcast state,... When my loves swears that she is made of truth I do believe her, though I know she lies... (This example, perhaps, makes clear why data communications experts consider concatenated SONET more efficient and esthetically pleasing). Timing Issues It is critical in this translation scheme to maintain consistent timing within a frame. If SONET frames or converted sonnets shift in time, the SONET pointers, or worse, poetic meter, may suffer. Shakespeare [Page 2]
RFC 1605 SONET to Sonnet Translation 1 April 1994 References [1] Cerf, B., "A Catalog of All Published English Sonnets to 1950", Random House, 1953. (Now out of print.) Security Considerations Security issues are not discussed in this memo. Author's Address William Shakespeare Globe Communications London, United Kingdom Any suggestions that this, or any other work by this author, might be the work of a third party such as C. Marlow, R. Bacon, or C. Partridge or based on a previously developed theme by P.V. Mockapetris are completely spurious. Shakespeare [Page 3]