Pseudo Devices: User-Level Extensions to the Sprite File System
Brent B. Welch and John K. Ousterhout
EECS Department, University of California, Berkeley
Technical Report No. UCB/CSD-88-424
, 1988
http://www2.eecs.berkeley.edu/Pubs/TechRpts/1988/CSD-88-424.pdf
A pseudo-device is a mechanism in the Sprite network file system that lets a user-level server process emulate a file or I/O device. Pseudo-devices are accessed like regular files or devices, and they exist in the file system name space. Pseudo-devices are implemented by transparently mapping client operations on the pseudo-device into a request-response exchange with a server process. The interface to pseudo-devices is general enough to be a transport mechanism for a user-level RPC system. It also provides a stream-oriented interface with write-behind and read-ahead for an asynchronous connection between clients and server. Sprite uses pseudo-devices to implement at user level its terminal drivers, the internet protocol suite, and the X-11 window system server. The pseudo-device implementation provides as fast or faster communication, both local and remote, than a UNIX UDP socket connection.
BibTeX citation:
@techreport{Welch:CSD-88-424, Author= {Welch, Brent B. and Ousterhout, John K.}, Title= {Pseudo Devices: User-Level Extensions to the Sprite File System}, Year= {1988}, Month= {Jun}, Url= {http://www2.eecs.berkeley.edu/Pubs/TechRpts/1988/6047.html}, Number= {UCB/CSD-88-424}, Abstract= {A pseudo-device is a mechanism in the Sprite network file system that lets a user-level server process emulate a file or I/O device. Pseudo-devices are accessed like regular files or devices, and they exist in the file system name space. Pseudo-devices are implemented by transparently mapping client operations on the pseudo-device into a request-response exchange with a server process. The interface to pseudo-devices is general enough to be a transport mechanism for a user-level RPC system. It also provides a stream-oriented interface with write-behind and read-ahead for an asynchronous connection between clients and server. Sprite uses pseudo-devices to implement at user level its terminal drivers, the internet protocol suite, and the X-11 window system server. The pseudo-device implementation provides as fast or faster communication, both local and remote, than a UNIX UDP socket connection.}, }
EndNote citation:
%0 Report %A Welch, Brent B. %A Ousterhout, John K. %T Pseudo Devices: User-Level Extensions to the Sprite File System %I EECS Department, University of California, Berkeley %D 1988 %@ UCB/CSD-88-424 %U http://www2.eecs.berkeley.edu/Pubs/TechRpts/1988/6047.html %F Welch:CSD-88-424