Configuration of the Airline Line Control Protocol

Transcription

1 encor! enetworks TM Version A, September Encore Networks, Inc. All rights reserved. Configuration of the Airline Line Control Protocol This chapter discusses other protocols that you can configure on a BANDIT device s ports. See the following section: Section 8.1, Airline Line Control Protocol Note: See the Protocols Module for a full list of protocols. 8.1 Airline Line Control Protocol The BANDIT supports the legacy Airline Line Control (ALC) protocol. ALC carries airline traffic over UDP/IP or TCP/IP networks. There are two types of airline traffic: Type A (Transactional) traffic is used for transactions (e.g., seat reservations) between a travel agency and a central computer. Typically, a travel agency terminal accesses the central system. Type A traffic is based on real-time response, uses limited protection and high priority, and can be discarded. If there is no response, the user can duplicate the request. Type A connections can be host-to-host or host-to-terminal. Type B (Messaging) traffic does not need real-time response. However, high levels of protection and reliability are required. is an example of Type B traffic. Note: If you wish to use the ALC protocol, contact your Encore Networks sales representative to obtain the appropriate BANDIT software. See the following for use of ALC in the BANDIT products: The BANDIT supports Transactional (Type A) host-to-terminal traffic for ALC. The ALC protocol can be configured on any serial port in the BANDIT, as described in Section 8.1.1, Configuring the Airline Line Control Protocol. For transport over IP, the BANDIT automatically encapsulates the ALC Type A host-toterminal traffic within MATIP. See Section 8.1.2, Mapping of Airline Traffic over the Internet Protocol. ALC Type A host-to-host traffic and ALC Type B traffic are supported in AX.25 to MATIP conversion, available on the BANDIT Plus. See Section 8.1.3, Converting AX.25 to MATIP. For information on trademarks, safety, limitations of liability, and similar topics, see Notices. Home Module: Protocols Document 8

2 Page 2 Protocols Module, Document Configuring the Airline Line Control Protocol The following procedure provides guidelines for configuring a BANDIT device for ALC. See Statistics for the Airline Line Control Protocol for a description of the statistics monitored in this protocol. How to Configure ALC Note: To route data through the unit, you must complete the IP Routing Table. (See Section 2.1.1, Configuring IP Routing.) I In IP routing, you must also enter the local IP address. (See Identifying the BANDIT Device in the Network.) 1 In the Main Menu, select Advanced Configurations, Data Configurations, and select a serial port. Then select Undefine Logical Port, Protocol, and ALC. When you select ALC, the ALC Parameters menu is displayed: ALC Parameters ) Speed : ) Inter-Poll Interval : 20 3) Poll Response Timeout : ) Controller Enter Choice : 2 Select Speed. This parameter specifies the speed of internally generated Transmit and Receive clocks. The following list is displayed:

3 Configuration of the Airline Line Control Protocol Page 3 Configure Synchronous Clock Speed ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) A) B) C) D) E) F) G) H) I) J) External(DTE) Enter Choice : a Select the speed the port will use. (When the BANDIT device is DTE, the speed is set by the external device.) 3 Select Interpoll Interval. This parameter specifies the number of milliseconds the system waits between polls. Enter minimum time between any two polls in msec (0-5000): 20 a Enter the appropriate number of milliseconds and press Enter. 4 Select Poll Response Timeout. This parameter specifies the number of milliseconds the unit waits for a response to a poll before timing out and moving on to the next device. Enter time in which a controller must respond to a poll in msec (0-5000): 1000 a Enter the appropriate number of milliseconds and press Enter. 5 Select Controller. The following menu is displayed:

4 Page 4 Protocols Module, Document 8 ALC Controller Parameters ) Interchange Address : 0 2) IP Address : ) Host IP Address : ) ESD IP Address : ) Transport Medium : TCP 6) LN IA(PLIT): ) Code Set : EBCDIC Enter Choice : a Select Interchange Address. This option allows you to enter the address that is used to poll the ALC Controller. The following prompt is displayed: Enter Alc Controller Interchange Address (0-3F Hex): b Enter the Interchange Address and press Enter. c Select IP Address. (This is the controller IP address). Enter Alc Controller IP Address (N.N.N.N) : Note: The IP address must start with a network of 10 and end with a host of 16. When a MATIP session is opened by sending a Session Open frame, the ASCU identifier field (A1 and A2) is obtained from this IP address. The purpose of the ASCU identifier is to uniquely identify the controller to the host. For example, if the IP address is 10.XX.YY.16, then A1=XX and A2=YY. d Enter the controller IP address and press Enter. e Select Host IP Address. This option allows you to specify the remote host s IP address. Messages from the controller will be sent to this host. Enter Remote Host IP Address (N.N.N.N) : f Enter the remote host s IP address and press Enter. g Select ESD IP Address. This option allows you to specify the IP address of the electronic software distribution (ESD) host with which a UDP/IP session will be established.

5 Configuration of the Airline Line Control Protocol Page 5 Enter ESD IP Address (N.N.N.N) : h Enter the ESD host s IP address and press Enter. i Select Transport Medium. This option allows you to specify whether the airline traffic should be carried over TCP/IP or UDP/IP. The Transport Medium menu is displayed: Transport Medium 1) UDP 2) TCP Enter Choice : j Select the transport medium. The Controller menu is redisplayed. k Select LN IA(PLIT) address. Enter the LN IA (0-FFFF): l Type a two- or four-digit value for the interchange address, in hexadecimal characters, and press Enter. The Controller menu is redisplayed. mselect Code Set. The code set prompt is displayed. Enter Code Set (A (ASCII) or E (EBCDIC) or I (IPARS): n Select the code set you want this connection to use. The selected code set is accepted, and the Controller menu is redisplayed. o When you have finished configuring the controller, press Escape. The ALC Parameters menu is redisplayed. 6 When you have finished configuring the ALC parameters, press Escape. The Logical Port Attribute menu is redisplayed.

6 Page 6 Protocols Module, Document 8 Note: To save the new configuration, you must Write and Reset. (See Section 3.6, Write Configuration, and Section 3.7, Reset Unit.) Mapping of Airline Traffic over the Internet Protocol Mapping of Airline Traffic over the Internet Protocol (MATIP) is a standard for carrying airline traffic over TCP/IP networks. The BANDIT automatically encapsulates the ALC protocol within MATIP, for transport over IP. The BANDIT s support of MATIP conforms to RFC Only ALC Type A host-to-terminal traffic is encapsulated within MATIP. After the TCP connection is set up, the MATIP session is brought up when the BANDIT sends a session open message and the MATIP host responds with an open confirm. After the MATIP session has opened, the encapsulated airline data traffic can be carried over the MATIP session. Note: The Quality of Service table uses the following defaults for MATIP traffic: MATIP for ALC Type A (MATIP-A) uses port 350. MATIP for ALC Type B (MATIP-B) uses port 351. The BANDIT software is flexible, so you may, if you wish, set up ports for MATIP traffic. If you do so, MATIP-A must be configured for High priority; MATIP-B should be configured for Low priority. See IP Quality of Service. Note: MATIP-A for ALC Type A host-to-host traffic and MATIP-B for ALC Type B traffic are both supported in AX.25-to-MATIP conversion, available in the BANDIT Plus. See Section 8.1.3, Converting AX.25 to MATIP Converting AX.25 to MATIP Note: Conversion between AX.25 and MATIP is available only on the BANDIT Plus, the BANDIT II, the BANDIT III, and the VSR The BANDIT software supports AX.25, a protocol similar to X.25. The AX.25 protocol, as described by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), is based on the X.25 Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model for airline applications. The BANDIT software can convert data between a device that uses the AX.25 protocol and a device that uses the MATIP protocol. AX.25-to-MATIP conversion supports ALC Type A host-to-host (transaction) traffic and ALC Type B (message) traffic. Configuration of AX.25 is the same as configuration of X.25, with an additional step: You must configure a MATIP table to indicate the path (i.e., the BANDIT port) the AX.25 data will follow to reach the MATIP host. To configure the BANDIT to convert between AX.25 and MATIP, configure a serial port to use the X.25 protocol, and configure an Ethernet port to use MATIP. The following procedure provides guidelines for this configuration. Note: Do not use AX.25 by itself; use it only when the BANDIT converts from X.25 to MATIP. For AX.25 by itself (i.e., with no reason for protocol conversion), use standard X.25.

7 Configuration of the Airline Line Control Protocol Page 7 How to Configure the BANDIT to Convert between AX.25 and MATIP Note: Conversion between AX.25 and MATIP is available only on the BANDIT Plus. 1 Configure a port to carry the ALC protocol. For details on configuring ALC, see Section 8.1, Airline Line Control Protocol. 2 Configure another port to carry the X.25 protocol. For details of standard X.25 configuration, see Section 5.2, X.25 Protocol. When you select the X.25 protocol, the X.25 Parameters menu appears. (The item MATIP Table appears on this menu only if your BANDIT s software supports airline protocols.) X.25 Parameters : EXPANSION ) X.25 Level-1 Configuration 2) X.25 Level-2 (LAPB) Configuration 3) X.25 Level-3 (PLP) Configuration 4) MATIP Table Enter Choice : Note: In addition to standard X.25 configuration, you must set up a MATIP table in the X.25 protocol, as described in the following steps. 3 Select MATIP Table. If a MATIP table already exists, it is displayed. Go to Step 9. If a MATIP table does not yet exist, the following prompt appears. Empty MATIP Table Add MATIP Table Entry Map Ax25 Host VC(as Path Name) to MATIP Host IP Address/TCP Port Enter Path Name (1 to 10 Characters): 4 Enter the Path Name for the entry. The path tells X.25 which port to use to reach the MATIP/ALC protocol. Because paths in table entries are bidirectional, this also lets the MATIP/ALC device reach the X.25 device. (If the path does not yet exist, you are prompted to establish it. See Section, Defining Global Paths.) After you have established the path, the following prompt appears. Enter MATIP Host IP Address :

8 Page 8 Protocols Module, Document 8 5 Type the IP address of the device connected to this X.25 port, and press Enter. The following prompt appears. Enter MATIP Source TCP Port : (6000 to 65534)[6000] : 6 Type the TCP port number for the BANDIT s X.25 port, and press Enter. The following prompt appears. Enter MATIP Destination TCP Port : (300 to 65534)[350] : 7 Type the TCP port number for the BANDIT s MATIP port, and press Enter. (The default TCP port number for MATIP-A is 350; the default TCP port for MATIP-B is 351.) The following prompt appears. Entry Added Then another prompt appears, for the next entry in the MATIP table. Map Ax25 Host VC(as Path Name) to MATIP Host IP Address/TCP Port Enter Path Name (1 to 10 Characters): 8 Do one of the following: a To add another record in the MATIP table, go to Step 4. b To stop adding records to the MATIP table, press Enter. The MATIP table is displayed. AX25 Source Source Remote Remote # Path IP Port IP Port MATIP Add, Modify, or Delete an Entry? (Enter A, M, or D): 9 Do one of the following: a If the MATIP table is satisfactory, press Escape to return to the X.25 Parameters menu. b To modify an entry, press m. Follow the directions that appear on the screen.

9 Configuration of the Airline Line Control Protocol Page 9 c To add an entry, press a. Follow the directions that appear on the screen. d To remove an entry, press d. Follow the directions that appear on the screen.

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