Improving the efficiency of automated protocol implementation using Estelle

Correctness and runtime efficiency are essential properties of software in general and of high-speed protocols in particular. Establishing correctness requires the use of FDTs during protocol design, and to prove the protocol code correct with respect to its formal specification. Another approach to boost confidence in the correctness of the implementation is to generate protocol code automatically from the specification. However, the runtime efficiency of this code is often insufficient. This has turned out to be a major obstacle to the use of FDTs in practice. One of the FDTs currently applied to communication protocols is Estelle. We show how runtime efficiency can be significantly improved by several measures carried out during the design, implementation and runtime of a protocol. Recent results of improvements in the efficiency of Estelle-based protocol implementations are extended and interpreted.