PROTOCOL VISUALIZATION IN ESTELLE

Protocol visualization is introduced as a new field of research within the realm of computer communication protocol engineering. A workstation tool is designed, implemented, and analyzed for the Graphical Representation Of Protocols in Estelle (GROPE), an ISO international standard formal description technique for specifying computer communication protocols. GROPE's protocol visualization approach provides a dynamic, graphical representation of a simulated Estelle protocol specification, pictorially representing its architecture and finite state machines. GROPE animates the firing of Estelle transitions and the exchange of interactions over channels. For visually complex Estelle specifications, GROPE provides several user-controlled mechanisms for simplifying both the architecture and extended finite state machine behavior. Design issues both for GROPE and for protocol visualization tools in general are presented.