SONET to Sonnet Translation
A comic proposal to represent SONET frames as English sonnets.
Shakespeare, W., "SONET to Sonnet Translation", RFC 1605, DOI 10.17487/RFC1605, April 1994, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc1605>.
@misc{rfc1605,
series = {Request for Comments},
number = 1605,
howpublished = {RFC 1605},
publisher = {RFC Editor},
doi = {10.17487/RFC1605},
url = {https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc1605},
author = {W. Shakespeare},
title = {{SONET to Sonnet Translation}},
pagetotal = 3,
year = 1994,
month = apr,
} RFC text
Contents
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,...
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.
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.
ISO Plain Language
On this page
§1The SONNET Proposal
The memo describes SONNET, short for SONET Over Novel English Translation. It proposes translating 810-byte SONET OC-1 frames into approximately 400-byte, fourteen-line decasyllabic English sonnets, claiming roughly 50% average compression.
It says each possible payload pattern would match a sonnet's Cerf catalog number. The memo is written as an April 1st joke.
The proposal turns each SONET payload into a cataloged sonnet instead of sending the frame as bytes. The claimed size reduction is part of the memo's joke.
§2Frame Conversion and Higher Rates
At the sending end, a SONET OC-1 frame is replaced by its corresponding sonnet; at the receiving end, the sonnet is converted back to SONET. For rates above OC-1, the memo says frames may be interleaved or concatenated, with sonnet representations interleaved or placed one after another in the corresponding way.
The memo labels SONNET compression speeds OCh-#, where “h” indicates half compression and the number represents the uncompressed link speed.
The sender substitutes a sonnet for a frame, and the receiver looks up the frame again. For higher rates, the proposal carries several sonnet representations in interleaved or concatenated form.
§3Timing in the Translation
The RFC says timing must remain consistent within a frame. It jokes that a shift in SONET frames or converted sonnets could harm SONET pointers or, worse, poetic meter.
The proposal says the translation must preserve timing. Its warning about poetic meter turns a network timing concern into the punch line.