A SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MANAGING PACKET-SWITCHED CONNECTIONS

摘要

A system and method for managing connections between one or more local termi nals and one or more remote systems over a packet-switched network is disclosed. The invent ion includes a gateway computer that forms a bridge between the local terminals and the one or more host systems, the gateway and the local terminals including computer software instructions for embedding and filtering special connection identification information in each transaction request. T he local terminals embed connection identification information into each request packet requesting a connection to a remote host system, and the gateway filters this information and verifies that the gateway and local terminal(s) are synchronized. The gateway then manages the communication to the host system using the native protocol of the host, thereby minimize communication over the pac ket-switched network. By synchronizing the connection attempts of the local terminals to the gateway, problems associated with connecting multiple transaction-generating terminals to one or more host systems via a packet-switched network are minimized.