The Infinite Monkey Protocol Suite (IMPS)
RFC 2795

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Network Working Group                                     S. Christey
Request for Comments: 2795                         MonkeySeeDoo, Inc.
Category: Informational                                  1 April 2000

               The Infinite Monkey Protocol Suite (IMPS)

Status of this Memo

   This memo provides information for the Internet community.  It does
   not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of this
   memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2000).  All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

   This memo describes a protocol suite which supports an infinite
   number of monkeys that sit at an infinite number of typewriters in
   order to determine when they have either produced the entire works of
   William Shakespeare or a good television show.  The suite includes
   communications and control protocols for monkeys and the
   organizations that interact with them.

Table of Contents

   1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2
   2. Objects In The Suite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2
   3. IMPS Packet Structure  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
   4. Infinite Threshold Accounting Gadget (I-TAG) Encoding  . .  5
   5. KEEPER Specification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
    5.1 KEEPER Message Request Codes (ZOO-to-SIMIAN) . . . . . .  7
    5.2 KEEPER Message Response Codes (SIMIAN-to-ZOO)  . . . . .  8
    5.3 Requirements for KEEPER Request and Response Codes . . .  8
    5.4 Example ZOO-to-SIMIAN Exchanges using KEEPER . . . . . .  9
   6. CHIMP Specification  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
    6.1 SIMIAN Client Requests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
    6.2 ZOO Server Responses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
    6.3 Example SIMIAN-to-ZOO Session using CHIMP  . . . . . . . 11
   7. IAMB-PENT SPECIFICATION  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
    7.1 ZOO Client Requests  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
    7.2 BARD Responses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
    7.3 Example ZOO-to-BARD Session using IAMB-PENT  . . . . . . 13
   8. PAN Specification  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
    8.1 ZOO Requests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
    8.2 CRITIC Responses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Christey                     Informational                      [Page 1]
RFC 2795       The Infinite Monkey Protocol Suite (IMPS)    1 April 2000

    8.3 Table of CRITIC Reject Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
    8.4 Example ZOO-to-CRITIC Session using PAN  . . . . . . . . 16
   9. Security Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
   10. Acknowledgements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
   11. References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
   12. Author's Address  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
   13. Full Copyright Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

1. Introduction

   It has been posited that if an infinite number of monkeys sit at an
   infinite number of typewriters and randomly press keys, they will
   eventually produce the complete works of Shakespeare [1] [2].  But if
   such a feat is accomplished, how would anybody be able to know?  And
   what if the monkey has flawlessly translated Shakespeare's works into
   Esperanto?  How could one build a system that obtains these works
   while addressing the basic needs of monkeys, such as sleep and food?
   Nobody has addressed the practical implications of these important
   questions [3].

   In addition, it would be a waste of resources if such a sizable
   effort only focused on Shakespeare.  With an infinite number of
   monkeys at work, it is also equally likely that a monkey could
   produce a document that describes how to end world poverty, cure
   disease, or most importantly, write a good situation comedy for
   television [4].  Such an environment would be ripe for innovation
   and, with the proper technical design, could be effectively utilized
   to "make the world a whole lot brighter" [5].

   The Infinite Monkey Protocol Suite (IMPS) is an experimental set of
   protocols that specifies how monkey transcripts may be collected,
   transferred, and reviewed for either historical accuracy (in the case
   of Shakespearean works) or innovation (in the case of new works).  It
   also provides a basic communications framework for performing normal
   monkey maintenance.

2. Objects in the Suite

   There are four primary entities that communicate within an IMPS
   network.  Groups of monkeys are physically located in Zone Operations
   Organizations (ZOOs).  The ZOOs maintain the monkeys and their
   equipment, obtain transcripts from the monkeys' typewriters, and
   interact with other entities who evaluate the transcripts.

   A SIMIAN (Semi-Integrated, Monkey-Interfacing Anthropomorphic Node)
   is a device that is physically attached to the monkey.  It provides
   the communications interface between a monkey and its ZOO.  It is