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SLIP stands for Serial Line Internet Protocol. It is a TCP/IP implementation which was described under RFC 1055 (Request for Comments). SLIP establishes point to point serial connections which can be used in dial-up connections, serial ports and routers. It frames the encapsulated IP packets across a serial line for establishing connection while using line speed between 12000 bps and 19.2 Kbps. 
 

SLIP was introduced in 1984 when Rick Adams used it to connect 4.2 Berkeley Unix and Sun Microsystems workstations. It soon caught up with the rest of the world as a credible TCP/IP implementation. It has now become obsolete after being replaced by PPP (Point to Point Protocol) which solves many deficiencies present in it. 

Characteristics
 

  1. It introduces two special characters END(decimal 192) and ESC(decimal 129). Depending, on whether data byte code represents END or ESC character, the two byte sequence of ESC and octal 334 or ESC and octal 335 respectively is sent in data packet.
  2. There is no maximum packet size in SLIP since it has no standard specification. However, the widely accepted value is 1006 bytes of datagram for both sending and receiving.
  3. The sender and receiver should be aware of IP address for both ends while using SLIP.
  4. It only supports static assignment during IP addressing.
  5. It transfers data in synchronous form.
  6. A SLIP frame consists of a payload (data) and a flag to act as a end delimiter.

Advantages

  1. It can allow different combinations of network configurations such as host-host, host-router, router-router etc.
  2. It can be easily used in microcontrollers because of small overhead.
  3. It is easy to implement being a basic packet protocol and due to wide application of TCP/IP.

Disadvantages  

  1. It does not perform any authentication of data and IP addresses cannot be dynamically assigned while using SLIP.
  2. SLIP provides no type identification method. The type of protocol sent cannot be detected. Hence, only one protocol can run over a SLIP connection.
  3. It has no error detection or correction mechanism in data transmission.
  4. A SLIP connection provides no mechanism for hosts to communicate addressing information.
  5. SLIP provides no compression features to improve packet throughput. CSLIP was a variant used for same purpose but it could not achieve wide application.

Last Updated : 08 Jun, 2020
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