外文翻译 - 互联网即时通讯和聊天协议研究.docVIP

外文原文 A Study of Internet Instant Messaging and Chat Protocols Instant messaging (IM) and Internet chat communication have seen enormous growth over the last several years. IM is the private network communication between two users, whereas a chat session is the network communication between two or more users. Chat sessions can either be private, where each user is invited to join the session, or public, where anyone can join the session. There are on the order of 100 million Internet IM users, where a user is defined as a unique name on one of the major public IM networks —AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), Microsoft Messenger (MSN), or Yahoo! Messenger (YMSG). To date, little has been documented about the network protocols used by these systems. The protocols are not standardized, many of them are proprietary, and they are even seen as a control point in this business by the companies involved. This is demonstrated by the repeated attempts of the IM services to lock out users of other systems, in an attempt to keep their customers private. However, enough information is available to determine the broad characteristics of these systems. We have also used packet tracing of IM traffic in order to glean further details into these protocols and systems. In this article we present an overview of IM protocols as exemplified by the three popular systems: AIM, MSN, and YMSG. While each has been designed and implemented separately, the overall group exhibits similar characteristics with respect to network and system architecture. For example, all of the IM protocols allow authenticating with a central server, engaging in private messages, and conversing in public chat rooms. In addition, some IM systems allow file transfers, Web cam usage, using privacy controls, maintaining buddy lists, voice chat sessions, and other options. We discuss these topics in more detail in the sections to follow. We analyze the most recent IM clients available. However, all of the major IM protocols