Abstract:  The Caroline Network is an experimental packet switch network being
developed in the Department of Robotics \& Digital Technology at Monash
University to experiment with switching fabrics and packet protocols. Among the
features of the Caroline network are: a bus-based switching fabric, with
fixed-length packets travelling between switching nodes on Virtual Circuits;
a very light-weight, but robust packet protocol; a routing system for packets
which uses a series of virtual circuits between switching nodes. A flooding
algorithm is used to determine the optimal inter-node path at the time of the
establishment of a Virtual Circuit. The Caroline network provides a
connection-oriented unreliable packet delivery service, capable of efficiently
supporting a wide range of user services, including those of continuous and 
variable bit-rates. This paper defines the services of the Caroline network
and the inital packet protocol. The two sections can stand alone as the
respective service and protocol "standards" of the Caroline network.