SLIP - technical definition

A Link Layer packet framing protocol that defines a sequence of characters that frame IP packets on a serial line. SLIP provides no addressing, packet type identification, error control, or compression mechanisms. SLIP is defined in RFC 1055 as a nonstandard protocol for transmission of IP datagrams, in the formal sense, although it has become a de facto standard. RFC 1144 defines Compressed SLIP (CSLIP), a method for improving TCP/IP performance over low-speed (300 bps to 19.2 kbps) serial lines by compressing the TCP/IP headers. Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) performs the same basic functions as SLIP, plus compression and other functions. See also compression, datagram, error control, header, IP, Link Layer, packet, PPP, protocol, serial communications, standard, and TCP/IP.