[Tex/LaTex] Network/Message Sequence Diagram

arrowsdiagramstikz-pgf

I am looking to produce something similar (but more complex) to this diagram:
enter image description here

This depicts network packets between two sides of communication. I don't know if there is any specific name for it (edit: Message Sequence Diagram). It looks similar to a sequence diagram from pgf-umlsd, but there are some fundamental differences:

  • the arrows are at an angle to depict the time the packet travels from sender to receiver
  • there is no control passing as in the sequence diagram

Do you know what the name for this kind of diagram is? Are there any macros to accomplish this easily or is it something that can be created quickly?

Basically what I need are arrows at an angle, labels for the arrows themselves and the anchor points of the arrows, nothing else really.

Best Answer

I had some old code in my conputer. It's not exactly what you want, but I think it could be an starting point.

First the final result:

enter image description here

I also had to draw some link control protocol examples and decided to create some commands to draw frames (from A to B in previos figure) 

\newcommand{\tramaok}[2]{%
    \draw[trama,->]  #2 --++(1.5,-2) node[above right,near start] {#1};
}

lost frames

\newcommand{\tramaperduda}[2]{%
    \path #2 coordinate (a)--++(1.5,-2) coordinate (b) coordinate[midway] (c); 
    \draw[trama,-]  (a) --(c) node[below] {#1};
    \draw[trama,->]  (c) -- ++(30:.5);
}

and acknowledgments (from bottom to top)

\newcommand{\ackok}[2]{%
    \draw[ack,->] {#2}--++(1.5,2) node[below right,near start] {#1};
}

\newcommand{\ackperdut}[2]{%
    \path #2 coordinate (a)--++(1.5,2) coordinate (b) coordinate[midway] (c); 
    \draw[ack,-]  (a) --(c) node[above] {#1};
    \draw[ack,->]  (c) -- ++(-30:.5);
}

All these commands have two parameters, some label, if necessary, and its starting point. Slope and distance are fixed. With these commands was easy to draw previous figure:

\tramaok{Tr0}{(0,2)}
\tramaok{Tr0}{(2.5,2)}
\tramaperduda{Tr1}{(5,2)}
\tramaok{Tr0}{(7.5,2)}
\ackok{Ack}{(1.5,0)}
\ackok{Ack}{(4,0)}
\ackok{Ack}{(9,0)}
\timeout{(0,2)}{(2.5,2)}

The complete code is:

\documentclass[tikz,border=2mm]{standalone}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage{lmodern}

\usetikzlibrary{calc,arrows,positioning}
\begin{document}

\tikzset{
    host/.style={rectangle,rounded corners,             
                  thick,draw=#1!60,fill=#1!15},
    host/.default=blue,
    trama/.style={thick,draw=#1!60,fill=#1!60},
    trama/.default=purple,
    ack/.style={trama=teal},
}

\newcommand{\tramaok}[2]{%
    \draw[trama,->]  #2 --++(1.5,-2) node[above right,near start] {#1};
}
\newcommand{\tramaperduda}[2]{%
    \path #2 coordinate (a)--++(1.5,-2) coordinate (b) coordinate[midway] (c); 
    \draw[trama,-]  (a) --(c) node[below] {#1};
    \draw[trama,->]  (c) -- ++(30:.5);
}

\newcommand{\ackok}[2]{%
    \draw[ack,->] {#2}--++(1.5,2) node[below right,near start] {#1};
}

\newcommand{\ackperdut}[2]{%
    \path #2 coordinate (a)--++(1.5,2) coordinate (b) coordinate[midway] (c); 
    \draw[ack,-]  (a) --(c) node[above] {#1};
    \draw[ack,->]  (c) -- ++(-30:.5);
}

\newcommand{\timeout}[2]{%
    \draw #1 --++(0,5mm);
    \draw #2 --++(0,5mm);
    \begin{scope}[yshift=2.5mm]
    \draw[<->] #1 -- #2 node[above,midway]{\emph{Time-out}};
    \end{scope}
}

\begin{tikzpicture}[>=stealth',
    font=\small\sffamily]

% S&W amb etiquetes a trames 
% Tout curt. Repetició trames.
% No detecta pèrdues de trames
\draw[help lines,->] (-0.2,0) node[host,left] {B}--(11.5,0);
\draw[help lines,->] (-0.2,2) node[host,left] {A}--(11.5,2);

\tramaok{Tr0}{(0,2)}
\tramaok{Tr0}{(2.5,2)}
\tramaperduda{Tr1}{(5,2)}
\tramaok{Tr0}{(7.5,2)}
\ackok{Ack}{(1.5,0)}
\ackok{Ack}{(4,0)}
\ackok{Ack}{(9,0)}
\timeout{(0,2)}{(2.5,2)}

\end{tikzpicture}

\end{document}
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