  The adoption of algebraic specification/formal method techniques by the
networks' research community is happening slowly but steadily. We work towards
a software environment that can translate a protocol's specification, from
Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN.1 - a very popular specification language
with many applications), into the powerful algebraic specification language
CafeOBJ. The resulting code can be used to check, validate and falsify critical
properties of systems, at the pre-coding stage of development. In this paper,
we introduce some key elements of ASN.1 and CafeOBJ and sketch some first steps
towards the implementation of such a tool including a case study.
