A Scalable Middleware-Based Active Network Architecture for Next Generation Communications
Carl Cook
Department of Computer Science
University of Canterbury
Abstract
In conventional data communication networks, the basic network components (hosts, routers, and switches) are passive in which routing decisions are made solely on the basis of the packet header information. Active networks, by contrast, allow the specification of complex processing instructions at all participating intermediate network routers, providing on--demand installation of complex network services.
As an adaption of previous active network architectures, this report introduces an architecture based entirely in middleware, providing an extensive distributed communication framework. The utilisation of middleware services resolve security, optimisation, and memory-management issues otherwise assumed as inherent, and enables a simplistic yet highly functional multiple--language interface for the deployment of dynamic protocols. After describing the architectural design, an empirical system evaluation is presented with comparisons to both conventional network protocols, and a well--known existing active network architecture. Results indicate performance improvements over the existing architecture, and identify scenarios where active networks can out--perform the capabilities of their conventional counterparts.