Adapting encrypted data streams in open architectures

Abstract

Open architectures meet the demands of increasingly complex and diverse networks by adding programmability to some or all components of the network infrastructure. The effectiveness of this programmability, however, is severely reduced in the domain of encrypted data streams. Because encrypted streams are opaque, existing solutions to adapting encrypted data are limited to either performing link-level encryption across each node, or restricting adaptations to those that do not require knowledge of the content. These restrictions either reduce the functionality of the system or compromise the security of the data stream. This research examines an alternative method of adapting encrypted streams through intelligent tagging and layering of the data content. Sending separately encrypted layers of the data allows for adaptation of the data stream without actually decrypting the data along any point of the connection.