Blockchain based Inter-domain Latency Aware Routing Proposal in Software Defined Network

Abstract

Border gateway protocol (BGP) version 4 is routing current Internet for more than 20 years. BGP is the only protocol that has proven its routing capability of such size network with continually growing nature. Although BGP is scalable and network layer reachability information it lacks quality of service metrics like latency. BGP routing decision algorithm uses as-path length between autonomous systems (AS) as main factor for most of its best-path calculations. Because of more affordable peering architectures as-path length is generally decreasing in worldwide internet network resulting in less efficient routes for real-time internet protocol traffic. This study proposes future internet architecture consisting of multiple AS which provide latency aware routing in software defined network (SDN). For highest reliability there are bilateral latency measurements between each pair of connected autonomous systems. Latency measurement results are stored in distributed decentralized blockchain network where each AS holds its share. Each AS hosts an SDN instance for interconnection with neighbor SDN controllers over AS border. SDN instances processes latency measurement data from blockchain network, validates data integrity and manages latency aware routing for real-time data flows.