Research and implementation of a scalable secure active network node

Abstract

Active networks are packet-switched networks. It allows users to inject customized programs into the intermediate node of the network. The important difference of active network from traditional network is that active network consists of a series of active network nodes that are able to execute active codes and compute them. So, an active network node is the key of the architecture of active networks. This paper presents a scalable and secure active network node that provides the required flexibility of active network technology for dynamic services customized by users deployment and application-specific data processing and forwarding. In this paper, the composing components and services request interface and active application API are introduced, which make the active network node scalable, and the functions of the composing components can be dynamically extended. By describing the process procedure of capsules, we discuss the communication among these composing components. We develop a high performance active network node with a new mechanism to load an active code. We make the active network node secure by using a digital signature and secure execution engine that can authenticate the identities of principals and authorize to control resources accessing.