Reverse path forwarding

Abstract: Efficient switched network multicasting techniques are provided. Incoming multicast packets are processed by a central forwarding engine (CFE) in a network switch to generate forwarding indices used to make forwarding decisions for the packets based upon whether the packets are special multicast control packets or data packets. Forwarding of the special multicast control packets is determined by the switch's network management processor (NMP), while data packets are forwarded based upon conventional bridge forwarding techniques.

Abstract: A SoftRouter architecture deconstructs routers by separating the control entities of a router from its forwarding components, enabling dynamic binding between them. In the SoftRouter architecture, control plane functions are aggregated and implemented on a few smart servers which control forwarding elements that are multiple network hops away. A dynamic binding protocol performs network-wide control plane failovers. Network stability is improved by aggregating and remotely hosting routing protocols, such as OSPF and BGP. This results in faster convergence, lower protocol messages processed, and fewer route changes following a failure. The SoftRouter architecture includes a few smart control entities that manage a large number of forwarding elements to provide greater support for network-wide control. In the SoftRouter architecture, routing protocols operate remotely at a control element and control one or more forwarding elements by downloading the forwarding tables, etc. into the forwarding elements. Intra-domain routing and inter-domain routing are also included.

Abstract: In this paper we describe SANE, the first forwarding mechanism that combines the advantages of both social-aware and stateless approaches in pocket switched network routing. SANE is based on the observation“that we validate on real-world traces”that individuals with similar interests tend to meet more often. In our approach, individuals (network members) are characterized by their interest profile, a compact representation of their interests. Through extensive experiments, we show the superiority of social-aware, stateless forwarding over existing stateful, social-aware and stateless, social-oblivious forwarding. An important byproduct of our interest-based approach is that it easily enables innovative routing primitives, such as interest-casting. An interest-casting protocol is also described, and extensively evaluated through experiments based on both real-world and synthetic mobility traces.