Evolution of Broadband Communication Networks: Architecture and Applications

With the rapid increase in users’ demand for flexibility and scalability of communication services, broadband communication networks are facing an ongoing challenge of providing various broadband services using a single communication architecture. This leads to the evolution of a challenging field of multiservice broadband network architectures. This chapter discusses the basic concepts associated with broadband communication network architectures with emphasis on provision of multiservice, and it also focuses on the evolution of broadband communication networks from the traditional architecture to the incorporation of virtualization services, that is, cloud computing. Another important aspect, which relates to the multiservice broadband network, is the “applications” which, as this chapter highlights, are a key-driving factor for the evolution of broadband communication networks. Moreover, this chapter also includes a discussion on New Zealand’s government initiatives to provide improved network coverage within the country

Multidomain Network Based on Programmable Networks: Security Architecture

This paper proposes a generic security architecture designed for a multidomain and multiservice network based on programmable networks. The multiservice network allows users of an IP network to run programmable services using programmable nodes located in the architecture of the network. The programmable nodes execute codes to process active packets, which can carry user data and control information. The multiservice network model defined here considers the more pragmatic trends in programmable networks. In this scenario, new security risks that do not appear in traditional IP networks become visible. These new risks are as a result of the execution of code in the programmable nodes and the processing of the active packets. The proposed security architecture is based on symmetric cryptography in the critical process, combined with an efficient manner of distributing the symmetric keys. Another important contribution has been to scale the security architecture to a multidomain scenario in a single and efficient way.Publicad

Adaptive Applications over Active Networks: Case Study on Layered Multicast

peer reviewedIn this paper we study the potential and limitations of active networks in the context of adaptive applications. We present a survey of active networking research applied to adaptive applications, and a case study on a layered multicast active application. This active application is a congestion control protocol that selectively discards data in the active routers, and prunes multicast tree branches affected by persistent congestion. Our first results indicate that active networks can indeed help such an application to adapt to heterogeneous receivers, with a minimum amount of state overhead, equivalent to that of a single IP multicast group