Segment Routing: a Comprehensive Survey of Research Activities, Standardization Efforts and Implementation Results

Fixed and mobile telecom operators, enterprise network operators and cloud providers strive to face the challenging demands coming from the evolution of IP networks (e.g. huge bandwidth requirements, integration of billions of devices and millions of services in the cloud). Proposed in the early 2010s, Segment Routing (SR) architecture helps face these challenging demands, and it is currently being adopted and deployed. SR architecture is based on the concept of source routing and has interesting scalability properties, as it dramatically reduces the amount of state information to be configured in the core nodes to support complex services. SR architecture was first implemented with the MPLS dataplane and then, quite recently, with the IPv6 dataplane (SRv6). IPv6 SR architecture (SRv6) has been extended from the simple steering of packets across nodes to a general network programming approach, making it very suitable for use cases such as Service Function Chaining and Network Function Virtualization. In this paper we present a tutorial and a comprehensive survey on SR technology, analyzing standardization efforts, patents, research activities and implementation results. We start with an introduction on the motivations for Segment Routing and an overview of its evolution and standardization. Then, we provide a tutorial on Segment Routing technology, with a focus on the novel SRv6 solution. We discuss the standardization efforts and the patents providing details on the most important documents and mentioning other ongoing activities. We then thoroughly analyze research activities according to a taxonomy. We have identified 8 main categories during our analysis of the current state of play: Monitoring, Traffic Engineering, Failure Recovery, Centrally Controlled Architectures, Path Encoding, Network Programming, Performance Evaluation and Miscellaneous...Comment: SUBMITTED TO IEEE COMMUNICATIONS SURVEYS & TUTORIAL

Incremental Attribute Evaluation for Multi-User Semantics-Based Editors

This thesis addresses two fundamental problems associated with performing incremental attribute evaluation in multi-user editors based on the attribute grammar formalism: (1) multiple asynchronous modifications of the attributed derivation tree, and (2) segmentation of the tree into separate modular units. Solutions to these problems make it possible to construct semantics-based editors for use by teams of programmers developing or maintaining large software systems. Multi-user semantics based editors improve software productivity by reducing communication costs and snafus. The objectives of an incremental attribute evaluation algorithm for multiple asynchronous changes are that (a) all attributes of the derivation tree have correct values when evaluation terminates, and (b) the cost of evaluating attributes necessary to reestablish a correctly attributed derivation tree is minimized. We present a family of algorithms that differ in how they balance the tradeoff between algorithm efficiency and expressiveness of the attribute grammar. This is important because multi-user editors seem a practical basis for many areas of computer-supported cooperative work, not just programming. Different application areas may have distinct definitions of efficiency, and may impose different requirements on the expressiveness of the attribute grammar. The characteristics of the application domain can then be used to select the most efficient strategy for each particular editor. To address the second problem, we define an extension of classical attribute grammars that allows the specification of interface consistency checking for programs composed of many modules. Classical attribute grammars can specify the static semantics of monolithic programs or modules, but not inter-module semantics; the latter was done in the past using ad hoc techniques. Extended attribute grammars support programming-in-the-large constructs found in real programming languages, including textual inclusion, multiple kinds of modular units and nested modular units. We discuss attribute evaluation in the context of programming-in-the-large, particularly the separation of concerns between the local evaluator for each modular unit and the global evaluator that propagates attribute flows across module boundaries. The result is a uniform approach to formal specification of both intra-module and inter-module static semantic properties, with the ability to use attribute evaluation algorithms to carry out a complete static semantic analysis of a multi-module program

Traffic duplication through segmentable disjoint paths

Ultra-low latency is a key component of safety-critical operations such as robot-assisted remote surgery or financial applications where every single millisecond counts. In this paper, we show how network operators can build upon the recently proposed Segment Routing architecture to provide a traffic duplication service to better serve the users of such demanding applications. We propose the first implementation of Segment Routing in the Linux kernel and leverage it to provide a traffic duplication service that sends packets over disjoint paths. Our experiments show that with such a service existing TCP stacks can preserve latency in the presence of packet losses. We also propose and evaluate an efficient algorithm that computes disjoint paths that can be realised by using segments. Our evaluation with real and synthetic network topologies shows that our proposed algorithms perform well in large networks

Optimizing transmission protocols for enhancement of quality of service in telemedical realtime applications

In der Dissertation mit dem Titel „Optimierung von Übertragungsprotokollen zur Verbesserung der Dienstgüte in telemedizinischen Echtzeitanwendungen“ geht es um die Entwicklung einer Protokollmodifikation für Multipath-TCP zur besseren Unterstützung von telemedizinischen Echtzeitanwendungen über das Internet in einem Szenario zwischen global verteilten Standorten. Das Ziel von redundantem Multipath-TCP (rMPTCP) ist es, mehrere Verbindungen gleichzeitig zu nutzen, um mithilfe von Redundanz Verzögerungsspitzen und Datenverluste auszugleichen und somit die Dienstgüte der Übertragung zu verbessern. Hierbei passt sich das Protokoll den aktuellen Gegebenheiten der Datenverbindung adaptiv an, indem es Redundanz, Leitungsqualität, benötigte Datenübertragungsrate sowie den durch das Netzwerk angebotenen Datendurchsatz in Relation setzt. Anwendungen in der Telemedizin unterscheiden sich in ihren kommunikativen und interaktiven Ausprägungen und damit in ihren Dienstgüteanforderungen. Zu diesem Zweck werden grundlegende Anwendungen in der Telemedizin sowie Spezifizierungen der Dienstgüteanforderungen der anfallenden Datenströme behandelt und klassifiziert. Dies geschieht in Hinblick auf ein zwischen der Universität Duisburg-Essen (UDE) und der Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) laufendes Forschungsszenario. Darauf folgt eine Darlegung von Dienstgüte-Mechanismen im Internet. Darin werden die elementaren Funktionsweisen sowie Möglichkeiten diese zu verbessern beschrieben. Die Übertragungsstrecke zwischen den beiden Universitäten wird entsprechend des Basisszenarios in Hinblick auf verschiedene Dienstgüteparameter mit entsprechenden Messwerkzeugen soweit ausgewertet, dass Gegebenheiten und Probleme identifiziert werden können. Eine Evaluierung der verschiedenen verfügbaren Verbindungen zwischen UDE und UKM dient der Ermittlung einer kombinierten Nutzungsweise und den Möglichkeiten bei einer Mehrfachverbindung. Die Modellierung und Entwicklung der Protokollmodifikation wird unter den vorher hergeleiteten Anforderungen durchgeführt. Es werden die grundsätzlichen mathematischen Zusammenhänge diskutiert und eine Einführung in die Funktionalitäten des Protokolls gegeben. Die Eigenschaften und Funktionen des neuen Protokolls werden modelliert und zusätzliche Hilfsmittel, die für die Anwendung innerhalb des Szenarios benötigt werden entwickelt. Die Funktionalitäten werden in praktischen Versuchen ausgewertet und eine abschließende Beurteilung diskutiert. Das Ergebnis dieser Dissertation ist die Entwicklung einer internetkompatiblen redundanten Protokollerweiterung für Multipath-TCP, die in der Lage ist, sich mithilfe verschiedener Algorithmen auf Situationen im Netzwerk anzupassen und verschiedene Maßnahmen bei Störungen zu ergreifen. Die Protokollerweiterung ist in der Lage, eine Dienstgüteverbesserung in Hinblick auf Verzögerungen sowie Verzögerungsvarianzen für Anwendungen mit „Nahe-Echtzeit“-Anforderungen zu erreichen.In the dissertation entitled "Optimization of Transmission Protocols to Improve Quality of Service in Telemedicine Real-Time Applications", the aim is to develop a protocol modification for Multipath-TCP to improve the support for telemedical real-time applications over the Internet in a scenario between globally distributed locations. The goal of redundant Multipath TCP (rMPTCP) is to use multiple connections at the same time to compensate for delay and data losses by means of redundancy and thus to improve the quality of service of the transmission. The protocol adapts to the current circumstances of the data connection by correlating redundancy, connection quality, required data transmission rate as well as the data throughput offered by the network. Applications in telemedicine differ in their communicative and interactive manifestations and thus in their quality of service requirements. For this purpose, basic applications in telemedicine as well as specifications of the quality requirements of the resulting data streams are treated and classified. This is done with regard to a research scenario running between the University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE) and the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). It is followed by a presentation of quality of service mechanisms on the Internet. The basic functions as well as ways to improve them are described. The transmission distance between the two universities is evaluated according to the basic scenario with regard to different quality of service parameters with appropriate measuring tools in a way that conditions and problems can be identified. An evaluation of the various available connections between UDE and UKM is used to determine a combined usage and the possibilities for a multiple connection. The modeling and development of the protocol modification is performed under the previously-derived requirements. The basic mathematical connections are discussed and an introduction to the functionalities of the protocol is given. The properties and functions of the new protocol are modeled and additional tools developed for utilization within the scenario are designed. The functionalities are evaluated in practical tests and a final assessment is discussed. The result of this dissertation is the development of an Internet-compatible redundant protocol extension for multipath TCP, which is able to adapt to situations in the network by means of different algorithms and to take various measures in case of disturbances. The protocol extension is capable of achieving an improvement in service quality with regard to delays as well as delay variances for applications with "near real-time" requirements