6 research outputs found
Simplifying data path processing in next-generation routers
ABSTRACT Customizable packet processing is an important aspect of next-generation networks. Packet processing architectures using multi-core systems on a chip can be difficult to program. In our work, we propose a new packet processor design that simplifies packet processing by managing packet contexts in hardware. We show how such a design scales to large systems. Our results also show that the management of such a system is feasible with the proposed mapping algorithm
Cellular, Wide-Area, and Non-Terrestrial IoT: A Survey on 5G Advances and the Road Towards 6G
The next wave of wireless technologies is proliferating in connecting things
among themselves as well as to humans. In the era of the Internet of things
(IoT), billions of sensors, machines, vehicles, drones, and robots will be
connected, making the world around us smarter. The IoT will encompass devices
that must wirelessly communicate a diverse set of data gathered from the
environment for myriad new applications. The ultimate goal is to extract
insights from this data and develop solutions that improve quality of life and
generate new revenue. Providing large-scale, long-lasting, reliable, and near
real-time connectivity is the major challenge in enabling a smart connected
world. This paper provides a comprehensive survey on existing and emerging
communication solutions for serving IoT applications in the context of
cellular, wide-area, as well as non-terrestrial networks. Specifically,
wireless technology enhancements for providing IoT access in fifth-generation
(5G) and beyond cellular networks, and communication networks over the
unlicensed spectrum are presented. Aligned with the main key performance
indicators of 5G and beyond 5G networks, we investigate solutions and standards
that enable energy efficiency, reliability, low latency, and scalability
(connection density) of current and future IoT networks. The solutions include
grant-free access and channel coding for short-packet communications,
non-orthogonal multiple access, and on-device intelligence. Further, a vision
of new paradigm shifts in communication networks in the 2030s is provided, and
the integration of the associated new technologies like artificial
intelligence, non-terrestrial networks, and new spectra is elaborated. Finally,
future research directions toward beyond 5G IoT networks are pointed out.Comment: Submitted for review to IEEE CS&
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Security Issues in Networked Embedded Devices
Embedded devices are ubiquitous; they are present in various sectors of everyday life: smart homes, automobiles, health care, telephony, industrial automation, networking etc. Embedded systems are well known for their dependability, and that is one of the reasons that they are preferred over general purpose machines in various applications. Traditional embedded computing is changing nowadays mainly due to the increasing number of heterogeneous embedded devices that are, more often than not, interconnected. Security in the field of networked embedded systems is becoming particularly important, because:
1) Connected embedded devices can be attacked remotely.
2) They are resource constrained.
This means, that due to their limited computational capabilities, a full-blown operating system that runs virus scanners and advanced intrusion detection techniques cannot be supported. The two facts lead us to the conclusion that a new set of vulnerabilities emerges in the networked embedded system area, which cannot be tackled using traditional security solutions.
This work is focused on embedded systems that are used in the network domain. A very exciting instance of an embedded system that requires high performance, has limited processing resources and communicates with other embedded devises is a network processor (NP). Powerful network processors are central components of modern routers, which help them achieve flexibility and perform tasks with advanced processing requirements. In my work, I identified a new class of vulnerabilities specific to routers. The same set of vulnerabilities can apply to any other type of networked embedded device that is not traditionally programmable, but is gradually shifting towards programmability.
Security in the networking field is a crucial concern. Many attacks in existing networks are based on security vulnerabilities in end-systems or in the end-to-end protocols that they use. Inside the network, most practical attacks have focused on the control plane where routing information and other control data are exchanged. With the emergence of router systems that use programmable embedded processors, the data plane of the network also becomes a potential target for attacks. This trend towards attacks on the forwarding component in router systems is likely to speed up in next-generation networks, where virtualization requires even higher levels of programmability in the data path.This dissertation demonstrates a real attack scenario on a programmable router and discusses how similar attacks can be realized. Specifically, we present an attack example that can launch a devastating denial-of-service attack by sending just a single packet. We show that vulnerable packet processing code can be exploited on a Click modular router as well as on a custom packet processor on the NetFPGA platform. Several defenses to target this specific type of attacks are presented, which are broadly applicable to a large scale of embedded devices. Security vulnerabilities can be addressed efficiently using hardware based extensions. For example, defense techniques based on processor monitoring can help in detecting and avoiding such attacks. We believe that this work is an important step at providing comprehensive security solutions that can protect the data path of current and future networks
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Design and Evaluation of Path Recording Techniques in Secure Manet
The exchange of topology information is a potential attack target in mobile ad-hoc networks. To provide an intrinsic security mechanism, it is possible to validate topology advertisements in the control plane against records of the path taken by transmission in the data plane. In this work, different path recording mechanisms are discussed. Their performance - in terms of packet overhead and reconstruction complexity - is analyzed and evaluated