Architecture for an Active Network Infrastructure Grid - The iSEGrid

Although the net processing power in the network is increasing steadily, it is heterogeneous. Hence the immense compute-power may be underutilized at certain points while it remains inadequate at others. This paper proposes an active network-based framework that views the entire network as a single-entity to effectively utilize the network resources. The single-entity model is enabled by establishing an infrastructure grid at the network layer. Such a grid has the advantage of supporting a wide range of application-layer services in the network. Network processors and Active Network technology work in tandem to facilitate this. The network processors with their deep-packet-processing capabilities allow offloading of application-level processing into the network. Active Network technology allows this to take place on-demand. We present the design and architecture of the infrastructure grid, called iSEGrid, and illustrate its use for streaming services. We provide experimental results to indicate the potential and scope of the concept.