Stored Program Routers

In this paper we present an abstract execution model for active networking that blends the notions of universal computing device and network router. Pivotal element of this architecture is a generalized route table that stores forwarding data as well as program instructions. The route table corresponds to the memory module of a von Neumann computer, but in contrast to the classic “stored program architecture” for CPUs, the new execution model externalizes the previously internal instruction bus. This enables active packets to directly address a node’s memory cells, to modify them, and to reference memory locations of neighbor nodes in a uniform way. We introduce a simple instruction set for demonstrating this execution model in various forms of active networking and relate it to findings in concurrency theory as well as network architectures and state management.