Survey of Active Network Research

Active networks address the problem of slow network evolution, when compared with the evolution of applications. The active approach builds programmability into the network, so that new protocols and functionalities may be added later. While classical, “passive” routers all implement the same functionality, the active routers all implement the same computational model. The active technology is motivated twofold by user need: the increasingly popular applications that require custom processing in the network, and the backlog of Internet services that are yet to become ubiquitous (IPv6, multicast, mobility). The main issues in active networking are mobility, efficiency, safety and backwards compatibility. In this paper we explore the status of research in the area active networks, the proposed architectures, the issues they address, and the currently under way standardization efforts to provide a common framework for the active nodes.