Post-IP Networks: Advances on RINA and other Alternative Network Architectures

A special issue of Computers (ISSN 2073-431X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2020) | Viewed by 19900

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
i2CAT Foundation, Carrer del Gran Capità, 2, 08034 Barcelona, Spain
Interests: network architecture; network protocols; recursive internetwork architecture; implementation of network protocols; deployment of network technologies

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Guest Editor
Digital Infrastructures and Security (DIAS), University of Oslo, Problemveien 7, 0315 Oslo, Normay
Interests: recursive internetwork architecture (RINA); wireless networks; analytical evaluation; congestion control

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

During the last decade, research funding bodies have supported “Future Internet” or “Clean-slate” design initiatives intended to reduce network complexity by redesigning the network protocol architecture, questioning some of its key principles. Industry groups such as the ETSI ISG NGP are looking at alternatives to the current “TCP-IP” protocol suite. However, few initiatives have really been able to “clean the slate” and question the core model and underlying principles of current Internet protocols. Of those who have done it, RINA—the recursive internetwork architecture—is probably the simplest yet most general solution.
RINA implementations are maturing while researchers keep working on characterizing its applicability to a wide variety of current networking challenges. During the last year, RINA has been featured in an ETSI ISG NGP group report as a potential candidate for future-proof protocols, and the standardization work on its core specifications at ISO has advanced to Committee Draft Standards. New projects like RINArmenia are working to develop RINA expertise at the national level and are teaming with the local industry to implement and deploy the technology in a variety of markets.
This Special Issue solicits papers that investigate the application of RINA in different types of network segments and applications, papers reporting on prototype implementations, experimental deployments, and interoperability with existing technologies. We are also interested in papers that challenge the RINA principles and show limitations in its approach, disprove its claims or provide a simpler solution without compromising the benefits obtained by following the RINA architectural principles.
Selected papers presented at the Workshop on 7th International Workshop on the Recursive InterNetwork Architecture (RINA 2020): Challenging RINA are invited to submit their extended versions to this Special Issue of the journal Computers. All submitted papers will undergo our standard peer-review procedure. Accepted papers will be published in open access format in Computers and collected together on the Special Issue website.
Conference papers should be cited and noted on the first page of the paper; authors are asked to disclose that it is a conference paper in their cover letter and include a statement on what has been changed compared to the original conference paper. Please note that the submitted extended paper should contain at least 50% new content (e.g., in the form of technical extensions, more in-depth evaluations, or additional use cases) and not exceed 30% copy/paste from the conference paper.

Dr. Eduard Grasa
Dr. Peyman Temoori
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • network architecture
  • recursive networking
  • distributed interprocess communication
  • network protocols
  • experimental deployments
  • recursive internetwork architecture

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Editorial

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10 pages, 739 KiB  
Editorial
Special Issue “Post-IP Networks: Advances on RINA and other Alternative Network Architectures”
by John Day, Eduard Grasa and Peyman Teymoori
Computers 2020, 9(4), 82; https://doi.org/10.3390/computers9040082 - 13 Oct 2020
Viewed by 2744
Abstract
Over the last two decades, research funding bodies have supported “Future Internet”, “New-IP”, and “Next Generation” design initiatives intended to reduce network complexity by redesigning the network protocol architecture, questioning some of its key principles [...] Full article
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Research

Jump to: Editorial

20 pages, 7051 KiB  
Article
A P4-Enabled RINA Interior Router for Software-Defined Data Centers
by Carolina Fernández, Sergio Giménez, Eduard Grasa and Steve Bunch
Computers 2020, 9(3), 70; https://doi.org/10.3390/computers9030070 - 2 Sep 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 4816
Abstract
The lack of high-performance RINA (Recursive InterNetwork Architecture) implementations to date makes it hard to experiment with RINA as an underlay networking fabric solution for different types of networks, and to assess RINA’s benefits in practice on scenarios with high traffic loads. High-performance [...] Read more.
The lack of high-performance RINA (Recursive InterNetwork Architecture) implementations to date makes it hard to experiment with RINA as an underlay networking fabric solution for different types of networks, and to assess RINA’s benefits in practice on scenarios with high traffic loads. High-performance router implementations typically require dedicated hardware support, such as FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays) or specialized ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). With the advance of hardware programmability in recent years, new possibilities unfold to prototype novel networking technologies. In particular, the use of the P4 programming language for programmable ASICs holds great promise for developing a RINA router. This paper details the design and part of the implementation of the first P4-based RINA interior router, which reuses the layer management components of the IRATI Linux-based RINA implementation and implements the data-transfer components using a P4 program. We also describe the configuration and testing of our initial deployment scenarios, using ancillary open-source tools such as the P4 reference test software switch (BMv2) or the P4Runtime API. Full article
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23 pages, 412 KiB  
Article
Addressing Bandwidth-Driven Flow Allocationin RINA
by Michal Koutenský, Vladimír Veselý and Vincenzo Maffione
Computers 2020, 9(3), 63; https://doi.org/10.3390/computers9030063 - 10 Aug 2020
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3090
Abstract
Effective capacity allocation is essential for a network to operate properly, providing predictable quality of service guarantees and avoiding bottlenecks. Achieving capacity allocation fairness is a long-standing problem extensively researched in the frame of transport and network layer protocols such as TCP/IP. The [...] Read more.
Effective capacity allocation is essential for a network to operate properly, providing predictable quality of service guarantees and avoiding bottlenecks. Achieving capacity allocation fairness is a long-standing problem extensively researched in the frame of transport and network layer protocols such as TCP/IP. The Recursive InterNetwork Architecture offers programmable policies that enable more flexible control on the mechanics of network flow allocation. In this paper, we present our version of one of these policies, which provides flow allocation according to the bandwidth requirements of requesting applications. We implement the bandwidth-aware flow allocation policy by extending rlite, an open source RINA implementation. Our evaluation shows how the policy can prevent links from becoming oversaturated and use alternate paths to achieve high total link data-rate use. Full article
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22 pages, 7877 KiB  
Article
ARCFIRE: Experimentation with the Recursive InterNetwork Architecture
by Sander Vrijders, Dimitri Staessens, Didier Colle, Eduard Grasa, Miquel Tarzan, Sven van der Meer, Marco Capitani, Vincenzo Maffione, Diego Lopez, Lou Chitkushev and John Day
Computers 2020, 9(3), 59; https://doi.org/10.3390/computers9030059 - 22 Jul 2020
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3854
Abstract
European funded research into the Recursive Inter-Network Architecture (RINA) started with IRATI, which developed an initial prototype implementation for OS/Linux. IRATI was quickly succeeded by the PRISTINE project, which developed different policies, each tailored to specific use cases. Both projects were development-driven, where [...] Read more.
European funded research into the Recursive Inter-Network Architecture (RINA) started with IRATI, which developed an initial prototype implementation for OS/Linux. IRATI was quickly succeeded by the PRISTINE project, which developed different policies, each tailored to specific use cases. Both projects were development-driven, where most experimentation was limited to unit testing and smaller scale integration testing. In order to assess the viability of RINA as an alternative to current network technologies, larger scale experimental deployments are needed. The opportunity arose for a project that shifted focus from development towards experimentation, leveraging Europe’s investment in Future Internet Research and Experimentation (FIRE+) infrastructures. The ARCFIRE project took this next step, developing a user-friendly framework for automating RINA experiments. This paper reports and discusses the implications of the experimental results achieved by the ARCFIRE project, using open source RINA implementations deployed on FIRE+ Testbeds. Experiments analyze the properties of RINA relevant to fast network recovery, network renumbering, Quality of Service, distributed mobility management, and network management. Results highlight RINA properties that can greatly simplify the deployment and management of real-world networks; hence, the next steps should be focused on addressing very specific use cases with complete network RINA-based networking solutions that can be transferred to the market. Full article
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24 pages, 1820 KiB  
Article
Towards a RINA-Based Architecture for Performance Management of Large-Scale Distributed Systems
by Peter Thompson and Neil Davies
Computers 2020, 9(2), 53; https://doi.org/10.3390/computers9020053 - 25 Jun 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 4215
Abstract
Modern society is increasingly dependent on reliable performance of distributed systems. In this paper, we provide a precise definition of performance using the concept of quality attenuation; discuss its properties, measurement and decomposition; identify sources of such attenuation; outline methods of managing performance [...] Read more.
Modern society is increasingly dependent on reliable performance of distributed systems. In this paper, we provide a precise definition of performance using the concept of quality attenuation; discuss its properties, measurement and decomposition; identify sources of such attenuation; outline methods of managing performance hazards automatically using the capabilities of the Recursive InterNetworking Architecture (RINA); demonstrate procedures for aggregating both application demands and network performance to achieve scalability; discuss dealing with bursty and time-critical traffic; propose metrics to assess the effectiveness of a performance management system; and outline an architecture for performance management. Full article
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