IT: A Framework for Programmable Network Management

Abstract

A Framework for Programmable Network Management High-assurance communication networks are an increasingly vital part of a modern military force. Unfortunately, technology for managing networks has not evolved to provide operators with advanced tools for controlling routes and ensuring predictable performance in the face of changing topologies and traffic patterns. While software-defined networking architectures could be used to deploy advanced network management tools, existing platforms force operators to express the desired functionality of the network in terms of low-level configuration instructions for heterogeneous devices—a fragile and error-prone approach that makes even simple policy objectives difficult to achieve. This project aims to give network operators powerful tools for expressing rich policies using programs in a high-level language, as well as mechanisms for implementing these policies efficiently using advanced algorithms to select paths, balance load, and provide fault tolerance. To do this in a robust and scalable manner we will use randomized routing trees and semi-oblivious routing schemes coupled with fast, stateless, and consistent network updates. To support prioritized policies and make these algorithms readily usable in a practical system, we will develop programming interfaces based on probabilistic semantics. In addition, we will implement a prototype system that incorporates all of these features and evaluate it on realistic topologies and traffic.

Document Details

Document Type
DoD Grant Award
Publication Date
Aug 08, 2016
Source ID
N000141512177

Entities

People

  • Robert Kleinberg

Organizations

  • Cornell University
  • Office of Naval Research
  • United States Navy

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Computer science

Readers

  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Computer Networking
  • Cybersecurity.