INSP: The business and technical case for In-Network Service Providers

该项目将设计和实现所有必要的功能，以消除互联网架构的僵化，目前仅限于通过终端主机IP地址实现的以终端主机为中心的通信。IP协议已经成为协议栈的瘦腰，它一方面保证了任何网络和任何设备之间通信的通用语言，但另一方面也限制了任何连接端点的通信和计算。这进一步限制了互联网架构在网络核心集成新功能的能力，不可避免地推动了应用层的创新。我们认为，网络功能（就内容和服务管理而言）不一定需要在连接端点的应用层进行推送，而是可以在中间路径网络实体的网络层进行管理。为了实现我们的目标，我们将利用两种新的网络范式的基本原则，即信息中心网络（ICNs）和软件定义网络（sdn）。icn引入了命名内容对象的概念，并支持在任何网络设备的网络层（或数据平面）对命名内容进行管理。另一方面，sdn侧重于控制平面的网络管理操作和推送功能。尽管这两种范式都具有巨大的潜力来改变我们今天所知道的互联网，但它们都面临着实施方面的挑战。在这个项目中，我们将结合ICNs和sdn的功能，并利用它们的新概念来设计一个新的通用互联网游乐场，在这个游乐场中，创新将不会在应用层被强行推动。我们将遵循务实的实施路线，确保顺利克服ICN和SDN领域面临的挑战。项目的高层目标如下：实现和集成所需的技术，以允许Internet服务提供商（isp）在其管理域内实现他们自己选择的协议，从而允许Internet体系结构去僵化化。允许网络内实体执行逻辑和运行从源到目标的中间路径的应用程序实例，否则这些应用程序将在远离最终用户的数据中心内运行。上述目标将通过引入一个新的互联网市场参与者来实现，我们称之为网络内服务提供商（或INSP），它将承担实现拟议功能的任务（和成本）。

This project will design and implement all the required functionality to de-ossify the Internet architecture, which at the moment is limited to end-host-centric communication realised through end-host IP addresses. The IP protocol, which has become the thin-waist of the protocol stack, on the one hand guarantees a common language for communication between any network and any device, but on the other, restricts both communication and computation at the end-points of any connection. This further limits the Internet architecture from integrating new functionalities at the core of the network, unavoidably pushing innovation at the application layer.We argue that network functionality (in terms of content and service management) does not necessarily need to be pushed at the application-layer of the connection's end-points, but can instead be managed at the network-layer of mid-path network entities.To achieve our goals we will make use of the basic principles of two new networking paradigms, namely Information-Centric Networks (ICNs) and Software-Defined Networks (SDNs). ICNs introduce the notion of named-content objects and enable management of named-content at the network-layer (or data-plane) of any network device. SDNs on the other hand, focus on network management operations and push functionality at the control plane. Although both paradigms hold huge potential to change internetworking as we know it today, they both face implementation challenges.In this project, we will combine the functionality of ICNs and SDNs and take advantage of their novel concepts to design a new common Internet playground, where innovation will not be forcefully pushed at the application layer. We will follow pragmatic implementation routes to guarantee that the challenges faced in the areas of ICN and SDN are smoothly overcome.The high-level objectives of the project are the following:1. implement and integrate the required technology to allow Internet Service Providers (ISPs) implement their own protocols of choice within their administrative domains, allowing for de-ossification of the Internet architecture.2. allow in-network entities to execute logic and run instances of applications mid-path from source to destination, which are otherwise run within data-centres, more often than not, far away from the end-users.The above targets will be achieved by introducing a new Internet market player, which we call In-Network Service Provider (or INSP) and who will take on the task (and cost) of implementing the proposed functionality.