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Analysis and Implementation of an Open Programmable Router Based on Forwarding and Control Element Separation

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Abstract

A router architecture based upon ForCES (Forwarding and Control Element Separation), which is being standardized by IETF ForCES working group, gains its competitive advantage over traditional router architectures in flexibility, programmability, and cost-effectiveness. In this paper, design and implementation of a ForCES-based router (ForTER) is illustrated. Firstly, the implementation architecture of ForTER is discussed. Then, a layered software model, which well illustrates ForCES features, is proposed. Based on the model, design and implementation of Control Element (CE) and Forwarding Element (FE) in ForTER are introduced in detail. Moreover, security for ForTER is considered and an algorithm to prevent DoS attacks is presented. Lastly, experiments of ForTER are illustrated for routing and running routing protocols, network management, DoS attack prevention, etc. The experimental results show the feasibility of the ForTER design. Consequently, the ForTER implementation basically testifies the feasibility of ForCES architecture and some IETF ForCES specifications.

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Correspondence to Wei-Ming Wang.

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Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos. 60573116 and 60603072, the National High Technology Development 863 Program of China under Grant No. 2007AA01Z201, the Zhejiang Provincial NSF China under Grant Nos. Z106829, Y106747, and the Zhejiang Sci & Tech Project under Grant No. 2006C11215.

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Wang, WM., Dong, LG. & Zhuge, B. Analysis and Implementation of an Open Programmable Router Based on Forwarding and Control Element Separation. J. Comput. Sci. Technol. 23, 769–779 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11390-008-9181-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11390-008-9181-4

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