Smart Packets for active networks

Smart Packets is a DARPA-funded Active Networks project focusing on applying active networks technology to network management and monitoring without placing undue burden on the nodes in the network. Messages in active networks are programs that are executed at nodes on the path to one or more target hosts. Smart Packets programs are written in a tightly-encoded, safe language specifically designed to support network management and avoid dangerous constructs and accesses. Smart Packets improves the management of large complex networks by (1) moving management decision points closer to the node being managed, (2) targeting specific aspects of the node for information rather than exhaustive collection via polling, and (3) abstracting the management concepts to language constructs, allowing nimble network control. This paper introduces Smart Packets and describes the Smart Packet architecture, the packet formats, the language and its design goals, and security considerations.