Management middleware for application front-ends on active networks

Active networks allow network applications to customize the network infrastructure. This paradigm improves the end-to-end performance of some types of network application by delegating the "front-end" part of application tasks to network nodes. This paper proposes the architecture of middleware to promote the use of front-end delegation. The middleware provides functions for service providers to manage front-ends, service clients to locate an appropriate front-end, and front-ends to communicate with the managing server.