Active networking services for wired/wireless networks

An active networking architecture provides the infrastructure for applications to inject user programs into the nodes of the network. This enables customization of the network nodes so that application-specific services can be downloaded into the network in the form of new protocols. We look at the different kinds of services that applications require from the network. We study these services to identify common characteristics so that services can be grouped into classes of protocols. We argue that this study permits us to develop a methodology that helps in rapidly designing and deploying new protocols.