ABN: Attribute based networking for enterprise networks

IP (Internet Protocol) has been tremendously successful over the past decades. Now the networking goal of 4A (Anywhere, Anytime, Anyone, Anything) is becoming a reality. However, there is still a long way to achieve the desired goal of 6R, which is to deliver the right information at the right time, in the right place, in the right way, from the right sender to the right receiver. Towards this goal, we first address the concept of attribute based networking, in which network decisions and controls are based on the attributes of the involved network entities. Then we propose a reference model for attribute based networking, called MAN. Network manageability, controllability, Security, QoS (Quality of Service), mobility, multi-homing, flexibility and evolvability can be achieved under the proposed MAN. Furthermore, by following MAN, we suggest a backward compatible architecture for enterprise networks, called ABA4, which can help to tackle a series of problems that current IP networks are facing, such as security, QoS, and mobility.