Reverse Path Forwarding Research Articles

HPIM‐DM: A fast and reliable dense‐mode multicast routing protocol

AbstractThe Hard‐state Protocol Independent Multicast—Dense Mode (HPIM‐DM) multicast routing protocol is proposed. HPIM‐DM is a hard‐state version of PIM‐DM that overcomes its poor convergence times and lack of resilience to replay attacks. Like PIM‐DM, HPIM‐DM is meant for dense networks and supports its operation on a unicast routing protocol and reverse path forwarding. However, routers maintain sense of the multicast trees at all times, allowing fast reconfiguration in the presence of network failures or unicast route changes. This is achieved by (i) keeping information on all upstream neighbours from which multicast data can be received, (ii) ensuring the reliable transmission and sequencing of control messages, and (iii) synchronizing the routing information immediately when a new router joins the network. The correctness of the protocol was extensively validated using model checking and logical reasoning. The protocol was fully implemented in Python, and the implementation is publicly available. Finally, we show both theoretically and experimentally that HPIM‐DM has much better convergence times than PIM‐DM.

Blockchain Private File Storage-Sharing Method Based on IPFS.

Under the current national network environment, anyone can participate in publishing. As an important information resource, knowledge files reflect the workload of publishers. Moreover, high-quality knowledge files can promote the progress of society. However, pirated inferior files have the opposite effect. At present, most organizations use centralized servers to centrally manage the knowledge files released by users. In addition, it is necessary to introduce an untrusted third party to examine and encrypt the contents of files, which leads to an opaque process of file storage transactions, tampering with intellectual copyright, and the inability to have consistent systems of file management among institutions due to the lack of uniform standards for the same intellectual files. The purpose of this paper is to ensure the safe storage of knowledge files on the one hand and to realize efficient sharing of copyrighted files on the other hand. Therefore, this paper combines NDN (Named Data Network) technology with a distributed blockchain and an Interplanetary File System (IPFS) and proposes a blockchain knowledge file storage and sharing method based on an NDN. The method uses the NDN itself for the file content signature and encryption, thereby separating the file security and transmission process. At the same time, the method uses a flexible NDN reverse path forwarding and routing strategy, combining an IPFS private storage network to improve the safety of the encrypted data storage security. Finally, the method takes advantage of all participating nodes consensus and shares files in the synchronized blockchain to ensure traceability. This paper introduces the structure and principles of the method and describes the process of file upload and transfer. Finally, the performance of the method is compared and evaluated, and the advantages and disadvantages of the method and the future research direction are summarized.

Blockchain Document Forwarding and Proof Method Based on NDN Network

The digitization of the national economy and the development of the national network have rapidly increased the amount of data, and research in content storage and forwarding is significant. The existing methods of storing certificates and distributing file content entirely rely on the judgment made by the router, and the forwarding process does not consider the security and legality of the data; at the same time, the traditional peer-to-peer (P2P) forwarding network files cannot be effectively reused, and additional security mechanisms are introduced. It affects the performance of the network itself. To improve the overall network performance, optimize the file forwarding process, and ensure the security of content and the verification of historical information, this paper proposes a method for document content storage and distribution that integrates blockchain technology and Named Data Network (NDN). The advantages of data signature encryption, reverse path forwarding of content, and flexible routing improves the overall performance of the forwarding network. Combined with blockchain decentralization technology, the documents and transaction processes can be stored on the chain to ensure the actual security of the forwarding process. In addition, this paper restricts the forwarding process in the NDN network without making any judgments through smart contract rules to ensure the security of confidential files during the forwarding process and, at the same time, limit the forwarding scope of irrelevant junk files in the private network. Finally, experiments prove that the method proposed in this paper can effectively improve the network’s overall performance, optimize the forwarding process, and make rule judgments on the forwarding process of specific files to ensure the security of files.

An Advanced Persistent Distributed Denial-of-Service Attack Model With Reverse-Path Forwarding-Based Defending Strategy

Advanced persistent distributed denial-of-service (APDDoS) attack is a serious threat to the computer network’s security. This paper proposes a new APDDoS model integrated with a reverse-path forwarding based defensive strategy. The attacked threshold of the attached model is calculated and the model’s stability under different conditions is analytically analyzed. The impact of different parameter values on the system’s behaviors is investigated and practical strategies to mitigate the APDDoS attack are recommended.

The new Multicast Repair (M‐REP) IP fast reroute mechanism

SummaryThe network convergence time may take hundreds of milliseconds or more. Since this repair performance may be unsatisfactory, IP fast reroute (IPFRR) approaches have been developed to decrease the network convergence time and minimize traffic loss. These IPFRR mechanisms are usually based on the proactive precomputation of a backup path before a failure occurs. Once a failure is detected, the router running IPFRR will immediately use this backup path in response to the failure, rather than computing a replacement path only after a failure has occurred. The computation of an alternative path in many IPFRR mechanisms requires that the computing node (router) knows the exact network topology. In this paper, we present a new IPFRR mechanism called the multicast repair (M‐REP) IPFRR mechanism, which provides an advanced fast reroute technique for Internet service providers‘ (ISP‘s) core networks. The M‐REP IPFRR mechanism is based on IP multicast and utilizes Protocol Independent Multicast – Dense Mode (PIM‐DM) with the modification of an internal reverse path forwarding (RPF) check. The M‐REP IPFRR mechanism does not depend on any particular routing protocol type (distance‐vector or link‐state) and requires less system resources because of its precomputation‐less character but still provides immediate reaction to failure.

Enhanced centralized management of gateways using redirection-based rules sharing for mobile network virtualization

In this study, we propose a method for improving thescalability of sharing the flow rules, which are used to inspect and direct packets, between gateway functions in a mobile network virtualization infrastructure. The proposed method enhances the centralized management mechanism, where a controller reactively installs rules based on receiving the first packet of each flow, to reduce the load in the controller by decreasing the packets transmitted to the controller for packet inspection. The main feature of this method is that the gateway function redirects unknown packets to another gateway function instead of the controller, and the matched rules are installed in every gateway function on the redirection path using reverse-path forwarding. Using a prototype system, we show that the enhanced method can reduce the number of packets arriving at the controller per unit time by $$\sim $$~63 % under our use case assumption.

On the feasibility and efficacy of control traffic protection in software-defined networks

Software Defined Networking (SDN) is an emerging networking paradigm that assumes a logically centralized control plane separated from the data plane. Despite all its advantages, separating the control and data planes introduces new challenges regarding resilient communications between the two. That is, disconnections between switches and their controllers could result in substantial packet loss and performance degradation. This paper addresses this challenge by studying the issue of control traffic protection in SDNs with arbitrary numbers of controllers. Specifically, we propose a control traffic protection scheme that combines both local rerouting and constrained reverse path forwarding protections, through which switches can locally react to failures and redirect the control traffic using standby backup forwarding options. Our goal is then to find a set of primary routes for control traffic, called protected control network, where as many switches as possible can benefit from the proposed protection scheme. We formulate the protected control network problem, prove its NP-hardness, and develop an algorithm that reconciles protectability and performance (e.g., switch-to-control latency). Through extensive simulations based on real topologies, we show that our approach significantly improves protectability of control traffic. The results should help further the process of deploying SDN in real-world networks.

A Scalable Destination-Oriented MulticastProtocol with Incremental Deployability

In this paper, we develop a scalable destination-oriented multicast (DOM) protocol for computer networks where the routers have enhanced intelligence to process packets. The basic idea of DOM is that each multicast data packet carries explicit destinations information, instead of an implicit group address, to facilitate the data delivery. Based on such destinations information, each router can compute necessary multicast copies and next-hop interfaces. A fundamental issue in DOM is to constrain the bandwidth overhead due to explicit addressing, which is tackled with a Bloom-filter based design. Our design incorporates the reverse path forwarding (RPF) concept and the BGP routing information, so that DOM can work efficiently in practical networking scenarios especially with asymmetric inter-domain routing. A critical issue in Bloom-filter based design is the issue of forwarding loop due to false positives. We propose an accurate tree branch pruning scheme, which equips the DOM the capability to completely and efficiently remove the false-positive forwarding loop. Furthermore, we study how the DOM can be deployed in an incremental manner over a network, in which only a small fraction of the routers have DOM-aware intelligence while others are legacy routers. We present extensive simulation results over a practical topology to demonstrate the performance of DOM, with comparison to the traditional IP multicast and the free riding multicast (FRM) protocols.

A highly efficient RPF-based broadcast protocol using a new two-level pruning mechanism

Reverse path forwarding (RPF) based data communication is one of the widely used data communication protocols in networks. The most attractive feature of RPF is that reasonably low amount of memory is needed per router for storing the routing information (DVR table). However, it generates quite a large number of duplicate packets resulting in poor bandwidth utilization. We have observed that if the location of the broadcast source is considered while forwarding a packet, considerable improvement of the bandwidth utilization can be achieved from the viewpoint of less number of duplicate packets generated. In this paper we have used this location aspect in the design of a novel hierarchical pruning mechanism to improve bandwidth utilization for broadcasting based on RPF mechanism for data communication. Experimental results support our theoretical findings and hence guarantee improvement of bandwidth utilization.

Security Challenges in Multicast Communication for Mobile Ad Hoc Network

Problem statement: Multicasting communication network accepted a single message from an application and delivered copies of the message to multiple recipients at different locations. Recently, there has been an explosion of research literature on multicast communication environment. The objective of this study were to contribute the complexity of supporting current multicast applications, (i) the lack of reliable multicast transport mechanisms at the network level and (ii) the lack of network support for large scale multicast communication. The scaling problem of secure multicast key distribution compounded for the case where sender-specific keys need to be distributed to a group and required for sender-specific authentication of data traffic and minimize control overhead (iii) compare RC4, AES-128,RS(2) and RS(3) computation time of both algorithms. Approach: Algorithms were collected and performed computation time. In general the multicast key distribution scheme implemented for distributing 128 bit session keys. Thus the Maximum Distance Separable Codes (MDS Codes) needed for their encoding and decoding process. In rekeying scheme errors were occurred during over period of time or at a particular point of time and to eliminate all these errors in the level of encryption and decryption mechanism. The MDS codes played an important role in providing security services for multicast, such as traffic, integrity, authentication and confidentiality, is particularly problematic since it requires securely distributing a group (session) key to each of a group’s receivers. Results: First we showed that internet multicasting algorithms based on reverse path forwarding were inherently unreliable and present a source-tree-based reliable multicasting scheme also. The new scheme proposed and used as an inter-gateway protocol and worked on top of the previously developed distance vector and link state internet routing schemes. Next, to support large scale applications, we presented a scheme for partial multicasting and introduced a new network level operation, called gather. The partial multicasting mechanism allowed messages to be delivered to subsets of multicast destinations, while the gather operation aids gateways in selectively suppressing redundant messages, thus reducing the message complexity. Conclusion: Hence the findings suggested the control overhead reasonably minimized and using simulations, we investigated the efficiency of our schemes in supporting scalable application domain based multicast communication.

On-demand loop-free routing with link vectors

We present the on-demand link vector (OLIVE) protocol, a routing protocol for ad hoc networks based on link-state information that is free of routing loops and supports destination-based packet forwarding. Routers exchange routing information reactively for each destination in the form of complete paths, and each node creates a labeled source graph based on the paths advertised by its neighbors. A node originates a broadcast route request (RREQ) to obtain a route for a destination for which a complete path does not exist in its source graph. When the original path breaks, a node can select an alternative path based on information reported by neighbors, and a node can send a unicast RREQ to verify that the route is still active. A node that cannot find any alternate path to a destination sends route errors reliably to those neighbors that were using it as next hop to the destination. Using simulation experiments in ns2, OLIVE is shown to outperform dynamic source routing, ad hoc on-demand distance vector, optimized link-state routing protocol, and topology broadcast based on reverse-path forwarding, in terms of control overhead, throughput, and average network delay, while maintaining loop-free routing with no need for source routes.

Modeling and simulation of IEEE 802.11 WLAN mobile ad hoc networks using topology broadcast reverse-path forwarding (TBRPF)

In this paper, we describe a test of Topology Broadcast based on Reverse-Path Forwarding (TBRPF) [MANET Working Group Draft (2002)] mobile routing protocol compared to Open Shortest Path First-2 (OSPF2) [IETF Network Working Group Draft RFC 2328 (1998)] protocol. The test used a new OPNET model of IEEE 802.11 b wireless LAN (W1LAN) that we designed for Mobile Ad hoc Networking (MANET) [IETF Network Working Group Draft (1999)] protocol modeling. Our new model consists of an 802.11 b WLAN with enhancements to the physical layer, medium access control layer, and propagation model to facilitate design and study of proposed MANET protocols. Our results indicate the effects of physical topologies on different routing protocols and contrast the difference between a traditional Internet routing protocol (OSPF2) and TBRPF, which was designed specifically for MANET networks. The results should be interesting to planners of new 3G wireless services and to organizations such as military, law enforcement and emergency workers whose missions require wireless mobile networks.

Policy tree multicast routing

Bandwidth-sensitive multicast delivery controlled by routing criteria pertinent to the actual traffic flow is very costly in terms of router state and control overhead and it scales poorly towards larger, wide-area networks. PIM-SM (Protocol-independent Multicast - Sparse Mode) has been introduced as a simple, flexible and scalable concept for Internet-wide multicasting. Yet, PIM's efficiency potential (like that of alternative wide-area multicast concepts) can only be fully exploited if it is based on Reverse Path Forwarding (RPF), a low-cost mechanism, which however does not select prescribed delivery paths if link parameters or routing policies are asymmetric. This paper presents an extension to protocols like PIM-SM, called Policy Tree Multicast Routing (PTMR). This concept leads to multicast delivery trees which, even under asymmetric conditions, readily comply with imposed macroscopic policies and moreover enable support of shortest path and QoS criteria. PTMR gives no consideration to how the policy-sensitive paths have been established; they may be imposed by the network itself but also by providers, recipients and even sources. PTMR amends the PIM-SM mechanism with a macroscopic control layer which marks (pegs) domain border routers on policy-sensitive forward paths. In a given domain, a pegged ingress border router is then joined by local group members as well as by its child pegs. This results in optimally fusing transit paths into local distribution trees. PTMR performance and policy control potential are restricted primarily: by the congestion of control messages at the multicast sources, introduced by source-originating tree construction; by the possible extent of policy-sensitive path aggregation; and by the intra-domain (transit) delivery conditions. PTMR is a single-layer protocol, appending PIM-SM with a policy dedicated delivery mode. Ist primary design target is to forward multicast traffic in accordance with any underlying multicast-relevant routing, including comprehensive policy routing. In comparison, Border Gateway Multicast Protocol (BGMP) is a proposal for an intra-domain MR protocol based on BGP-type routing, which focuses on fusing heterogenous multicast routing domains and which allows ASs to control multicast transit traffic.

Reliability and scaling issues in multicast communication

The efficiency with which multicast communication can take place is largely determined by the network level support available for such communication. Two factors contribute to the complexity of supporting current multicast applications: the lack of reliable multicast transport mechanisms at the network level and the lack of network support for large scale multicast communication. In this paper, we examine the issues pertinent to eliminating these shortcomings. We first show that internet multicasting algorithms based on reverse path forwarding are inherently unreliable and present a source-tree-based reliable multicasting scheme. The new scheme makes use of simple inter-gateway protocols and works on top of previously developed distance vector and link state internet routing schemes. Next, to support large scale applications, we present a scheme for partial multicasting and introduce a new network level operation, called gather . The partial multicasting mechanism allows messages to be delivered to subsets of multicast destinations, while the gather operation aids gateways in selectively suppressing redundant messages, thus reducing the message complexity. Using simulations, we investigate the efficacy of our schemes in supporting a sample application based on multicast communication.

Reverse path forwarding of broadcast packets

A broadcast packet is for delivery to all nodes of a network. Algorithms for accomplishing this delivery through a store-and-forward packet switching computer network include (1) transmission of separately addressed packets, (2) multidestination addressing, (3) hot potato forwarding, (4) spanning tree forwarding, and (5) source based forwarding. To this list of algorithms we add (6) reverse path forwarding, a broadcast routing method which exploits routing procedures and data structures already available for packet switching. Reverse path forwarding is a practical algorithm for broadcast routing in store-and-forward packet switching computer networks. The algorithm is described as being practical because it is not optimal according to metrics developed for its analysis in this paper, and also because it can be implemented in existing networks with less complexity than that required for the known alternatives.