AMnet: Heterogeneous Multicast Services based on Active Networking

AMnet flexibly provides communication services inside the network. It is based on active networking and on a hardware/software codesign in order to improve efficiency. Group communication is explicitly addressed since it is an important paradigm for future network applications. However, the variety of applications, network technologies, end systems, and user preferences restricts multicast communication. The goal of the AMnet approach outlined in this paper is the provision of scalable quality-based support for heterogeneous group communication. It is based on the active networking paradigm and uses so-called service modules for efficient and flexible service support within intermediate systems. AMnet is designed for an IP based Internet and benefits from its multicast extensions in several ways. This paper gives an overview of AMnet. The design of an AMnode as an active intermediate system with hardware-supported service capabilities is presented. Furthermore, a simple control and signalling suite for heterogeneous multicast services is proposed. Keywords—Active Multicasting, Heterogeneous Networking