Plutarch: an argument for network pluralism

  • Authors:

  • Jon Crowcroft;Steven Hand;Richard Mortier;Timothy Roscoe;Andrew Warfield

  • Affiliations:

  • University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK;University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK;Microsoft Research, Cambridge, UK;Intel Research, Berkeley, CA;University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

  • Venue:
  • FDNA '03 Proceedings of the ACM SIGCOMM workshop on Future directions in network architecture
  • Year:
  • 2003

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Abstract

It is widely accepted that the current Internet architecture is insufficient for the future: problems such as address space scarcity, mobility and non-universal connectivity are already with us, and stand to be exacerbated by the explosion of wireless, ad-hoc and sensor networks. Furthermore, it is far from clear that the ubiquitous use of standard transport and name resolution protocols will remain practicable or even desirable.In this paper we propose Plutarch, a new inter-networking architecture. It subsumes existing architectures such as that determined by the Internet Protocol suite, but makes explicit the heterogeneity that contemporary inter-networking schemes attempt to mask. To handle this heterogeneity, we introduce the notions of context and interstitial function, and describe a supporting architecture. We discuss the benefits, present some potential scenarios, and consider the research challenges posed.