Active networks-networks you can add programs to or customize to particular
applications-are probably most familiar as Web proxy caches and firewalls.
In their more sophisticated form, however, they have become customized inf
rastructures that let designers program control planes-the control software
and network hardware used to manipulate the transport system's behavior. P
rogramming mechanisms such as open signaling are becoming more widespread;
for example.
But research in active networks has taken a step beyond even these sophisti
cated infrastructures. Working systems now let designers modify packet-swit
ching infrastructures on the fly using either a switch-like model, which mi
xes active packets with other packets, or in a capsule model, which regards
all packets as programs.
In surveying working systems and experimental results, the authors have fou
nd that first-generation systems have opted to use modern programming langu
age technologies such as Caml and Java to provide usability and safety, and
cryptographic techniques to provide security. The systems differ in the de
gree of flexibility and performance they offer. Many differences stem from
the use of a particular security model.