Research Projects
Projects Related to Network Architectures and Protocols
Reliable Server Pooling Project (RSerPool)
The Computer Networking Technology group is involved in research on and standardization of Reliable Server Pooling (RSerPool), a novel server pooling framework currently under standardization by the IETF. We have realized a full, Open Source prototype implementation of RSerPool, developed a simulation model in OMNeT++ for research purposes and are furthermore involved in standardization by the contribution of multiple Working Group drafts and individual submissions.
Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP)
The Stream Control Transmission Protocol is a new transport protocol standardized by the IETF. Originally it was developed to transport telephone signaling messages over IP networks, with the same reliability and Quality of Service like an SS7 network. But SCTP also provides some advantages over current transport protocols, like TCP and UDP, which may offer an application benefits. Our group was involved in the research and standardization of SCTP from the early beginning. At the moment there is research going on in the fields of security, load sharing and general protocol behaviour like fairness.
With the G-Lab project a Germany-wide research community and experimental facility platform is build up to investigate the interplay between new technologies and the requirements of emerging applications. Funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung) the project consists of 32 partners, now. The first phase started in October 2008 with six partners, scince 2009 the Computer Networking Technology Group is involved in the second phase of the project. A goal is to explore innovative composition-approaches for cooperation between network and services with the focus on security in the future internet.
Projects Related to Network Security
Peer-to-Peer Networking Project
Applications based on Peer-to-Peer (P2P) protocols have become tremendously popular over the last few years now accounting for a significant share of the total network traffic. With P2P overlays, services can be provided fully decentralized without the need for support in the network infrastructure. The Computer Networking Technology group is involved in research on different P2P overlay topologies and their dynamics as well as in investigations of user behavior and impacts on traffic management tasks.
Voice over IP (VoIP) converts voice calls from analog to digital to be sent over packet based networks. The use of this technology led to cost savings and efficient adoption for several new services. However, transporting voice calls and signaling over IP networks yield to new security tasks. The Computer Networking Technology group is involved in different security investigations, especially concerning Asterisk, an open source software PBX.