Network pointers

The Internet architecture can be characterized as having a rather coarse grained and imperative style of network packet handling: confronted with an IP packet and its source and destination addresses, the infrastructure almost blindly and unalterably executes hundreds of resolution, routing and forwarding decisions. There are numerous attempts that try to "extend" the Internet in order to either reduce the immediate impact an arbitrary packet can have (e.g., NAT), or to insert diversions from the normal processing paths in order to better use the existing resources (e.g., content delivery). In this paper we argue that we need a more fine grained control, in the hands of end nodes, over how packets are handled. The basic abstraction presented here is that of networking pointers, which we show to relate to low level concepts like ARP caches, but also high level routing decisions for terminal mobility, content delivery networks, or peer-to-peer overlay forming. We report on first implementation experiences of an "underlay" networking approach which uses pointer tricks underneath IP in order to provide new network layer services.