Sebastian Meiling: Future Internet Architecture

The foundations of todays Internet are grounded in the 1970th, where protocols like TCP and IP have been developed. Even though the Internet has experienced an exorbitant growth (in users and connected hosts) over the past 20, years, the protocols stayed (nearly) the same over the years. They had been developed for a network with wired connections, not surprisingly they do not reflect the needs and abilities of modern hardware, software and services.  Already in 1991 the IETF identified possible shortcomings of the network stack and set out to address the most pressing problems, which were/are:

•  Routing and Addressing
•  Multi-Protocol Architecture
•  Security Architecture
•  Traffic Control and State
•  Advanced Application

Since then this list got even longer, due to host-mobility, new applications and services. While some of these issues - like shortage in IP addresses - could be solved by the exchange of Internet protocols (IPv4 by IPv6), it remains unclear, whether the future Internet can evolve from what we know today, or if a fundamental change in design and architecture is needed, as proposed by clean-slate approaches. This presentation aims to shed some light on the current Internet problems and on proposals for a future Internet architecture that solves the imminent shortcomings.

Presentation Slides