Service-Centric End-to-End Abstractions in Next-Generation Networks

Next-generation network architectures will be governed by the need for flexibility. Heterogeneous end-systems, novel communication abstractions, and security and manageability challenges will require networks to provide a broad range of services that go beyond the simple store-and-forward capabilities of today´s Internet. This paper introduces new abstractions for information transfer and data services in the network, which overcome the constraints of the end-to-end argument that has dominated current network designs. The explicit separation of communication and processing allows the composition of a variety of information transfer patterns that expand the capabilities of the network to meet its next-generation challenges. We discuss implementation issues that arise in this network architecture and present several examples of how applications can utilize the proposed abstractions. This present a first step towards a unified view of the convergence of networking, processing, and their distributed applications.