EE-DROP: An energy-aware router prototype

The increasing energy demands of network and networked device architectures represent a threat to the development of the Future Internet. Aside from environmental concerns and increasing energy costs, multi-core processors will soon be constrained by power consumption, which will eventually slow down the development of new technologies. In order to re-think and re-design wired network equipment and infrastructures towards more energy efficient approaches, the ECONET project aims at extending next generation networks, architectures and protocols in the green direction. This paper presents a prototype of one of the 13 platforms developed inside the project, namely the Distributed Router Open Platform (DROP). Results will show how the aggregation of multiple devices with green capabilities can guarantee a satisfying performance level while allowing huge energy savings.