We propose TagFlow, a data plane mechanism for classification in Software-Defined Networking (SDN). We first argue that simple field-matching proposals of current SDN APIs are not efficient and flexible enough and then propose a tag based classification mechanism as an alternative. Moreover, we propose user-defined actions as an improvement over current hardcoded actions in SDN APIs. Our experiments show TagFlow forwarding is almost 40% faster than OpenFlow. Furthermore, our user-defined actions at SDN southbound are thousands of times faster that equivalent northbound implementations in the literature.

QMNF is a QoS-aware multicast routing protocol using N-hop dominating flooding and built upon a layered routing architecture. In this architecture, QMNF invites the N-hop flooding component and the shortest path routing table from OSPF by open signaling interfaces, floods the path-probing packets, and employs a two-pass resource reservation scheme to avoid unnecessary resource reservation. The QMNF is QoS-aware, loop-free, flexible and scalable, and improves network resource utilization. In our simulation, the performance of QMNF is compared with that of traditional flooding protocol with the shortest path resources reservation, a traditional flooding protocol with the widest path resources reservation, PIM and QMBF. The simulation results confirm that QMNF has a high success rate and good resource utilization, and it can distribute traffic in a network evenly.

This paper presents a design and implementation of a ATM multicast service based on programmable and active network concepts. It aims to address the design and implementation issues of creating new network services--multicast in this case--through a set of corba-based network interfaces, and with a java based user codes injection mechanism for supporting customization of network services. We demonstrate the feasibility of our prototype through the implementation of a wavelet video multicast application with active filters implanted at intermediate nodes for supporting heterogeneous receivers and the implementation of a congestion control scheme. The performance of the prototype over an ATM test-bed is measured and evaluated.