Analysis and Implementation of an Open Programmable Router Based on Forwarding and Control Element Separation

A router architecture based upon ForCES (Forwarding andControl Element Separation), which is being standardized by IETF ForCESworking group, gains its competitive advantage over traditional routerarchitectures in flexibility, programmability, andcost-effectiveness. In this paper, design and implementation of aForCES-based router (ForTER) is illustrated. Firstly, theimplementation architecture of ForTER is discussed. Then, a layeredsoftware model, which well illustrates ForCES features, is proposed.Based on the model, design and implementation of Control Element (CE)and Forwarding Element (FE) in ForTER are introduced in detail.Moreover, security for ForTER is considered and an algorithm toprevent DoS attacks is presented. Lastly, experiments of ForTER areillustrated for routing and running routing protocols, networkmanagement, DoS attack prevention, etc. The experimental results showthe feasibility of the ForTER design. Consequently, the ForTERimplementation basically testifies the feasibility of ForCESarchitecture and some IETF ForCES specifications.