Showing papers on "Communications protocol published in 2008"

Power Awareness in Network Design and Routing

Abstract: Exponential bandwidth scaling has been a fundamental driver of the growth and popularity of the Internet. However, increases in bandwidth have been accompanied by increases in power consumption, and despite sustained system design efforts to address power demand, significant technological challenges remain that threaten to slow future bandwidth growth. In this paper we describe the power and associated heat management challenges in today's routers. We advocate a broad approach to addressing this problem that includes making power-awareness a primary objective in the design and configuration of networks, and in the design and implementation of network protocols. We support our arguments by providing a case study of power demands of two standard router platforms that enables us to create a generic model for router power consumption. We apply this model in a set of target network configurations and use mixed integer optimization techniques to investigate power consumption, performance and robustness in static network design and in dynamic routing. Our results indicate the potential for significant power savings in operational networks by including power-awareness.

The cache-and-forward network architecture for efficient mobile content delivery services in the future internet

Abstract: This paper presents a novel "cache-and-forward" (CNF) protocol architecture for mobile content delivery services in the future Internet. The CNF architecture can be implemented as an overlay on top of the Internet Protocol (IP), or as a clean slate protocol for next-generation networks. CNF is based on the concept of store-and-forward routers with large storage, providing for opportunistic delivery to occasionally disconnected mobile users and for in-network caching of content. The proposed CNF protocol uses reliable hop-by-hop transfer of large data files between CNF routers in place of an end-to-end transport protocol like TCP. This approach makes it possible to serve mobile users with intermittent connectivity, while also mitigating self- interference problems which arise in multi-hop wireless scenarios. Hop-by-hop transport is similarly useful in wired networks where router storage can help to smooth out link congestion bottlenecks which arise in TCP/IP networks. A second key feature of the CNF protocol is the integration of address- based and content-based routing to support various content delivery modes that take advantage of in-network storage. An overview of the CNF architecture and major protocol components is given, and preliminary performance evaluation results are summarized to validate the main design principles.

System and method for authentication, data transfer, and protection against phishing

Abstract: Methods and systems for secure electronic data communication over public communication networks. A secure data communication component may be utilized to implement a communication protocol. New versions of the data communication component may be generated, with each version containing a different communication protocol. Source code of the data communication component may be modified using a polymorph engine to create a functionally-equivalent component having a different code structure. An anti-phishing component may intercept a link in an electronic communication activated by a user, analyze the link and the electronic communication, determine a phishing risk to the user posed by the link, and direct the user to a location indicated by the link or redirect the user to a valid location. A server authentication component may detect and prevent DNS attacks, injections, and defacing activities.

Automatic network protocol analysis

Abstract: Protocol reverse engineering is the process of extracting application-level specifications for network protocols. Such specifications are very helpful in a number of security-related contexts. For example, they are needed by intrusion detection systems to perform deep packet inspection, and they allow the implementation of black-box fuzzing tools. Unfortunately, manual reverse engineering is a time-consuming and tedious task. To address this problem, researchers have recently proposed systems that help to automate the process. These systems operate by analyzing traces of network traffic. However, there is limited information available at the network-level, and thus, the accuracy of the results is limited. In this paper, we present a novel approach to automatic protocol reverse engineering. Our approach works by dynamically monitoring the execution of the application, analyzing how the program is processing the protocol messages that it receives. This is motivated by the insight that an application encodes the complete protocol and represents the authoritative specification of the inputs that it can accept. In a first step, we extract information about the fields of individual messages. Then, we aggregate this information to determine a more general specification of the message format, which can include optional or alternative fields, and repetitions. We have applied our techniques to a number of real-world protocols and server applications. Our results demonstrate that we are able to extract the format specification for different types of messages. Using these specifications, we then automatically generate appropriate parser code.

Input–Output Stability of Networked Control Systems With Stochastic Protocols and Channels

Abstract: This paper introduces a new definition of stochastic protocols for networked control systems (NCS) and the stochastic analog of the notion of uniform persistency of excitation of protocols first presented in the Proceedings of the 44th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control. Our framework applies directly to common wireless and wireline NCS, including those built on carrier-sense multiple access (CSMA) style protocols, with Ethernet and 802.11a/b/g as prime examples of this class. We present conditions for a general class of nonlinear NCS with exogenous disturbances using stochastic protocols in the presence of packet dropouts, random packet transmission times and collisions that are sufficient for LP stability from exogenous disturbance to NCS state with a linear finite expected gain. Within the same framework, we extend the results of Nesic and Teel (see IEEE Trans. Autom. Control, vol. 49, no. 10, pp. 1650-1667, Oct. 2004) to provide an analysis of deterministic protocols, including try-once-discard (TOD), in the presence of random packet dropouts and intertransmission times and provide a stochastic analog of the Lyapunov-theoretic stability properties for network protocols introduced therein.

Slow-start adaptive mechanisms to improve efficiency of bandwidth allocation

Abstract: Methods, apparatuses and systems directed to improving the efficiency of bandwidth allocation schemes by adapting to slow-start mechanisms associated with network communications protocols, such as the TCP/IP protocol suite. In one implementation, the present invention scales down the initial target rate assigned to a data flow to a fraction of an initial estimate of the effective rate capacity of the communications path between two hosts. As packets are received, the target rate is gradually increased, eventually up to the detected rate capacity of the communications path. Implementations of the present invention improve the efficiency of bandwidth allocation by reducing the over-allocation of bandwidth to data flows during the slow-start phase, leaving more bandwidth available to other data flows.

IEEE 802.11s wireless mesh networks: Framework and challenges

Abstract: Wireless mesh networking based on 802.11 wireless local area network (WLAN) has been actively explored for a few years. To improve the performance of WLAN mesh networks, a few new communication protocols have been developed in recent years. However, these solutions are usually proprietary and prevent WLAN mesh networks from interworking with each other. Thus, a standard becomes indispensable for WLAN mesh networks. To meet this need, an IEEE 802.11 task group, i.e., 802.11s, is specifying a standard for WLAN mesh networks. Although several standard drafts have been released by 802.11s, many issues still remain to be resolved. In order to understand what performance can be expected from the existing framework of 802.11s standard and what functionalities shall be added to 802.11s standard to improve performance, a detailed study on the existing 802.11s standard is given in this paper. The existing framework of 802.11s standard is first presented, followed by pointing out the challenging research issues that still exist in the current 802.11 standard. The purpose of this paper is to motivate other researchers to develop new scalable protocols for 802.11 wireless mesh networks.

Timing analysis of the FlexRay communication protocol

Abstract: FlexRay is a communication protocol heavily promoted on the market by a large group of car manufacturers and automotive electronics suppliers. However, before it can be successfully used for safety-critical applications that require predictability, timing analysis techniques are necessary for providing bounds for the message communication times. In this paper, we propose techniques for determining the timing properties of messages transmitted in both the static and the dynamic segments of a FlexRay communication cycle. The analysis techniques for messages are integrated in the context of a holistic schedulability analysis that computes the worst-case response times of all the tasks and messages in the system. We have evaluated the proposed analysis techniques using extensive experiments. We also present and evaluate three optimisation algorithms that can be used to improve the schedulability of a system that uses FlexRay.

An approach to specification-based attack detection for in-vehicle networks

Abstract: An upcoming trend for automotive manufacturers is to create seamless interaction between a vehicle and fleet management to provide remote diagnostics and firmware updates over the air. To allow this, the previously isolated in-vehicle network must be connected to an external network, and can thus be exposed to a whole new range of threats known as cyber attacks. In this paper we explore the applicability of a specification-based approach to detect cyber attacks within the in-vehicle network. We derive information to create security specifications for communication and ECU behavior from the CANopen draft standard 3.01 communication protocol and object directory sections. We also provide a set of example specifications, propose a suitable location for the attack detector, and evaluate the detection using a set of attack actions.

Smart/active RFID tag for use in a WPAN

Abstract: A system and method is provided for processing communication signals in a wireless personal area network (WPAN) using a transceiver comprising a first transmitter and a first receiver operable to transmit and receive signals using a first transmission protocol and a second transmitter operable to transmit signals using a second transmission protocol. In various embodiments, the first receiver is used to receive a first signal that was transmitted using the first communication protocol and the second transmitter is used to transmit a second signal using the second transmission protocol in response to receipt of the first signal. The second signal is then processed to determine the location of the object. In some embodiments, the first transmission protocol is compliant with an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 802.15.4 transmission protocol and the second transmission protocol is compliant with an Ultra-Wide Band (UWB) protocol.

Progressing toward realistic mobility models in VANET simulations

Abstract: Much progress can be observed in the domain of Vehicular Ad Hoc Network (VANET) research looking back at the last decade. It can be seen that studies of vehicular communication protocols in the context of VANETs are typically based on simulation models. This approach has two major prerequisites: First, detailed network simulation of all layers of communication protocols is necessary as provided by a wide variety of tools by the networking community. Secondly, realistic simulation of vehicles' mobility, i.e., an exact modeling of road traffic, is needed to estimate positions and movements of involved components. The contributions of this article are twofold: First, a survey of the evolution of mobility modeling in VANET simulations is provided, outlining the simulation strategies typically used. Secondly, this article investigates how recent advances in bidirectional coupling of road traffic microsimulation and network simulation lead to more realistic results at comparably low computational cost. In conclusion, this article advocates to employ such techniques that are openly available for further studies of new communication protocols and mechanisms in the domain of VANET research.

Method and system for performing a software upgrade on an electronic device connected to a computer

Abstract: A method, computer program product, and data processing system for performing a software upgrade on an electronic device connected to a computer. In accordance with one embodiment, there is provided a method for upgrading device software on an electronic device connected to a computer through a communications protocol, the computer being connected to a central repository of device software over a communications network, the method comprising: displaying a web page including a scripting language within an Internet browser on the computer, the Internet browser including a scripting engine for executing the scripting language; providing a scripting-language capable device controller for interfacing communications between the scripting engine and the electronic device in accordance with the communications protocol connecting the computer and electronic device; receiving by the Internet browser of a request to install device software onto the electronic device via a user interface element of the web page; receiving by the scripting-language capable device controller of device attribute information from the electronic device through the communications protocol in response to the request; sending the device attribute information from the scripting-language capable device controller to the scripting engine of the Internet browser; sending the device attribute information from the Internet browser; when an upgrade is available, receiving upgrade software for the electronic device in response to the sending the device attribute information, and upgrading device software on the electronic device using the upgrade software using the communications protocol connecting the computer and electronic device.

System and methods for high rate hardware-accelerated network protocol processing

Abstract: Disclosed is a system and methods for accelerating network protocol processing for devices configured to process network traffic at relatively high data rates. The system incorporates a hardware-accelerated protocol processing module that handles steady state network traffic and a software-based processing module that handles infrequent and exception cases in network traffic processing.

Stochastic analysis of network coding in epidemic routing

Abstract: Epidemic routing has been proposed to reduce the data transmission delay in disruption tolerant wireless networks, in which data can be replicated along multiple opportunistic paths as different nodes move within each other's communication range. With the advent of network coding, it is intuitive that data can not only be replicated, but also coded, when the transmission opportunity arises. However, will opportunistic communication with network coding perform any better than simple replications? In this paper, we present a stochastic analytical framework to study the performance of epidemic routing using network coding in opportunistic networks, as compared to the use of replication. We analytically show that network coding is superior when bandwidth and node buffers are limited, reflecting more realistic scenarios. Our analytical study is able to provide further insights towards future designs of efficient data communication protocols using network coding. As an example, we propose a priority based coding protocol, with which the destination can decode a high priority subset of the data much earlier than it can decode any data without the use of priorities. The correctness of our analytical results has also been confirmed by our extensive simulations.

A More Practical Approach for Single-Packet IP Traceback using Packet Logging and Marking

Abstract: Tracing IP packets to their origins is an important step in defending Internet against denial-of-service attacks. Two kinds of IP traceback techniques have been proposed as packet marking and packet logging. In packet marking, routers probabilistically write their identification information into forwarded packets. This approach incurs little overhead but requires large flow of packets to collect the complete path information. In packet logging, routers record digests of the forwarded packets. This approach makes it possible to trace a single packet and is considered more powerful. At routers forwarding large volume of traffic, the high storage overhead and access time requirement for recording packet digests introduce practicality problems. In this paper, we present a novel scheme to improve the practicality of log-based IP traceback by reducing its overhead on routers. Our approach makes an intelligent use of packet marking to improve scalability of log-based IP traceback. We use mathematical analysis and simulations to evaluate our approach. Our evaluation results show that, compared to the state-of-the-art log-based approach called hash-based IP traceback, our approach maintains the ability to trace single IP packet while reducing the storage overhead by half and the access time overhead by a factor of the number of neighboring routers.

Secure neighbor discovery in wireless networks: formal investigation of possibility

Abstract: Wireless communication enables a broad spectrum of applications, ranging from commodity to tactical systems. Neighbor discovery (ND), that is, determining which devices are within direct radio communication, is a building block of network protocols and applications, and its vulnerability can severely compromise their functionalities. A number of proposals to secure ND have been published, but none have analyzed the problem formally. In this paper, we contribute such an analysis: We build a formal model capturing salient characteristics of wireless systems, most notably obstacles and interference, and we provide a specification of a basic variant of the ND problem. Then, we derive an impossibility result for a general class of protocols we term "time-based protocols," to which many of the schemes in the literature belong. We also identify the conditions under which the impossibility result is lifted. Moreover, we explore a second class of protocols we term "time- and location-based protocols," and prove they can secure ND.

ZOID: I/O-forwarding infrastructure for petascale architectures

Abstract: The ZeptoOS project is developing an open-source alternative to the proprietary software stacks available on contemporary massively parallel architectures. The aim is to enable computer science research on these architectures, enhance community collaboration, and foster innovation. In this paper, we introduce a component of ZeptoOS called ZOID---an I/O-forwarding infrastructure for architectures such as IBM Blue Gene that decouple file and socket I/O from the compute nodes, shipping those functions to dedicated I/O nodes. Through the use of optimized network protocols and data paths, as well as a multithreaded daemon running on I/O nodes, ZOID provides greater performance than does the stock infrastructure. We present a set of benchmark results that highlight the improvements. Crucially, the flexibility of our infrastructure is a vast improvement over the stock infrastructure, allowing users to forward data using custom-designed application interfaces, through an easy-to-use plug-in mechanism. This capability is used for real-time telescope data transfers, extensively discussed in the paper. Plug-in--specific threads implement prefetching of data obtained over sockets from an input cluster and merge results from individual compute nodes before sending them out, significantly reducing required network bandwidth. This approach allows a ZOID version of the application to handle a larger number of subbands per I/O node, or even to bypass the input cluster altogether, plugging the input from remote receiver stations directly into the I/O nodes. Using the resources more efficiently can result in considerable savings.

Secure Neighbor Discovery in Wireless Networks: Formal Investigation of Possibility

Abstract: Wireless communication enables a broad spectrum of applications, ranging from commodity to tactical systems. Neighbor discovery (ND), that is, determining which devices are within direct radio communication, is a building block of network protocols and applications, and its vulnerability can severely compromise their functionalities. A number of proposals to secure ND have been published, but none have analyzed the problem formally. In this paper, we contribute such an analysis: We build a formal model capturing salient characteristics of wireless systems, most notably obstacles and interference, and we provide a specification of a basic variant of the ND problem. Then, we derive an impossibility result for a general class of protocols we term "time-based protocols," to which many of the schemes in the literature belong. We also identify the conditions under which the impossibility result is lifted. Moreover, we explore a second class of protocols we term "time- and location-based protocols," and prove they can secure ND.

Networked gaming system communication protocols and methods

Abstract: A system, method and apparatus for a gaming system is provided. The gaming system includes a rewards server and a separate gaming or slot accounting server. The system may further include a separate player tracking server. The system further includes one or more game machines. The game machines may include a base game, rewards tracking module, and a game management module. Further details will be apparent from the description, drawings and claims.

Control system protocol for an hvac system

Abstract: The present disclosure describes an HVAC system and means for communication between an integrated system of individual controllers for interactively controlling various components in the HVAC system. Various embodiments of an HVAC system are provided that may comprise at least two controllers that communicate with each other to provide a method of controlling the operation of an HVAC system, based on a communication protocol utilized by each of the various controllers. The communication protocol provides for establishing communication between a sending controller and at least one other controller that is the intended recipient. The communication protocol also provides for monitoring of communication signals by one or more controllers in the system, where the one or more controllers monitor communication signals which are intended for other recipient controllers to thereby listen to information being communicated.

Network externalities and the deployment of security features and protocols in the internet

Abstract: Getting new security features and protocols to be widely adopted and deployed in the Internet has been a continuing challenge. There are several reasons for this, in particular economic reasons arising from the presence of network externalities. Indeed, like the Internet itself, the technologies to secure it exhibit network effects: their value to individual users changes as other users decide to adopt them or not. In particular, the benefits felt by early adopters of security solutions might fall significantly below the cost of adoption, making it difficult for those solutions to gain attraction and get deployed at a large scale.Our goal in this paper is to model and quantify the impact of such externalities on the adoptability and deployment of security features and protocols in the Internet. We study a network of interconnected agents, which are subject to epidemic risks such as those caused by propagating viruses and worms, and which can decide whether or not to invest some amount to deploy security solutions. Agents experience negative externalities from other agents, as the risks faced by an agent depend not only on the choices of that agent (whether or not to invest in self-protection), but also on those of the other agents. Expectations about choices made by other agents then influence investments in self-protection, resulting in a possibly suboptimal outcome overall.We present and solve an analytical model where the agents are connected according to a variety of network topologies. Borrowing ideas and techniques used in statistical physics, we derive analytic solutions for sparse random graphs, for which we obtain asymptotic results. We show that we can explicitly identify the impact of network externalities on the adoptability and deployment of security features. In other words, we identify both the economic and network properties that determine the adoption of security technologies. Therefore, we expect our results to provide useful guidance for the design of new economic mechanisms and for the development of network protocols likely to be deployed at a large scale.

Solipsis: A Decentralized Architecture for Virtual Environments

Abstract: Lack of scalability is a key issue for virtual-environment technology, and more generally for any large-scale online experience because it prevents the emergence of a truly massive virtual-world infrastructure (Metaverse) The Solipsis project tackles this issue through the use of peer-to-peer technology, and makes it possible to build and manage a world-scale Metaverse in a truly distributed manner Following a peer-to-peer scheme, entities collaborate to build up a common set of virtual worlds In this paper, we present a first draft of the \sol architecture as well as the communication protocol used to share data between peers The protocol is based on Raynet, an n-dimensional Voronoi-based overlay network Its data-dissemination policy takes advantage of the view-depedent representation of 3D contents Moreover, the protocol effectively distributes the execution of computationally intensive tasks that are usually executed on the server-side, such as collision detection and physics computation Finally, we also present our web component, a 3D navigator that can easily run on terminals with scarce resources, and that provides solutions for smooth transitions between 3D Web and Web 20

Robot operator control unit configuration system and method

Abstract: A unified framework is provided for building common functionality into diverse operator control units. A set of tools is provided for creating controller configurations for varied robot types. Preferred controllers do one or more the following: allow uploading of configuration files from a target robot, adhere to common user interface styles and standards, share common functionality, allow extendibility for unique functionality, provide flexibility for rapid prototype design, and allow dynamic communication protocol switching. Configuration files may be uploaded from robots to configure their operator control units. The files may include scene graph control definitions; instrument graphics; control protocols; or mappings of control functions to scene graphics or control inputs.

Overbot: a botnet protocol based on Kademlia

Abstract: One crucial point in the implementation of botnets is the command and control channel, which is used by botmasters to distribute commands to compromised machines and to obtain results from previous commands. While the first botnets were mainly controlled by central IRC servers, recent developments have shown the advantages of a more decentralized approach using peer-to-peer (P2P) networks. Interestingly, even though some botnets already use P2P networks, they do so in a naive fashion. As a result, most existing botnet implementations allow attackers to disrupt messages from the botmaster and to learn IP addresses of other nodes within the botnet.This paper introduces Overbot, a botnet communication protocol based on a peer-to-peer architecture. More precisely, Overbot leverages Kademlia, an existing P2P protocol, to implement a stealth command and control channel. An attacker can neither learn the IP addresses of other nodes in the botnet nor disrupt the message exchange between the botmaster and the bots, even when the attacker is able to capture some of the nodes within the network. Overbot demonstrates the threats that may result when future botnet generations utilize more advanced communication structures. We believe that it is important to outline these threats to allow the research community to develop solutions before such botnets appear in the wild. To help the search for effective countermeasures, we also discuss possible directions where future research seems promising.

A serial communication infrastructure for multi-chip address event systems

Abstract: In recent years there have been an increasing number of research groups that have begun to develop multi-chip address-event systems. The communication protocol used to transmit signals between these systems' components is based on the address-event representation (AER). It is therefore important to have access to robust and reliable AER communication infrastructures for streamlining the systems' development and prototyping stages. We propose an AER communication infrastructure that can be easily interfaced to workstations or laptops during a prototyping phase, and that can be embedded into compact and low-cost systems in the application phase. The infrastructure proposed uses a novel serial AER interface with flow-control, overcomes many of the drawbacks observed with previous solutions, and can achieve event rates of up to 78.125 MHz for 32 bit AEs.

Method of configuring an intelligent electronic device

Abstract: The present invention is concerned with substation automation (SA) systems, in particular with a method and system for configuring an International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 61850 standard-compliant Intelligent Electronic Device (IED) 104 in SA system 100. Proxy IED 104 is a NCC gateway device enhanced for converting data between non-IEC 61850 and IEC 61850 communication protocols. Proxy IED 104 is configured, based on a set of mappings, which are coded in the SA configuration description (SCD) file. The SCD file includes mappings for data conversion between non- IEC 61850 and IEC 61850 communication protocols.

Shared network infrastructure

Abstract: Two or more communications applications are executed on a shared processing platform to process signals received from and transmitted to wireless devices according to a communications protocol, the shared processing platform having shared hardware resources including memory and at least one data processor. A security mechanism is provided to enable each communications application to have independent control of access to data and configuration settings that are private to the communications application. Compatibility of hardware configuration settings associated with different communications applications is determined, and conflicts between hardware configuration settings associated with different communications applications are mediated.

PPGCV: Privacy Preserving Group Communications Protocol for Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks

Abstract: Vehicular communications (VC) have many applications with multicast nature such as cooperative driving and platooning. The multicast nature implies that secure group communication is important to guarantee the security in vehicular networks. One of the main security concerns for vehicular networks is preserving the privacy of the network users. In this paper, we propose privacy preserving group communication protocol for vehicular ad hoc networks (PPGCV). The PPGCV preserves the privacy of the users and provides conditional full statelessness property. By conducting detailed analysis and simulation, PPGCV is demonstrated to be reliable, efficient, and scalable.