ForTER - An open programmable router based on Forwarding and Control Element Separation

ForCES (Forwarding and Control Element Separation) shows great advantages for routers to be flexible, programmable, and cost-effective. An implementation of a ForCES-based router (ForTER) was illustrated. The implementation architecture was first discussed. A software model for the ForTER implementation was presented. Based on the model and related IETF ForCES specifications, Control Element (CE) and Forwarding Element (FE) in the ForTER were designed and implemented. An algorithm to prevent ForCES redirect data DoS attacks coming from a UDP channel was introduced. The algorithm tried to bind UDP stream to TCP stream for congestion control when transmitting ForCES protocol messages from FE to CE. Experiment results shown the feasibility of the system architecture and the software model of ForTER, and shown the effectiveness of the DoS attack prevention algorithm. Experiments also shown the feasibility of ForTER as a router. As a result, the implementation of ForTER testifies the feasibility of ForCES and related specifications, which are being standardized by IETF ForCES working group.