Dynamically extending the Corral with native code for high-speed packet processing

By combining the Open Kernel Environment, a Click-like software model known as Corral and basic concepts of active networking, we allow third-party code to control the code organisation of a network node at any level, including kernel and network card. We show how an active network environment was implemented and how this environment allows slow active code to control the code organisation of the fast path. The underlying code is structured much like components in a 'Click'-router that may be connected or disconnected at runtime. Not only are active packets permitted to reconfigure predefined native components in the networking code, by using the safe programming model of the open kernel environment they are also able to load and link their own native components at any place in the datapath and at any level in the processing hierarchy. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.