Our Approach
Our RINA approach is based on a comprehensive theory of networking; it does not represent another ``fix" or patch or solution to a piece of the problem. We take a clean-slate approach and begin with a comprehensive general theory of IPC, where the number of IPC layers may vary at different parts of the internet depending on the range of the resource allocation problem that must be addressed---the greater the range, the more IPC layers. We thus start off with an overall architecture that we believe, is minimal but complete. Furthermore, we believe good engineering requires good science -- the commonality of the DIF's mechanisms in a repeating model enables efficient implementation.
Our Architecture
The RINA architecture includes the various modules and mechanisms needed for supporting distributed IPC communication, as well as several policies that can currently be seen to be useful in support of multihoming, mobility, and manageability. Policies are used to instantiate a Distributed IPC Facility. RINA's IPC framework builds on (1) an extension to Saltzer's naming and addressing of IPC processes in the context of a repeating model, (2) the separation of mechanism and policy, and (3) organizing data transfer, control and management to isolate short, medium and long timescales. Repeating the IPC model naturally encompasses all tasks necessary to support well-organized, well-scoped services at all levels, from content-based applications to low-tier ISP networks, and provides a complete architecture.
More Information
More Information can be found by reading our published paper:
John Day, Ibrahim Matta, and Karim Mattar. "Networking is IPC": A Guiding Principle to a Better Internet. In Proceedings of ReArch'08 - Re-Architecting the Internet, Madrid, SPAIN, December 2008. Co-located with ACM CoNEXT 2008. [PDF]
Please also check out our other RINA presentations and papers in the Documents section.