Middlebox communication architecture and framework

摘要

There are a variety of intermediate devices in the Internet todaythat require application intelligence for their operation.Datagrams pertaining to real-time streaming applications suchas SIP and H.323 and peer-to-peer applications such as Napsterand NetMeeting cannot be identified by merely examining packetheaders. Middleboxes implementing Firewall and Network AddressTranslator services typically embed application intelligence within the device for their operation. The document specifies anarchitecture and framework in which trusted third parties canbe delegated to assist the middleboxes to perform their operationwithout resorting to embedding application intelligence. Doingthis will allow a middlebox to continue to provide the services,while keeping the middlebox application agnostic. A principalobjective of this document is to describe the underlyingframework of middlebox communication to enable complexapplications through the middleboxes seamlessly using a trustedthird party.