Architecture of Distributed Network Processors: Specifics of Application in Information Security Systems

Abstract

Modern telematic networks or Internet are distributed hierarchical systems consisting of basic components: nodes and communication lines. Telematic network nodes are computers with network interfaces employed for data exchange. A node with several network interfaces is called the router or network processor (NP). Each NP interface is provided by one or several identifiers called addresses. There are several types of addresses: physical or MAC, network or IP, application or Port Number. The set of network addresses form specific spaces with its topology and metric. Topology is the measure of nearness in the network. The metric is defined by communication line. If the number of addresses that connected by the line is more than two, the communication line is termed broadcasting. The number of communication lines determines the distance between nodes. The distance between the nodes without network addresses is undefined. By combining nodes into a telematic network, one can provide information exchange among computer applications, which are executed at the network nodes. Information exchange is based on forwarding and receiving network packets. A packet is a specific logical sequential/recursive structure, which is formed at network nodes to execute information exchange. The sequential part of this structure consists of two, header and payload, fields. The recursiveness of a packet stems from the fact that the payload itself may be another packet with its specific structure and addresses (Fig.1). A packet originating from an application running on a node and destined to node in different network, arrives at an NP and is forwarded by it to the appropriate network on the basis of destination addresses in the packet’s header.