Node-failure robustness of inter-layer 3 networking with ID/Locator separation architecture

Abstract

ID/Locator separation architecture is proposed in order to reduce routing table size in the current Internet. In this architecture, an end-host can be identified by unique ID which is independent of its network protocol. Network protocol independency of ID provides possibility of communication with end hosts operating different network-layer protocol. This inter-layer 3 networking brings several benefits in addition to routing table size improvement, e.g. improvement of shortest path and robustness. In our previous paper, performance of inter-layer 3 networking from the viewpoint of shortest path improvement has been evaluated. In this paper, we focus on improvement of robustness brought by inter-layer 3 networking in the case of node failure. Node failure generally suffers serious degradation of connectivity because all links connected to a node are failed. Our simulation results show that significant improvement of robustness can be obtained only with small number of vertical links going through multiple network planes.