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In this paper, we present five case studies of advanced networking functions that detail how a network processor (NP) can provide high performance and also the necessary flexibility compared with Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs). We first review the basic NP system architectures, and describe the IBM PowerNP architecture from a data-plane as well as from a control-plane point of view. We introduce models for the programmer's views of NPs that facilitate a global understanding of NP software programming. Then, for each case study, we present results from prototypes as well as general considerations that apply to a wider range of system architectures. Specifically, we investigate the suitability of NPs for Quality of Service (active queue management and traffic engineering), header processing (GPRS tunneling protocol), intelligent forwarding (load balancing without flow disruption), payload processing (code interpretation and just-in-time compilation in active networks), and protocol stack termination (SCTP). Finally, we summarize the key features as revealed by each case study, and conclude with remarks on the future of NPs.

Interest in distributed storage is fueled by demand for reliability and resilience combined with ubiquitous availability. Peer-to-peer (P2P) storage networks are known for their decentralized control, self-organization, and adaptation. Advanced searching for documents and resources remains an open problem. The flooding approach favored by some P2P networks is ineffiencient in resource usage, but more scalable and resource-efficient solutions based on Distributed Hash Tables (DHT) lack in query expressiveness and flexibility. In this paper, we address this issue and introduce new efficient, scalable, and completely distributed methods that strive to keep resource consumption by queries and index information as low as possible. We describe how to improve the handling of multiple subqueries combined through boolean set operators. The need for these operators is intensified by applications to go beyond simple exact keyword matches. We discuss, optimize, and analyze appropriate extensions to support range and prefix matching in DHTs.

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