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Active networking is a communication paradigm that allows packets flowing through a communication telecommunications network to dynamically modify the operation of the network. The active network architecture is comprised of execution environments (similar to a unix shell that can execute active packets), a node operating system capable of supporting one or more execution environments, and active hardware, capable of routing or switching as well as executing code within active packets. This differs from the traditional network architecture which seeks robustness and stability by attempting to remove complexity and the ability to change its fundamental operation from underlying network components. Network processors are one means of implementing active networking concepts. Active networks have also been implemented as overlay networks.
Active networking allows the possibility of highly tailored and rapid "real-time" changes to the underlying network operation enabling such ideas as sending code along with packets of information allowing the data to change its form (code) to match the channel characteristics. The smallest program that can generate a sequence of data can be found in the definition of Kolmogorov Complexity. The use of real-time genetic algorithms within the network to compose network services is also enabled by active networking.
Towards an Active Network Architecture (1996), David L. Tennenhouse, et al., Computer Communication Review
Active Networks and Active Network Management: A Proactive Management Framework by Stephen F. Bush and Amit Kulkarni, Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York, Boston, Dordrecht, London, Moscow, 2001, 196 pp. Hardbound, ISBN 0-306-46560-4.
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