As discussed in the previous lectures, ossification of the Internet transport-layer architecture is a significant barrier to innovation\u00a0of the Internet. Such innovation is desirable for many reasons. Current applications\u00a0often need to implement their own mechanisms to receive the transport service they need,\u00a0but many do not have the breadth of adapting to all possible network characteristics. An\u00a0updated transport architecture can do much to make the Internet more flexible and extensible.\u00a0New ground-breaking services often require different or updated transport protocols,\u00a0could benefit from better signaling between application and network, or desire a\u00a0more flexible choice of which network path is used for which traffic.<\/p>\n
This lecture introduces a new transport architecture, \u00a0a New, Evolutive API and Transport-Layer Architecture (NEAT), which targets the ossification of the Internet transport-layer architecture, and which is designed to offer a flexible and evolvable transport system. The design of NEAT is based on the transport services concept and NEAT is one of the systems that has served as input for the ongoing standardization of the Transport Services (TAPS) Architecture which was introduced in the previous lecture. Networked applications interface NEAT through an enhanced API that effectively decouples them from the operation of the transport protocols and the network features being used. In particular, applications provide NEAT with information about their traffic requirements. Then, on the basis of these requirements, pre-specified policies, and measured network conditions, NEAT establishes and configures appropriate connections.<\/p>\n