devoting the third part to a specific network processor, Intel's IXP 1200, is a ... of Intel's network processors is briefly overviewed and compared to the IXP 1200.
NEW BOOKS AND MULTIMEDIA resorting exclusively t o Wireless Encryption Protocol (WEP) hashing, although WEP receives its due in one chapter. T h e remedy t o the original problems of WEP is presented via a n intioduction t o 802.11i, WPA, TKIP, and AES, hut in addition the reader learns about the benefits of deploying virtual private networks, as well as how 802.1~ and EAP can he used to secure enterprise environments. In f a c t , it attempts to separate home office security concerns (centered mostly around firewalls) from those of enterprise environments (presented primarily as a scalable authentication senices issue).
Introduction to Wlls Raj Pandyo, 2004, IEEE Press / Wiley Interscience, ISBN 0.471451 32-0, 229 pages, hardcover Wireless local loop (WLL) technologies are currently being deployed as they present cost-effective alternatives to fiber1 copper infrastructure in environments with low population density or where socio-economic factors result in a small customer basis. Despite similarities to cellular networks, the lack of specific standards has already spawned a wide rage of (typically) incompatible products that, together with the standardization efforts, make for the complicated landscape of WLLs today. Raj Pandya’s book is mostly addressed to people involved in planning, design, and operating networks with WLL subsystems. It attempts to cover a substantial part of available technologies, explain relevant acronyms, and outline the features of a few of the most significant current commercial offerings. Specifically, the following products are reviewed in more detail: STAREX-WLL (from LG), AirLoop (from Lucent), corDECT (from Midas), and Internet FWA (from Nortel). A notable characteristic of t h e book is the inevitable mix o f topics seemingly separate from WLLs, b u t clos,ely related. Thus, in addition t o a chapter on the fundamentals of radio svstems (access svstems) we also find a and cordless (DECT’and PHS) technologies. Another chapter provides a refresher in radio access characteristics and radio planning, and how they relate to the overall system capacity, including elements from cellular nctwork planning, such as cell sectoriration, which is linked to WLL‘s spatial reuse planning. The common features of WLL systems (across products) are detailed in two chapters, one outlining the location and components of a WLL, the other on
IEEE Network
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Editor‘s Choice Network Systems Design Using Network Processors Douglas E. Comer, 2004, Pearson/Prentice Hall, ISBN 0-13-141 792-4, 5 15 pages, hardcover There are numerous reasons why Doug Comer’s new book comes at the right time. First, network processors are increasingly encountered in a number of internetworking produsts with advanced capabilities (load-balancing routers, firewalls, NAT boxes, etc.). Second, given IP’s dominance as a least common denominator for networking, advanced networkapplication development frequently involvesdirectly manipulating I P traffic, where efficient packetlpayload transformation of IP packets is sometimes required, an approach clearlyfacilitated by networkprocessors. Third, network processors expose developers to hardware architecture considerations, and different philosophies on addressing the trade-off between efficiency (on one end) and abstraction for the sake of programming (on the other). The hook is split into three parts, the first is a fast paced review of networking, not really meant as an introduction for the uninitiated, hut rather as a refresher of the basic concepts, and is followed by a review of how packet processing is performed in the “traditional” approach (mostly in terms of software on a conventional general-purpose processor), and discussion of special hardware architectures for protocol processing and switchingfabrics.The topicofpacket classificationand fonvarding is also introduced at this point. The next part deals with the network processor technology,descrihingcommon featuresacrossall network processors aswell as summarizingmost existing commerciallyavailablenetwork processors (from Agere, Alchemy,AMCC, Cisco, Cognigine, EZchip, ISM, andMotorola). Similarly,the languages for programming network processors are also reviewed, going into more detail about Intel’s Network Classification Language (NCL) and Agere’s Functional Programming Language (FPL). This part also addresses common considerations of scaling network processors, and the trade-offs involved in the design of, and software development for, network processors. One could question whether devoting the third part to a specific network processor, Intel‘s IXP 1200, i s a gamble, hut there is both the need to provide concrete examples (thus optiugfor a specific processor) as well as the fact that the, Intel IXP architecture is unlikely to becomeirrelevant anytimesoon.AfterdescribingtheelementsoftheIXP1200architecture, the Software Develpment Kit (SDK) is presented, followed by ACE (the Active Computing Element abstraction), leading to a two-chapter introduction to microengine programming, followed byexamplesofusing ACE. The next generation of Intel’s network processors is briefly overviewed and compared to the IXP 1200.
network design and capacity planning, including a checklist to guide the reader throllgh a multiyear deployment strategy. A further neighboring topic concludes the hook, and is dedicated to broadband wireless access (BWA) systems (LMDS, MVDS, 802.16, HIPERACCESS, and satellite systems).
IP-Based Nexf-Generation Wireless Networks Jyh-Cheng Chen and Too Zhang, 2004, Wiley Interscience, ISBN 0-471 23526-1, 4 13 pages, hardcover In recent years, wireless networks have been evolving along two fronts: advances in radio communications and, at the other end, convergence with the IP infrastructure. Instrumental to the developments along the latter front have been protocols such as Mobile IP that provided solutions t o particular technical issues. The hook by Chen and
Zhang considers the influence of the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and 3GPP2 as a path toward the integration of 1P with wireless networks because the corresponding wireless infrastructures increasingly provide for natively supporting packet switching. The book captures the current state of affairs with respect t o protocols related to or influenced by wireless technologies. The collection of presented protocols follows four distinct themes. Each one is pursued in a rather parallel fashion, one foot on the IP side and one on the 3GPPi3GPP2 side, pointing out with examples how 3GPP accommodates for the IP side or can be used in conjunction with IP. The first theme, signaling, spans SIP, SDP, and the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) architecture, services, and end-to-end flow signaling. The second theme, mobility management, spans location management, roaming, handoff, and the protocols Mobile IPv4 (including registration and paging
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extensions), mobility in IPv6, mobility management using SIP, cellular IP, and HAWAII, while on the 3GPP side we find a description of packet mobility management (PMM) and related topics. The third theme, security, covers PKI, IPSec, and AAA, recapping security as implemented i n GSM, IS-41, and GPRS, and extending over t o 3GPP security, which is clearly heavily influenced by GSM's security architecture. Finally, the quality of service (QoS) theme is a distilled description of IntServ and DiffServ, as well as policybased QoS, as far as the IP side is concerned, while QoS in 3GPP/3GPP2 is exemplified in the UMTS QoS model, and how 3GPP2's QoS architecture cnvisions providing QoS qualifiers.
Malware, Fighting Malicious
Code Ed Skoudis [with Lenny Zeltser), 2004, Pearson / Prentice Hall, ISBN 0-13IO 14056,647, softcover Malware is defined as any kind of malicious executable code, authored specifically for its ability to disrupt the
normal or intended operation of computing infrastructure and services. What distinguishes malware is the fact that, as with any executable code, its potential is a function of the author'siattacker's sophistication; thus, a very wide range of techniques are included under the umbrella definition; some familiar (virii), Some less so (kernel-level manipulation). T h e book authored by Ed Skoudis, including chapters contributed by Lenny Zeltser, recognizes that the quick.proliferation of malware in various forms requires a certain level of automation t o be addressed. It is very telling of the nature of the problem that citations throughout the book go not only to peer-reviewed conferences and journals hut also to "zines" of communities populated by interested parties, including a plethora of W e b pages. Almost equal emphasis is placed on Windows and UNIX, clearly illustrating that UNIX systems are not inherently immune. Numerous examples of how malware is structured and behaves are given throughout the book. T o guide the reader better, the chapters follow in almost one-to-one correspondence t o particular malware manifestations
(although some malware may fall into more than one category). We find one chapter dedicated to each topic: viruses, worms, malicious mobile code, backdoors, Trojan horses. The more refined form of a combined backdoorltrojan horse is also examined in the so called "Rootkits," covered in both their usermode (Chapter 7) and kernel-mode (Chapter 8) versions. While the book does not provide hope of an imminent victory over malware (in fact, it is rather sceptical of the agonizing pace at which antiviral software, the only popular medicine for malware, attempts to catch up t o increasingly sophisticated malware), it does present a tool chest for the anti-malware front, in the form of tools and practices available and immediately deployable today. An additional chapter features an approach to malware analysis, a "malware analysis laboratory" for the isolation and study of malware specimens. The references to numerous, sometimes familiar, examples makes the book easy to read even if approached casually, and there is more than enough technical content to convince any reader that malware is a very real and present threat. .
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and related areas. Po~itionrare at the aninant, arrociate or full proferror lkv4sl rfarting rpnn summer or fall 2004.The rurrerrful candidate would be appointed a faculty wsifioo (n&r the Department of E k t n r a l Engineeringorthe Department of Computer Science: a joint appomtment 15 pomble. Candidates must have 8 Ph.0. degree in Computer Science, El~tricalEngineering. Software En ineerin Computer En ineerin or equivalent Candidater should haw a firono .word o~reseax?teachino. an?extema?fmdina. A ridnificant
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