Kademlia-directed ID-based Routing Architecture (KIRA)

This document describes the Kademlia-directed ID-based Routing Architecture KIRA. KIRA is a scalable zero-touch distributed routing solution that is tailored to control planes. It prioritizes scalable and resilient connectivity over route efficiency (stretched paths are acceptable vs. routing protocol overhead). KIRA's self-assigned topological independent IDs can be embedded into IPv6 addresses. Combined with further self-organization mechanisms from Kademlia, KIRA achieves a zero-touch solution that provides scalable IPv6 connectivity without requiring any manual configuration. For example, it can connect hundreds of thousands of routers and devices in a single network without requiring any form of hierarchy (like areas). It works well in various topologies and is loop-free even during convergence. This self-contained solution, and especially the independence from any manual configuration, make it suitable as resilient base for all management and control tasks, allowing to recover from the most complex failure scenarios. The architecture consists of the ID-based network layer routing protocol R²/Kad in its Routing Tier (using source routing) and a PathID-based Forwarding Tier (using PathIDs as labels for paths). KIRA’s tightly integrated add-on services (e.g., name resolution as well as fast and efficient topology discovery) provide a perfect basis for autonomic network management solutions.