A Declarative and Modular Approach for Dynamic Link Layer Adaptation in Heterogeneous Networks

• Antônio Cleber de Sousa Araújo IFBA http://orcid.org/0009-0006-4766-7373
• Leobino N. Sampaio UFBA http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4855-0936

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5753/sbrc.2026.19983

Abstract

The data link layer of contemporary networks remains tightly coupled to technology-specific mechanisms and low-level configuration models, which limits its ability to support dynamic adaptation and incremental evolution. This paper proposes a declarative and modular approach for dynamic adaptation at L2, grounded in a clear separation between declarative specification and technological realization. Through the L2i language, the approach enables applications and protocols to express link-layer communication requirements in an abstract and technology-agnostic manner. The proposal is evaluated in a realistic experimental testbed built with native Linux isolation primitives (network namespaces and veth links) and real control/data-plane mechanisms, encompassing Linux traffic control, NETCONF/YANG, and P4-based domains. The results indicate improved predictability, flow isolation, and stability under contention, at the cost of a limited and controlled operational overhead. These findings demonstrate that declarative approaches at the data link layer are both technically viable and relevant for modern network architectures.

References

Birrittella, M. S., Debbage, M., Huggahalli, R., Kunz, J., Lovett, T., Rimmer, T., Underwood, K. D., and Zak, R. C. (2016). Enabling scalable high-performance systems with the intel omni-path architecture. IEEE Micro, 36(4):38–47.

Dominicini, C., Mafioletti, D., Locateli, A. C., Villaca, R., Martinello, M., Ribeiro, M., and Gorodnik, A. (2020). Polka: Polynomial key-based architecture for source routing in network fabrics. In 2020 6th IEEE Conference on Network Softwarization (NetSoft), pages 326–334.

Gatouillat, A., Badr, Y., and Massot, B. (2018). Qos-driven self-adaptation for critical iot-based systems. In Service-Oriented Computing – ICSOC 2017 Workshops: ASOCA, ISyCC, WESOACS, and Satellite Events, Málaga, Spain, November 13–16, 2017, Revised Selected Papers, page 93–105, Berlin, Heidelberg. Springer-Verlag.

Gonzalez, L. F., Vidal, I., Valera, F., Martin, R., and Artalejo, D. (2023). A link-layer virtual networking solution for cloud-native network function virtualisation ecosystems: L2s-m. Future Internet, 15(8).

Han, L. and Li, R. (2023). On the study of internet ossification, impacts, and solutions. In International Journal on Advances in Networks and Services, vol 16 no 3 & 4, year 2023, pages 53–62, Berlin, Heidelberg. Springer-Verlag.

Huang, J., Chen, Z., Wang, Y., Li, H., Li, Z., Wang, Q., Li, S., He, Z., and Jiang, W. (2024). Achieving high efficiency for datacenter multicast using skewed bloom filter. In Proceedings of the 53rd International Conference on Parallel Processing, ICPP ’24, page 1227–1236, New York, NY, USA. Association for Computing Machinery.

Iyengar, J. and Thomson, M. (2021). QUIC: A UDP-Based Multiplexed and Secure Transport. RFC 9000.

Jacobs, A. S., Pfitscher, R. J., Ribeiro, R. H., Ferreira, R. A., Granville, L. Z., Willinger, W., and Rao, S. G. (2021). Hey, lumi! using natural language for Intent-Based network management. In 2021 USENIX Annual Technical Conference (USENIX ATC 21), pages 625–639. USENIX Association.

Maurya, S., Tiwari, N. K., and Gupta, S. C. (2018). Layered software defined networking. In Janyani, V., Tiwari, M., Singh, G., and Minzioni, P., editors, Optical and Wireless Technologies, pages 351–362, Singapore. Springer Singapore.

Mekrache, A. and Ksentini, A. (2024). Llm-enabled intent-driven service configuration for next generation networks. In 2024 IEEE 10th International Conference on Network Softwarization (NetSoft), pages 253–257.

Patetta, M., Secci, S., and Taktak, S. (2022). A lightweight southbound interface for standalone p4-netfpga smartnics. In 2022 1st International Conference on 6G Networking (6GNet), pages 1–4.

Sampaio, L., Freitas, A., Brito, I., Araújo, F., and Ribeiro, A. (2021). Revisitando as ICNs: Mobilidade, Segurança e Aplicações Distribuídas através das Redes de Dados Nomeados. Minicursos do XXXIX Simpósio Brasileiro de Redes de Computadores e Sistemas Distribuídos, pages 51–100.

Xue, X., Pan, B., Agraz, F., Pagès, A., Guo, X., Yan, F., Spadaro, S., and Calabretta, N. (2020). Sdn-enabled reconfigurable optical data center network with automatic network slicing to provision dynamic qos. In 2020 European Conference on Optical Communications (ECOC), pages 1–4.