Tango or Square Dance? How Tightly Should we Integrate Network Functionality in Browsers?

TL;DR

This paper explores the optimal layer for integrating network functionality, advocating for browsers as a promising platform for network innovation, demonstrated through a geo-fenced browsing prototype using SCION.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach to embed network features directly into browsers, leveraging path-aware networking for user-driven, OS-agnostic functionalities.

Findings

Geo-fenced browsing is feasible with minimal performance impact.

Browser-based network functionality can be effectively implemented using SCION.

The approach offers a new layer of network innovation directly within browsers.

Abstract

The question at which layer network functionality is presented or abstracted remains a research challenge. Traditionally, network functionality was either placed into the core network, middleboxes, or into the operating system -- but recent developments have expanded the design space to directly introduce functionality into the application (and in particular into the browser) as a way to expose it to the user. Given the context of emerging path-aware networking technology, an interesting question arises: which layer should handle the new features? We argue that the browser is becoming a powerful platform for network innovation, where even user-driven properties can be implemented in an OS-agnostic fashion. We demonstrate the feasibility of geo-fenced browsing using a prototype browser extension, realized by the SCION path-aware networking architecture, without introducing any significant performance overheads.