Secure User-Controlled Lightpath Provisioning with User-Controlled Identity Management

To allow user applications to securely make use of various lightpath resources distributed across multiple domains in a user-friendly and privacy-preserving way requires identity management functionality. Identity and attribute information has to be provided by the user to allow for authorized access to these resources. An identity management framework can facilitate such information exchange. We describe an architecture and prototype that allows the user to setup an end-to-end lightpath that spans multiple network domains while being in control of the personal credentials he has to provide for that purpose. The architecture combines the User-controlled lightpath paradigm with novel user-centric identity management technology. This combination allows the user transparent and non-intrusive access to multiple services that are required for reservation and utilization of network resources in order to setup ail end-to-end lightpath.