This system is called CoralReef [CR99]. It has been created by the CAIDA research team in San Diego, USA [CAI99]. The aim of this software is to provide an application program interface (API) that allows a common programming interface to different low level passive monitoring systems. Many network technologies are supported by CoralReef, which then presents a common interface to these interfaces to the application. CoralReef provides the same API for use on both live networks, and a range of trace files formats, including the libpcap file format.
The DAG group are aiming for support under CoralReef for their range of hardware solutions. This should provide CoralReef with the ability to use high accuracy hardware solutions. This makes CoralReef a comprehensive system to write monitoring applications for. The ability to write software once, that will run on a large range of monitoring systems is a large benefit to a research project. Once fully completed CoralReef, in my opinion, will provide a interface that allows extremely quick development of specialist monitoring software, with out requiring the need to redesign or re-implement the low level monitoring system.