I2NeT (Image to Network) 🖼️ ➡️ 📊

I2NeT is the reverse companion to NeT2I. It decodes RGB images created from network traffic data back into structured tabular form. This enhanced version supports both IPv4 and IPv6 network data with intelligent adaptive decoding.

🧩 Important: I2NeT decodes only the format output by NeT2I. Images from other tools will not decode correctly.

✨ Features

• 🔁 Bi-directional Processing: Reverses RGB images generated by NeT2I into CSV-format network traffic data
• 🌐 Dual IP Support: Handles both IPv4 and IPv6 network addresses seamlessly
• 📅 Timestamp Reconstruction: Automatically detects and merges 6-component datetime fields (Year, Month, Day, Hour, Minute, Second) into ISO format
• 🧠 Adaptive Decoding: Automatically detects data structure and adjusts decoding strategy
• 🎯 Smart Type Detection: Uses filename prefixes (ipv4_, ipv6_) for automatic protocol detection
• 💡 Comprehensive Data Types:
  • IPv4 addresses (4 octets from 8 RGB pixels)
  • IPv6 addresses (16 bytes from 6 RGB pixels)
  • MAC addresses (6 bytes from 4 RGB pixels)
  • Integers and floats (IEEE 754 from 2 RGB pixels)
  • Strings (via consistent hash representations)
• 🔧 Flexible Configuration: Supports separate type definitions for IPv4 and IPv6
• 📊 Batch Processing: Handles multiple image sets with progress tracking
• 🛡️ Error Resilience: Graceful handling of incomplete or corrupted data

📋 Requirements

• Python 3.9+
• Dependencies:
  • Pillow
  • NumPy
  • Standard library modules (struct, json, csv, glob, ipaddress, dateutil)

🚀 Installation

# Install required dependencies
pip install pillow numpy

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/omeshF/I2NeT.git
cd I2NeT

📁 Directory Structure

Organize your PNG images with proper naming conventions:

data/
├── ipv4_0.png          # IPv4 data images
├── ipv4_1.png
├── ipv4_2.png
├── ipv6_0.png          # IPv6 data images  
├── ipv6_1.png
├── ipv6_2.png
├── data_types.json     # IPv4 type definitions (optional)
└── data_types_ipv6.json # IPv6 type definitions (optional)

🎯 Usage

Basic Usage

import i2net

# Decode all images in directory
results = i2net.decode(
    data_directory='data',
    output_csv='decoded_network_data.csv'
)

print(f"✅ Processed {results['total_images_processed']} images")
print(f"📊 Generated {results['total_rows']} data rows")

Advanced Configuration

import i2net

# Custom configuration with separate type files
results = i2net.decode(
    data_directory='network_images',
    output_csv='reconstructed_data.csv',
    types_file_ipv4='ipv4_schema.json',
    types_file_ipv6='ipv6_schema.json',
    verbose=True
)

# Access detailed breakdown
print(f"IPv4 rows: {results['ipv4_rows']}")
print(f"IPv6 rows: {results['ipv6_rows']}")
print(f"Success: {results['success']}")

Single Image Decoding

import i2net

# Decode individual image
values = i2net.decode_single(
    image_path='data/ipv6_0.png',
    is_ipv6=True
)
print(f"Decoded values: {values}")

# Auto-detect from filename
values = i2net.decode_single('data/ipv4_5.png')  # Auto-detects IPv4

Using the Enhanced Decoder Class

from i2net import EnhancedI2NeT_Decoder

# Create decoder instance
decoder = EnhancedI2NeT_Decoder(
    types_file_ipv4='data_types.json',
    types_file_ipv6='data_types_ipv6.json'
)

# Process different datasets
results = decoder.load_data('network_captures', verbose=True)

# Decode specific image
reconstructed = decoder.decode_single_image('capture_001.png', is_ipv6=False)

🔍 Decoding Logic

Adaptive Decoding Features

• Truncation Handling: Gracefully processes incomplete data by treating remaining pixels as floats
• Type Detection: Automatically determines data structure from available RGB pixel count
• Fallback Strategy: Uses generic float decoding when type information is unavailable
• Mixed Protocol Support: Handles datasets containing both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses

📊 Output Files

🛠️ Type Definition Files

Create JSON files to guide the decoding process:

data_types.json (IPv4):

{
  "original_types": ["Float", "String", "IPv4 Address"],
  "final_types": ["Float", "Float", "Float", "Float", "Float", "Float", "Float", "IPv4 Address", "IPv4 Address", "IPv4 Address", "IPv4 Address"],
  "encoding_info": {
    "description": "Data type mapping for decoding - IPv4 version",
    "datetime_handling": "Detected timestamps split into 6 columns: Y,M,D,H,M,S"
  }
}

data_types_ipv6.json (IPv6):

{
  "original_types": ["Float", "String", "IPv6 Address", "MAC Address"],
  "final_types": ["Float", "Float", "Float", "Float", "Float", "Float", "Float", "IPv6 Address", "MAC Address", "MAC Address", "Float"]
}

⚡ Performance & Compatibility

• Multi-format Support: PNG, JPG, JPEG, BMP, TIFF
• Batch Processing: Progress tracking for large datasets
• Memory Efficient: Processes images sequentially to minimize memory usage
• Error Recovery: Continues processing even if individual images fail

🚨 Important Notes

1. NeT2I Compatibility: Only works with images generated by NeT2I
2. Filename Conventions: Use ipv4_ and ipv6_ prefixes for automatic protocol detection
3. Type Files: Optional but recommended for accurate IP and MAC address reconstruction
4. Image Order: Files are sorted numerically when possible, alphabetically otherwise
5. Timestamps: Ensure your net2i version encodes timestamps as 6 components

🎯 Use Cases

This enhanced I2NeT decoder is ideal for:

• Network Security Analysis: Reconstructing network traffic from image-encoded datasets
• Machine Learning Workflows: Converting CNN-processed network images back to structured data
• Data Integrity Verification: Validating image-encoded datasets before training
• Mixed Protocol Datasets: Handling modern networks with both IPv4 and IPv6 traffic
• Forensic Analysis: Recovering network data from visual representations
• Temporal Traffic Analysis: Reconstructing timestamps for time-series analysis

📚 API Reference

Main Functions

• decode(data_directory, output_csv, ...) - Main decoding function
• decode_single(image_path, ...) - Single image decoder
• load_data_with_ipv4_ipv6_support(...) - Enhanced loader with dual IP support
• get_decoder(...) - Factory function for decoder instances

Classes

• EnhancedI2NeT_Decoder - Main decoder class with advanced features

📖 Citation

If you use I2NeT or NeT2I in your research, please cite:

@inproceedings{fernando2023new,
  title={New algorithms for the detection of malicious traffic in 5g-mec},
  author={Fernando, Omesh A and Xiao, Hannan and Spring, Joseph},
  booktitle={2023 IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference (WCNC)},
  pages={1--6},
  year={2023},
  organization={IEEE}
}

👥 Authors

• Omesh Fernando

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

🔗 Related Project: NeT2I - Convert network data to images