Caching Mechanisms Evolution in CCN Architectures

Abstract

Information-Centric Networks (ICN) see the future architecture of the internet (radical change) by using an information-driven model and integrating from the design the essential functionalities to reach the best performances. Current approaches to ICN employ in-network caching to minimize the latency of information retrieval. Any content distribution over the network will be decided by the caching strategy adopted either along the delivery path or off-path caching. In ICN, caching is a key component essential for improving the quality of service by bringing content as close as possible to customers and reducing network traffic thereby minimizing bottlenecks and waiting time for customers. Software-Defined Networks is characterized by a total separation between the forwarding and control planes, easy network programmability, support for existing applications and architectures, and even for the deployment of new architectures with an open exchange. ICN and SDN are both very active axes proposing solutions for the future architecture of the Internet but with two different starting points. Their integration certainly triggers a promising hybrid solution but generates challenges such as in-network caching and data-centric security functionalities from an SDN perspective. In return, ICN is a radical solution that requires an organizer/supervisor to be deployed on the architectures of existing networks. Because of this, in this paper, we present a comprehensive overview of the existing in-network caching mechanisms for CCN and SD-CCN architectures.