Information-centric Networking Model Research Articles

ICN-Oriented Mobility Support Method for Dynamic Allocation of Mobile Data Flows

Information-centric networking (ICN) is a promising solution that can meet the challenges of IP-based networks. ICN adopts the solution of separating name and address to solve the dual semantics problem of IP addresses, which has natural advantages in supporting mobility. These mobility support methods in ICN have realized route optimization to a certain extent. In fact, due to these methods not considering the real-time network environment, such as the bandwidth of the switching path and the characteristics of different mobile data flows, these approaches adopt the same routing optimization solution for all data flows generated by mobile users, resulting in a single switching path. The bandwidth of a single switching path may not meet the transmission requirements of mobile data flows, which will greatly affect the performance of mobile users. Therefore, how to efficiently allocate switching paths for multiple mobile data flows generated by mobile users is an urgent problem in ICN mobility support. In this paper, we first propose a mobility support method for dynamically allocating mobile data flows (DAFM) based on the ICN mobility support architecture and model the mobile data flow allocation problem as a late-binding node selection problem. We then propose a double-constraints heuristic algorithm (DCHA) based on the Moser algorithm. By simultaneously adjusting the bandwidth resource constraints of the switching path and the space resource constraints of the Mobility Flow Table (MFT), we achieve late-binding node selection to minimize average packet delay. Finally, experimental results show that our proposal can achieve mobility support. Under the guarantee of a low-latency Name Resolution System (NRS), our method outperforms other methods in terms of average packet delay, packet loss rate, and handover delay.

A Lightweight Forwarding Strategy for Named Data Networking in Low-end IoT

The proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT) devices has given a new dimension to networking operations. In fact, IoT issues in terms of complex communication patterns, dynamic topologies and security force to re-think basic networking operations in a more adapted way. Moreover, the IoT needs contribute to show the limitations of the IP model to support content-based applications, and the emergence of the Information Centric Networking (ICN) paradigm seems to be more compliant with the IoT vision. In this context, to enable the ICN model in IoT devices, we present a lightweight forwarding strategy for Named Data Networking (NDN) over IEEE 802.15.4. NDN is an ICN architecture with a great potential for the IoT and future Internet. This paper presents a forwarding strategy that reduces network overhead to the bare minimum, while keeping satisfactory performance in different IoT application scenarios. To forward named contents without node addresses, the strategy is based on a reinforcement learning technique that provides an accurate broadcast-based forwarding with a reduced overhead.

Security and Privacy Challenges in Information-Centric Wireless Internet of Things Networks

The information-centric networking model uses content as the fundamental element, which can be cached and redistributed within the network. In a large-scale, wireless Internet of Things network, this improves efficiency significantly, but also renders many host-centric security solutions obsolete. This article discusses security and privacy challenges in a merged paradigm.

A Context-Aware Green Information-Centric Networking Model for Future Wireless Communications

This research proposes a novel wireless information-centric networking (ICN) architecture, namely, Context-Aware Green ICN Model (CAGIM), which can adapt the power consumption of network nodes to optimized values according to the associated link utilization. The power adaption in ICN nodes is conducted through dynamically adjusting the link-rate corresponding to content popularity and traffic load to reduce wasteful energy consumption. Moreover, we propose a smart popularity-based caching strategy, called distinguished caching scheme (DCS), with the introduction of hot and cold-caching partitions of ICN node’s cache storage for popular and non-popular content objects, respectively. DCS improves the content diversity of the cache storage by adjusting, for each content, the number of chunks to be cached at ICN nodes based on its type and popularity level. DCS thus can further decrease the network system power consumption, thanks to its improved cache hit that reduces network traffic load. Toward the goal of realizing a context-aware green wireless network system with efficient content delivery, we also design a Wi-Fi Direct based scheme as an alternative approach to minimize power consumption and latency by sharing essential/important content objects via direct communications with power-saving mechanisms in the case that wireless local area network connections are not available. The evaluation results show that CAGIM can improve network efficiency by reducing both hop-count and power consumption considerably compared with existing wireless network systems with different well-known caching schemes. This proposal enables a flexible and efficient content delivery mechanism for future networks with various real-life scenarios, like Green building, Green company, and Green campus content accesses.

Information resilience: source recovery in an information-centric network

Recent years have witnessed explosive growth in traffic demands combined with evolving content characteristics and dissemination patterns. This growth has resulted in an increasing demand for information identification as well as information-based communication functions that can meet this evolution. Consequently, information-centric networking envisions a shift in the future Internet communication paradigm from relying on the notion of an end node toward making information itself the primary object. This is realized by adopting information as the primary identifier of a user's demand. With this new concept in networking, new (information- focused) solutions can be developed to conventional problems found in IP networks, such as resilient content delivery. In this article we introduce a novel resiliency solution that goes beyond the scope of path recovery to tackle source failure scenarios in order to achieve the more general form of information resilience. We show that by utilizing the knowledge of information, offered by a publish/subscribe information-centric networking model, multiple publishers of a single information item can be natively identified, thereby allowing for recovery of the delivery process using alternative publishers should a publisher fail.

Value networks and two-sided markets of Internet content delivery

The volume and importance of content is increasing in the Internet, whereas the ability of the Internet architecture to scale to the growing demand for transport capacity is uncertain. Even though the natural growth in the demand continues, the growth in traffic volumes can be limited by reducing unnecessary content copying and redundant transportation of the same content. Information-centric networking (ICN), featuring globally unique naming of content and optimized in-network caching, has been suggested as a potential future solution to significantly reduce unnecessary traffic, but its economic feasibility has not been widely studied. This paper evaluates the economic feasibility of ICN by using the two-sided markets theory to analyze four Internet content delivery models: the client-server model, content delivery network (CDN) model, peer-to-peer model and ICN model. Value networks and two-sided markets of these content delivery models are identified in the process. The results suggest that content providers can be willing to pay for the lower delay of content delivery in ICN, if ICN can solve its coordination problems related to cost-allocation, contracting, quality of service guarantees, and content usage statistics. These incentive challenges are essentially the same as in-network web caching originally faced and could not overcome. Internet access providers may also consider investing in the deployment of ICN due to reduced interconnection costs. However, the ICN model may require a revenue-creating business model to make it more attractive to Internet access providers than the CDN model that provides similar cost savings.