CONTROLLING THE SPREAD OF INTERESTS AND CONTENT IN A CONTENT CENTRIC NETWORK

• US 20160380970A1
• Filed: 09/09/2016
• Published: 12/29/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/16/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Palo Alto Research Center, Inc. (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Jacobson, Van L., Smetters, Diana K.
• Granted Patent: US 10,104,041 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/173 using an interconnection network, e.g. matrix, shuffle, pyramid, star, snowflake
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/08 Learning-based routing, e.g. using neural networks or artificial intelligence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/74 Address processing for routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/20 Traffic policing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/32 by discarding or delaying data units, e.g. packets or frames
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0227 Filtering policies mail message filtering H04L51/212
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/06 for supporting key management in a packet data network cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for key management H04L9/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/123 received data contents, e.g. message integrity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1458 Denial of Service
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/20 for managing network security; network security policies in general filtering policies H04L63/0227
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/63 Routing a service request depending on the request content or context
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/006 involving public key infrastructure [PKI] trust models network architecture or network communication protocol for supporting authentication of entities using certificates in a packet data network H04L63/0823
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/14 using a plurality of keys or algorithms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/30 Public key, i.e. encryption algorithm being computationally infeasible to invert or user's encryption keys not requiring secrecy
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3247 involving digital signatures

Abstract

One embodiment of the present invention provides a system for controlling the spread of interests and content in a content centric network (CCN). During operation, the system maintains a routing policy for content data. The system also receives a packet associated with a piece of content or an interest for the content. Next, the system determines that the structured name included in the packet is within the namespace specified in the routing policy. The system further determines that the packet satisfies the condition in the routing policy. Subsequently, the system routes the packet based on in part the action corresponding to the condition as specified in the routing policy.

Claims

1. A computer-executed method for controlling the spread of interests and content in a network, comprising:

receiving a packet including a piece of content or an interest for the content, wherein the packet further includes a hierarchically structured variable-length identifier (HSVLI) of the content;

identifying, using a longest-matching lookup of the HSVLI, a routing policy applicable to a longest matching prefix of the identifier, wherein the routing policy specifies a condition associated with an originating entity or destination entity of the packet, and a forwarding action corresponding to the condition; and

in response to determining that the prefix matches the identifier and that the originating entity or destination entity of the packet satisfies the condition in the routing policy, forwarding the packet according to the forwarding action specified in the routing policy.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the forwarding action comprises one or more of:

dropping content packets, thereby preventing creation of content with a certain name;

dropping interest packets, thereby preventing interests from circulating;

forwarding the packet to another node;

copying or redirecting the packet;

deferring action on the packet; and

applying a default policy when no conditions match.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the originating entity or destination entity of the packet satisfies the condition comprises matching an identity of a signer of the content by using a public key or a credential held by the signer of the content.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising defeating a denial-of-service attack against a policy enforcement system by greylisting the public key so that automatic retrieval of the public key is deferred.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the originating entity or destination entity of the packet satisfies the condition comprises matching an identity of a node generating the interest by using a public key.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the originating entity or destination entity of the packet satisfies the condition comprises matching a publisher of the content or a consumer of the content.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the originating entity or destination entity of the packet satisfies the condition comprises matching one or more of:

a network interface on which the packet arrived; and

a network address indicating where the packet is originated or destined.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising stochastically verifying the routing policy by router nodes, thus enabling an overall expected level of policy compliance and verification.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising propagating the routing policy to an upstream node, whereby the upstream node can optionally enforce the routing policy and filter content.

10. An apparatus for controlling the spread of interests and content in a network, comprising:

a processor;

a memory;

a receiving mechanism configured to receive a packet including a piece of content or an interest for the content, wherein the packet further includes a hierarchically structured variable-length identifier (HSVLI) of the content;

an identifying mechanism configured to identify, using a longest-matching lookup of the HSVLI, a routing policy applicable to a longest matching prefix of the identifier, wherein the routing policy specifies a condition associated with an originating entity or destination entity of the packet, and a forwarding action corresponding to the condition;

a forwarding mechanism configured, in response to determining that the prefix matches the identifier and that the originating entity or destination entity of the packet satisfies the condition in the routing policy, to forward the packet according to the forwarding action specified in the routing policy.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein while forwarding the packet, the forwarding mechanism is configured to perform one or more of the following operations:

dropping content packets, thereby preventing creation of content with a certain name;

dropping interest packets, thereby preventing interests from circulating;

forwarding the packet to another node;

copying or redirect the packet;

deferring action on the packet; and

applying a default policy when no conditions match.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein while determining that the originating entity or destination entity of the packet satisfies the condition, the forwarding mechanism is configured to match an identity of a signer of the content by using a public key or a credential held by the signer of the content.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein while matching the identity by using the public key, the forwarding mechanism is configured to defeat a denial-of-service attack against a policy enforcement system by greylisting the public key so that automatic retrieval of the public key is deferred.

14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein while determining that the originating entity or destination entity of the packet satisfies the condition, the forwarding mechanism is configured to match an identity of a node generating the interest by using a public key.

15. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein while determining that the originating entity or destination entity of the packet satisfies the condition, the forwarding mechanism is configured to match a publisher of the content or a consumer of the content.

16. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein while determining that the originating entity or destination entity of the packet satisfies the condition, the forwarding mechanism is configured to match one or more of:

a network interface on which the packet arrived; and

a network address indicating where the packet is originated or destined.

17. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein while determining that the originating entity or destination entity of the packet satisfies the condition, the forwarding mechanism is configured to verify stochastically the routing policy by router nodes, thus enabling an overall expected level of policy compliance and verification.

18. A computer-readable storage device storing instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method for controlling the spread of interests and content in a network, the method comprising:

receiving a packet including a piece of content or an interest for the content, wherein the packet further includes a hierarchically structured variable-length identifier (HSVLI) of the content;

identifying, using a longest-matching lookup of the HSVLI, a routing policy applicable to a longest matching prefix of the identifier, wherein the routing policy specifies a condition associated with an originating entity or destination entity of the packet, and a forwarding action corresponding to the condition; and

in response to determining that the prefix matches the identifier and that the originating entity or destination entity of the packet satisfies the condition in the routing policy, forwarding the packet according to the forwarding action specified in the routing policy.

19. The storage device of claim 18, wherein routing the packet comprises one or more of:

dropping content packets, thereby preventing creation of content with a certain name;

dropping interest packets, thereby preventing interests from circulating;

forwarding the packet to another node;

copying or redirecting the packet;

deferring action on the packet; and

applying a default policy when no conditions match.

20. The storage device of claim 18, wherein determining that the originating entity or destination entity of the packet satisfies the condition comprises matching an identity of a signer of the content by using a public key or a credential held by the signer of the content.

21. The storage device of claim 20, wherein the method further comprises defeating a denial-of-service attack against a policy enforcement system by greylisting the public key so that automatic retrieval of the public key is deferred.

22. The storage device of claim 18, wherein determining that the originating entity or destination entity of the packet satisfies the condition comprises matching an identity of a node generating the interest by using a public key.

23. The storage device of claim 18, wherein determining that the originating entity or destination entity of the packet satisfies the condition comprises matching a publisher of the content or a consumer of the content.

24. The storage device of claim 18, wherein determining that the originating entity or destination entity of the packet satisfies the condition comprises matching one or more of:

a network interface on which the packet arrived; and

a network address indicating where the packet is originated or destined.

25. The storage device of claim 18, wherein the method further comprises stochastically verifying the routing policy by router nodes, thus enabling an overall expected level of policy compliance and verification.