ADAPTIVE MULTI-INTERFACE USE FOR CONTENT NETWORKING

• US 20110090908A1
• Filed: 10/21/2009
• Published: 04/21/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/21/2009
• 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., Thornton, James D.
• Granted Patent: US 8,923,293 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/392
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/95 Retrieval from the web
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/12 Shortest path evaluation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/54 Organization of routing tables
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/70 Routing based on monitoring results
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/745 Address table lookup; Address filtering
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/748 using longest matching prefix
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4511 using domain name system [DNS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/63 Routing a service request depending on the request content or context
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/22 Parsing or analysis of headers

Abstract

One embodiment provides a system that forwards a packet with a hierarchically structured variable-length identifier (HSVLI) in a network. An HSVLI indicates a piece of content and indicates a hierarchical structure of contiguous components ordered from a most general level to a most specific level. The length of the HSVLI is not fixed. During operation, the system receives a packet which contains an interest for a piece of content with an HSVLI. Subsequently, the system determines forwarding information for the HSVLI based on one or more of: knowledge of content which matches the HSVLI, a forwarding policy, and contextual information about the network. Next, the system configures a forwarding engine with the forwarding information. The system then forwards the packet based on the forwarding information.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for forwarding a packet with a hierarchically structured variable-length identifier (HSVLI) in a network, wherein the computer includes a processor, the method comprising:

receiving a packet which contains an interest for a piece of content with an HSVLI,

wherein the HSVLI indicates a piece of content and is hierarchically structured, and comprises contiguous components ordered from a most general level to a most specific level; and

wherein the length of a respective HSVLI is not fixed;

determining forwarding information for the HSVLI based on one or more of;

knowledge of content which matches the HSVLI;

a forwarding policy; and

contextual information about the network;

configuring a forwarding engine with the forwarding information; and

forwarding the packet based on the forwarding information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein knowledge of content which matches the HSVLI comprises one or more of:

location of content which matches the HSVLI;

availability of content which matches the HSVLI; and

importance or priority of content which matches the HSVLI.

3. The method of claim 2,

wherein one or more components of the HSVLI comprise a domain name system (DNS) name;

and

wherein determining the forwarding information comprises determining an output interface based on the DNS name in the HSVLI.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the policy comprises one or more of:

a policy rule on content which matches the HSVLI;

a security constraint on content which matches the HSVLI; and

a strategy rule to discover a source of content which matches the HSVLI.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein contextual information comprises information about one or more of:

physical layer connectivity, which includes one or more of;

a WiFi connectivity, a local-area network (LAN) connectivity, a wide-area network (WAN) connectivity, and other wired or wireless connectivity;

a peer node which is likely to store content which matches the HSVLI;

network costs;

network latency; and

battery status.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the configuration of the forwarding engine with the forwarding information is in response to one or more of:

a status change of the local network;

execution of a routing protocol based on information received from another node in the network; and

receiving statistical information indicating delay associated with one or more output interfaces.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

periodically or continually updating a database used to determine forwarding information by discovering nodes in the network; and

establishing a secure tunnel with a discovered node to receive the content.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein a component in the hierarchical structure comprises one or more of:

a globally routable name;

an organizational name;

a version identifier; and

a digest.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising forwarding a packet through multiple output interfaces simultaneously.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving contextual and policy information from a node and virally propagating the contextual and policy information to another node.

11. An apparatus for forwarding a packet with a hierarchically structured variable-length identifier (HSVLI) in a network comprising:

a processor;

a memory;

a receiving mechanism configured to receive a packet which contains an interest for a piece of content with an HSVLI,

wherein the HSVLI indicates a piece of content and is hierarchically structured, and comprises contiguous components ordered from a most general level to a most specific level; and

wherein the length of a respective HSVLI is not fixed;

a determining mechanism configured to determine forwarding information for the HSVLI based on one or more of;

knowledge of content which matches the HSVLI;

a forwarding policy; and

contextual information about the network;

a configuring mechanism configured to configure a forwarding engine with the forwarding information; and

a forwarding mechanism configured to forward the packet based on the forwarding information.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein knowledge of content which matches the HSVLI comprises one or more of:

location of content which matches the HSVLI;

availability of content which matches the HSVLI; and

importance or priority of content which matches the HSVLI.

13. The apparatus of claim 12,

wherein one or more components of the HSVLI comprise a domain name system (DNS) name;

and

wherein determining the forwarding information comprises determining an output interface based on the DNS name in the HSVLI.

14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the policy comprises one or more of:

a policy rule on content which matches the HSVLI;

a security constraint on content which matches the HSVLI; and

a strategy rule to discover a source of content which matches the HSVLI.

15. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein contextual information comprises information about one or more of:

physical layer connectivity, which includes one or more of;

a WiFi connectivity, a local-area network (LAN) connectivity, a wide-area network (WAN) connectivity, and other wired or wireless connectivity;

a peer node which is likely to store content which matches the HSVLI;

network costs;

network latency; and

battery status.

16. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the configuration of the forwarding engine with the forwarding information is in response to one or more of:

a status change of the local network;

execution of a routing protocol based on information received from another node in the network; and

receiving statistical information indicating delay associated with one or more output interfaces.

17. The apparatus of claim 11 further configured to:

periodically or continually update a database used to determine forwarding information by discovering nodes in the network; and

establish a secure tunnel with a discovered node to receive the content.

18. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein a component in the hierarchical structure comprises one or more of:

a globally routable name;

an organizational name;

a version identifier; and

a digest.

19. The apparatus of claim 11, further configured to forward a packet through multiple output interfaces simultaneously.

20. The apparatus of claim 11, further configured to receive contextual and policy information from a node and virally propagate the contextual and policy information to another node.

21. A computer-readable storage device storing instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method for forwarding a packet with a hierarchically structured variable-length identifier (HSVLI) in a network, the method comprising:

receiving a packet which contains an interest for a piece of content with an HSVLI,

wherein the HSVLI indicates a piece of content and is hierarchically structured, and comprises contiguous components ordered from a most general level to a most specific level; and

wherein the length of a respective HSVLI is not fixed;

determining forwarding information for the HSVLI based on one or more of;

knowledge of content which matches the HSVLI;

a forwarding policy; and

contextual information about the network;

configuring a forwarding engine with the forwarding information; and

forwarding the packet based on the forwarding information.

22. The device of claim 21, wherein knowledge of content which matches the HSVLI comprises one or more of:

location of content which matches the HSVLI;

availability of content which matches the HSVLI; and

importance or priority of content which matches the HSVLI.

23. The device of claim 22,

wherein one or more components of the HSVLI comprise a domain name system (DNS) name;

and

wherein determining the forwarding information comprises determining an output interface based on the DNS name in the HSVLI.

24. The device of claim 21, wherein the policy comprises one or more of:

a policy rule on content which matches the HSVLI;

a security constraint on content which matches the HSVLI; and

a strategy rule to discover a source of content which matches the HSVLI.