ENERGY-EFFICIENT CONTENT RETRIEVAL IN CONTENT-CENTRIC NETWORKS

• US 20120155348A1
• Filed: 12/16/2010
• Published: 06/21/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/16/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.), Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Palo Alto Research Center, Inc. (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Jacobson, Van L.
• Granted Patent: US 8,644,211 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/311
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/10 Current supply arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/30 Managing network names, e.g. use of aliases or nicknames name-to-address mapping H04L61/45
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching

Abstract

One embodiment of the present invention provides a system including a mobile device and a content-retrieving agent for facilitating energy-efficient content retrieval. During operation, the mobile device receives a request for a piece of content from a user. In response to the request, the mobile device forwards the request to the content-retrieving agent which is configured to obtain the requested content from a remote device on behalf of the mobile device. The system allows the mobile device'"'"'s receiver to be placed in an energy-saving sleep mode when the content-retrieving agent is obtaining the requested content for the mobile device and is not transmitting the content to the mobile device. The system allows the mobile device'"'"'s receiver to wake up when the content-retrieving agent is transmitting the content to the mobile device. The mobile device receives the content from the content-retrieving agent.

Claims

1. A computer-executable method, comprising:

receiving, at a mobile device, a request for a piece of content from a user;

in response to the request, forwarding the request to a content-retrieving agent which is configured to obtain the requested content from a remote device on behalf of the mobile device;

allowing the mobile device'"'"'s receiver to be placed in an energy-saving sleep mode when the content-retrieving agent is obtaining the requested content for the mobile device and is not transmitting the content to the mobile device;

allowing the mobile device'"'"'s receiver to wake up when the content-retrieving agent is transmitting the content to the mobile device; and

receiving the content, at the mobile device, from the content-retrieving agent.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile device, the content-retrieving agent, and/or the remote device are coupled to each other via a content-centric network (CCN).

3. The method of claim 2,

wherein forwarding the request to the content-retrieving agent involves the mobile device performing a lookup based on the content'"'"'s name;

and

wherein the content is mapped to the content-retrieving agent, regardless of whether or not the content is stored on the content-retrieving agent.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein obtaining the content from the remote device involves the content-retrieving agent identifying the remote device by performing a lookup based on the content'"'"'s name.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiver is placed in the energy-efficient sleep mode for a predetermined amount of time before waking up.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising notifying the content-retrieving agent that the receiver is waking up and is ready to receive the content.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile device starts receiving the content from the content-retrieving agent after the content-retrieving agent obtains at least part of the content.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a cached copy of the content from the content-retrieving agent at a later time.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method, the method comprising:

receiving, at a mobile device, a request for a piece of content from a user;

in response to the request, forwarding the request to a content-retrieving agent which is configured to obtain the requested content from a remote device on behalf of the mobile device;

allowing the mobile device'"'"'s receiver to be placed in an energy-saving sleep mode when the content-retrieving agent is obtaining the requested content for the mobile device and is not transmitting the content to the mobile device;

allowing the mobile device'"'"'s receiver to wake up when the content-retrieving agent is transmitting the content to the mobile device; and

receiving the content, at the mobile device, from the content-retrieving agent.

10. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the mobile device, the content-retrieving agent, and/or the remote device are coupled to each other via a content-centric network (CCN).

11. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10,

wherein forwarding the request to the content-retrieving agent involves the mobile device performing a lookup based on the content'"'"'s name;

and

wherein the content is mapped to the content-retrieving agent, regardless of whether or not the content is stored on the content-retrieving agent.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein obtaining the content from the remote device involves the content-retrieving agent identifying the remote device by performing a lookup based on the content'"'"'s name.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the receiver is placed in the energy-efficient sleep mode for a predetermined amount of time before waking up.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the method further comprises notifying the content-retrieving agent that the receiver is waking up and is ready to receive the content.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the mobile device starts receiving the content from the content-retrieving agent after the content-retrieving agent obtains at least part of the content.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the method further comprises receiving a cached copy of the content from the content-retrieving agent at a later time.

17. A mobile device, comprising:

a request-receiving mechanism configured to receive a request for a piece of content from a user;

a forwarding mechanism configured to forward the request to a content-retrieving agent, which is configured to obtain the requested content from a remote device on behalf of the mobile device, in response to the request;

a receiver configured to receive the content from the content-retrieving agent; and

a power-management module configured to;

place the receiver in an energy-saving sleep mode when the

content-retrieving agent is obtaining the requested content for the mobile device and is not transmitting the content to the mobile device; and

wake up the receiver when the content-retrieving agent is transmitting the content to the mobile device.

18. The mobile device of claim 17, wherein the mobile device, the content-retrieving agent, and/or the remote device are coupled to each other via a content-centric network (CCN).

19. The mobile device of claim 18,

wherein the forwarding mechanism is configured to forward the request to the content-retrieving agent by performing a lookup based on the content'"'"'s name;

and

wherein the content is mapped to the content-retrieving agent regardless of whether or not the content is stored on the content-retrieving agent.

20. The mobile device of claim 18, wherein obtaining the content from the remote device involves the content-retrieving agent identifying the remote device by performing a lookup based on the content'"'"'s name.

21. The mobile device of claim 17, wherein the power-management module is configured to place the receiver in the energy-efficient sleep mode for a predetermined amount of time before waking up.

22. The mobile device of claim 17, further comprising a notification mechanism configured to notify the content-retrieving agent that the receiver is waking up and is ready to receive the content.

23. The mobile device of claim 17, wherein the receiver is configured to receive the content after the content-retrieving agent obtains at least a portion of the content.

24. The mobile device of claim 17, wherein the receiver is further configured to receive a cached copy of the content from the content-retrieving agent at a later time.