End-User Carried Location Hint for Content in Information-Centric Networks

• US 20140189060A1
• Filed: 01/03/2014
• Published: 07/03/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/03/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Futurewei Technologies Incorporated (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Futurewei Technologies Incorporated (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Westphal, Cedric
• Granted Patent: US 9,967,780 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/289 Intermediate processing functionally located close to the data consumer application, e.g. in same machine, in same home or in same sub-network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/63 Routing a service request depending on the request content or context
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0016 Hand-off preparation specially adapted for end-to-end data sessions
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/023 Buffering or recovering information during reselection
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information

Abstract

A method implemented by a network node coupled to a network, the method comprising inserting a location hint in a request for a content, wherein the location hint specifies one or more network locations that are known by the network node to hold at least part of the content, sending the request to the network, wherein the request comprises a content name that describes the content, and receiving a data message corresponding to the request from the network, wherein the data message comprises at least a portion of the content.

Claims

1. A method implemented by a network node coupled to a network, the method comprising:

inserting a location hint in a request for a content, wherein the location hint specifies one or more network locations that are known by the network node to hold at least part of the content;

sending the request to the network, wherein the request comprises a content name that describes the content; and

receiving a data message corresponding to the request from the network, wherein the data message comprises at least a portion of the content.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the request further comprises a probe flag inserted to test the one or more network locations, wherein the request is sent to the one or more network locations in the network, wherein the method further comprises receiving one or more responses from the one or more network locations prior to receiving the data message, and wherein each of the one or more responses specifies whether a corresponding network location holds the content at the time of the request.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein a retrieval source of the portion of the content is determined based on the location hint and the probe flag, and wherein each of the one or more responses is received prior to the data message and comprises an empty data message with no portion of the requested content.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising keeping a state of the request open until the data message is received, wherein receiving the data message occurs before a time out and when the state of the request is kept open.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the network node is a mobile node coupled to the network via a wireless access point, wherein the mobile node has migrated from a previous access point to the wireless access point, wherein the mobile node has received a first portion of the content via the previous access point, and wherein the one or more network locations are known by the previous access point to hold cached copies of the content.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the network node is an access point serving as an interface between the network and a user end device, and the method further comprising, prior to inserting the location hint, receiving the request from the user end device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the request is an interest packet comprising a packet header, wherein the location hint is inserted in the packet header as a parameter of a GET primitive, and wherein the data message comprises data packets formed using a SEND primitive and containing the received portion of the content.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the request further comprises a listed location only (LLO) attribute which dictates that the request contains only one specific network location and targets only the specific network location, and wherein the network is a content centric network (CCN).

9. An apparatus comprising:

a processor configured to insert a probe flag in a request for a content, wherein the request comprises a content name that describes the requested content, and wherein the probe flag is inserted to test one or more network locations that are known by the processor to hold at least part of the requested content;

a transmitter coupled to the processor and configured to transmit the request to a network node; and

a receiver coupled to the processor and configured to receive a data message corresponding to the request from the network node.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the transmitter is further configured to transmit the request to each of the one or more network locations including the network node, wherein the receiver is further configured to receive one or more responses from the one or more network locations, and wherein each of the one or more responses answers the probe flag by specifying whether a corresponding network location holds the content at the time of the request.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein each of the one or more responses is received prior to the data message and contains no portion of the requested content, and wherein the processor is further configured to keep a state of the request open until receiving the data message or until a time out set by the apparatus.

12. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the transmitter transmits the request in a listed location only (LLO) mode in which the request contains only a location of the network node and targets only the network node, and wherein the apparatus is co-located with the network node in a content centric network (CCN).

13. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the request is an interest packet comprising a packet header, wherein the location hint is inserted in the packet header as a parameter of a GET primitive, and wherein the data message comprises data packets formed using a SEND primitive and containing the received portion of the content.

14. A method implemented by a network router, the method comprising:

receiving a content request from an end device, wherein the content request comprises a content name and a location hint, wherein the content name describes a requested content, and wherein the location hint specifies a list of network locations each known by the end device to hold at least part of the requested content;

determining, based at least in part on the location hint, a network location from where at least a portion of the requested content is to be retrieved; and

forwarding at least the portion of the requested content from the network location to the end device.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the request further comprises a probe flag intended to test availability of the requested content at potential network locations, and wherein determining the network location is further based on the probe flag.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising receiving a response from each of the potential network locations including one or more local caches and an original server of the content, and wherein each response contains an empty data message and specifies whether a potential network location actually holds the content at the time of the request.

17. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

storing the content name and each of the potential locations that holds the content as specified by each response;

receiving a second request for the stored content name; and

resolving the stored content name to the stored locations.

18. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving different segments of the content from at least two of the network locations; and

combining the different segments for forwarding to the end device.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein the network router is an intermediate router between the end device and the list of network locations, and wherein the end device is a mobile node capable of accessing the network routers via different network routers.

20. The method of claim 14, further comprising sending the request in a listed location only (LLO) mode in which the request targets only the network location specified by the network router, wherein the network router is co-located with a node at the network location in a content centric network (CCN).