Session migration over content-centric networks

• US 8,375,436 B2
• Filed: 04/22/2010
• Issued: 02/12/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/22/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Palo Alto Research Center, Inc. (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Thornton, James D., Jacobson, Van L., Smetters, Diana K.
• Primary Examiner(s): Zee, Edward
• Assistant Examiner(s): Paliwal, Yogesh
• Application Number:
  US12/765,645
• Publication Number:
  US 20110265174A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,027 Days
• Field of Search: 726/14
• US Class Current: 726/14
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/14 Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/63 Routing a service request depending on the request content or context

Abstract

One embodiment of the present invention provides a system for facilitating session migration. During operation, the system receives a communication packet from a client destined to a remote server. The system determines whether the communication packet belongs to a pre-existing communication session, and whether session state information associated with the session is available locally. In response to the communication packet belonging to a pre-existing communication session and the session state information being unavailable locally, the system constructs an interest requesting the session state information, disseminates the interest over a network, and receives the session state information.

Claims

1. A computer-executable method for facilitating session migration, comprising:

receiving, at an intermediary network device, a communication packet from a client destined to a remote server;

determining whether the communication packet belongs to a pre-existing communication session;

determining whether state information associated with the communication session is available at the intermediary network device;

in response to the communication packet belonging to the pre-existing communication session and the session state information being unavailable, constructing a content-centric network (CCN) interest packet corresponding to the communication session based at least on an address of the client and a sequence number of the communication packet, wherein the interest packet comprises a first CCN name, which is a location-independent hierarchically structured variable-length name;

disseminating the interest packet over a network; and

receiving a session-data packet in response to disseminating the interest packet, wherein the session-data packet includes a second CCN name whose prefix matches the first CCN name included in the interest packet, and wherein the session-data packet includes the session state information, thereby facilitating session migration.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising reconstructing the pre-existing communication session using the received session state information.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the client is a mobile device, and wherein the communication packet is a wireless Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) packet.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the interest packet is constructed based on a transport signature included in the wireless TCP packet, and wherein the transport signature identifies the session.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the intermediary network device is located at a wireless base transceiver station.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the client is virtual private network (VPN)-enabled, and wherein the communication packet is a VPN packet.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the interest packet is constructed based on a transport signature corresponding to a VPN tunnel.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the intermediary network device is a VPN host.

9. A system, comprising:

a number of intermediary network devices coupled to a network, wherein at least one intermediary network device comprises;

a processor;

a memory storing instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method for facilitating session migration, the method comprising;

receiving a communication packet from a client destined to a remote server;

determining whether the communication packet belongs to a pre-existing communication session;

determining whether state information associated with the communication session is available at the intermediary network device;

constructing a content-centric network (CCN) interest packet corresponding to the communication session based at least on an address of the client and a sequence number of the communication packet, in response to the communication packet belonging to the pre-existing communication session and the session state information being unavailable at the intermediary network device, wherein the interest packet comprises a first CCN name, which is a location-independent hierarchically structured variable-length name;

disseminating the interest packet over the network; and

receiving a session-data packet in response to disseminating the interest packet, wherein the session-data packet includes a second CCN name whose prefix matches the first CCN name included in the interest packet, and wherein the session-data packet includes the session state information, thereby facilitating session migration.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the method further comprises reconstructing the pre-existing communication session using the received session state information.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the client is a mobile device, and wherein the communication packet is a wireless Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) packet.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the interest packet is constructed based on a transport signature included in the wireless TCP packet, and wherein the transport signature identifies the session.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the intermediary network devices are located at base transceiver stations.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein the client is virtual private network (VPN)-enabled, and wherein the communication packet is a VPN packet.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the interest packet is constructed based on a transport signature corresponding to a VPN tunnel.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the intermediary network devices are VPN hosts.

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

receiving, at an intermediary network device, a communication packet from a client destined to a remote server;

determining whether the communication packet belongs to a pre-existing communication session;

determining whether state information associated with the session is available at the intermediary network device;

in response to the communication packet belonging to the pre-existing communication session and the session state information being unavailable at the intermediary network device, constructing a content-centric network (CCN) interest packet corresponding to the communication session based at least on an address of the client and a sequence number of the communication packet, wherein the interest packet comprises -a first CCN name, which is a location-independent hierarchically structured variable-length name;

disseminating the interest over a network; and

receiving a session-data packet in response to disseminating the interest packet, wherein the session-data packet includes a second CCN name whose prefix matches the first CCN name included in the interest packet, and wherein the session-data packet includes the session state information.

18. The storage medium of claim 17, wherein the method further comprises reconstructing the pre-existing communication session using the received session state information.

19. The storage medium of claim 17, wherein the client is a mobile device, and wherein the communication packet is a wireless TCP packet.

20. The storage medium of claim 19, wherein the interest packet is constructed based on a transport signature included in the wireless TCP packet, and wherein the transport signature identifies the session.

21. The storage medium of claim 19, wherein the intermediary network device is located at a base transceiver station.

22. The storage medium of claim 17, wherein the client is virtual private network (VPN)-enabled, and wherein the communication packet is a VPN packet.