9th ACM Conference on Information-Centric Networking (ICN 2022), Sept. 19–21, 2022

Abstract:

Web applications today utilize the Representation State Transfer (REST) architectural pattern, depending on HTTP, TLS, and either TCP or QUIC as the protocol substrate to build upon. Our vision is to achieve the key properties of REST using ICN protocols as an alternative. We argue that this is feasible given some of the recent advances in ICN protocol development and that the resulting suite is simpler and potentially having better performance and robustness properties. Our sketch of an ICN-based protocol framework addresses secure and efficient establishment and continuation of REST communication sessions, without giving up key ICN properties, such as consumer anonymity and flow balance.

Abstract:

Recent developments in the public imagination of future networked environments provide an opening for the ICN research community to make its case, metaphors to explain the value, and a motivation for specific areas of research. The opportunity is proposed and future research directions are briefly discussed.

Abstract:

Distributed dataset synchronization, or Sync in short, plays the role of a transport service in the Named Data Networking (NDN) architecture. A number of NDN Sync protocols have been developed over the last decade. In this paper, we conduct a systematic examination of NDN Sync protocol designs, identify common design patterns, reveal insights behind different design approaches, and collect lessons learned over the years. We show that (i) each Sync protocol can be characterized by its design decisions on three basic components - dataset namespace representation, namespace encoding for sharing, and change notification mechanism, and (ii) two or three types of choices have been observed for each design component. Through analysis and experimental evaluation, we reveal how different design choices influence the latency, reliability, overhead, and security of dataset synchronization. We also discuss the relationship between transport and application naming, the implications of namespace encoding for Sync group scalability, and the fundamental reason behind the need for Sync Interest multicast.

Abstract:

Application domains such as automotive and the Internet of Things may benefit from in-network computing to reduce the distance data travels through the network and the response time. Information Centric Networking (ICN) based compute frameworks such as Named Function Networking (NFN) are promising options due to their location independence and loosely-coupled communication model. However, unlike current operations, such solutions may benefit from orchestration across the compute nodes to use the available resources in the network better. In this paper, we adopt the State Vector Synchronization (SVS), an application dataset synchronization protocol in ICN, to enhance the neighborhood knowledge of in-network compute nodes in a distributed fashion. As such, we design distributed coordination for in-network computation (DICer) that assists the service deployments by improving the resolution of compute requests. We evaluate the performance of DICer against NFN and observe an increase in the resource utilization at the edge and a reduction in the request completion time.

Abstract:

In Named-Data Networking (NDN), all packets are encoded in the Type-Length-Value (TLV) format. TLV encoding and decoding are implemented in every NDN library, and used by all applications and forwarders. Therefore, formal analysis of TLV encoding can assist NDN software development in the simplification of the code base, analysis of the performance, and improvement of robustness. In this paper, we want to bring attention to the subtleties of TLV encoding. As an initial result, we develop a type-theoretical model of TLV encodable types, and give an algorithm to automatically derive encoding and decoding functions. We formally prove that the derived encoding and decoding functions are inverse to each other. To evaluate the practicality of automatically derived algorithms, we implement the proposed algorithms in C++ templates and evaluate them in three aspects: performance, memory usage, and code complexity. Our results show that our C++ library is competitive in these three aspects. Though our implementation is not fully automated, we show that it is possible to have a fully automated library in future that correctly produce the encoding and decoding functions. We also discussed the limitations of our model and problems worth attention. We hope our work can offer a starting point of further research on TLV, especially formal analysis and automated implementation.

Abstract:

Named data networking (NDN) enables scenarios where decentralized content distribution based on names is the centerpiece of networking. In this paper, we systematize two requirements to enable trust on a global scale in NDN, namespace management and public key management. We provide a framework to systematically assess and evaluate namespace and public key management systems, and relate their features to DNSSEC and Web PKI, the most prominent and accessible implementations of both building blocks on the current Internet. Our systematization of knowledge of existing approaches in NDN highlights strengths and shortcomings to derive options for future research.

Abstract:

Named Data Networking (NDN) secures network communications by requiring all data packets to be signed upon production. This requirement makes usable and efficient NDN certificate issuance and revocation essential for NDN operations. In this paper, we first investigate and clarify core concepts related to NDN certificate revocation, then proceed with the design of CertRevoke, an NDN certificate revocation framework. CertRevoke utilizes naming conventions and trust schema to ensure certificate owners and issuers legitimately produce in-network cacheable records for revoked certificates. We evaluate the security properties and performance of CertRevoke through case studies. Our results show that deploying CertRevoke in an operational NDN network is feasible.

Abstract:

In Named-Data Networking (NDN), all packets are encoded in the Type-Length-Value (TLV) format. TLV encoding and decoding are implemented in every NDN library, and used by all applications and forwarders. Therefore, formal analysis of TLV encoding can assist NDN software development in the simplification of the code base, analysis of the performance, and improvement of robustness. In this paper, we want to bring attention to the subtleties of TLV encoding. As an initial result, we develop a type-theoretical model of TLV encodable types, and give an algorithm to automatically derive encoding and decoding functions. We formally prove that the derived encoding and decoding functions are inverse to each other. To evaluate the practicality of automatically derived algorithms, we implement the proposed algorithms in C++ templates and evaluate them in three aspects: performance, memory usage, and code complexity. Our results show that our C++ library is competitive in these three aspects. Though our implementation is not fully automated, we show that it is possible to have a fully automated library in future that correctly produce the encoding and decoding functions. We also discussed the limitations of our model and problems worth attention. We hope our work can offer a starting point of further research on TLV, especially formal analysis and automated implementation.

Abstract:

To meet unprecedented challenges faced by the world's largest data- and network-intensive science programs, we design and implement a new, highly efficient and field-tested data distribution, caching, access and analysis system for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) high energy physics (HEP) network and other major science programs. We develop a hierarchical Named Data Networking (NDN) naming scheme for HEP data, implement new consumer and producer applications to interface with the high-performance NDN-DPDK forwarder, and build on recently developed high-throughput NDN caching and forwarding methods. We integrate NDN systems concepts and algorithms with the mainstream data distribution, processing, and management system of the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment. We design and prototype stable, high-performance virtual LANs (VLANs) over a continental-scale wide area network testbed. In extensive experiments, our proposed integrated system, named NDN for Data-Intensive Science Experiments (N-DISE), is shown to deliver LHC data over the wide area network (WAN) testbed at throughputs exceeding 31 Gbps between Caltech and StarLight, with dramatically reduced download time.

Abstract:

Exploratory efforts in mobile health (mHealth) data collection and sharing have achieved promising results. However, fine-grained contextual access control and real-time data sharing are two of the remaining challenges in enabling temporally-precise mHealth intervention. We have developed an NDN-based system called mGuard to address these challenges. mGuard provides a pub-sub API to let users subscribe to real-time mHealth data streams, and uses name-based access control policies and key-policy attribute-based encryption to grant fine-grained data access to authorized users based on contextual information. We evaluate mGuard's performance using sample data from the MD2K project.

Abstract:

Connecting long-range wireless networks to the Internet imposes challenges due to vastly longer round-trip-times (RTTs). In this paper, we present an ICN protocol framework that enables robust and efficient delay-tolerant communication to edge networks. Our approach provides ICN-idiomatic communication between networks with vastly different RTTs. We applied this framework to LoRa, enabling end-to-end consumer-to-LoRa-producer interaction over an ICN-Internet and asynchronous data production in the LoRa edge. Instead of using LoRaWAN, we implemented an IEEE 802.15.4e DSME MAC layer on top of the LoRa PHY and ICN protocol mechanisms in RIOT OS. Executed on off-the-shelf IoT hardware, we provide a comparative evaluation for basic NDN-style ICN [60], RICE [31]-like pulling, and reflexive forwarding [46]. This is the first practical evaluation of ICN over LoRa using a reliable MAC. Our results show that periodic polling in NDN works inefficiently when facing long and differing RTTs. RICE reduces polling overhead and exploits gateway knowledge, without violating ICN principles. Reflexive forwarding reflects sporadic data generation naturally. Combined with a local data push, it operates efficiently and enables lifetimes of ≥1 year for battery powered LoRa-ICN nodes.

Abstract:

The native multicast support in Named Data Networking (NDN) is an attractive feature, as multicast content delivery can reduce the redundant traffic and improve the network performance, especially in the wireless edge network. With the awareness of content, NDN routers automatically aggregate the same requests from different end hosts and establish network-layer multicast. However, the current link-layer multicast based on host-centric MAC address management is inflexible. Consequently, supporting NDN dynamic multicast with the current link-layer architecture remains a challenge. In this paper, we propose iCast, short for dynamic information-centric multicast, to enable dynamic multicast in the link layer. Our work has three major contributions. First, iCast collaborates NDN native multicast with the host-centric link layer and meanwhile keeps the host-centric property of the current link layer. Second, iCast achieves per-packet dynamic multicast in the link layer and we further propose a hash-based iCast variant for dynamic connection. Third, iCast is implemented in real testbed and the evaluation results show that iCast reduces up to 59.53% traffic compared with vanilla NDN. iCast bridges the gap between NDN multicast and the host-centric link-layer multicast.