NDN Mobility via Decoupled Identity and Forwarding Labels

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current Named Data Networks (NDN) lack a solution for handling mobility, including inter/intra-domain mobility, which is essential for scalability, routing stability, and seamless mobility of consumers and producers, with existing technologies failing to provide effective content routing and forwarding mechanisms.

Innovation Solution

The solution involves complete de-coupling of identity and addressing space through a changeable forwarding label field in the NDN header with nodal/domain/global scope, enabling rich policy-based routing and mobility as a service by actively registering mobile name spaces with the network and setting a mobility flag in interest messages, allowing for flexible content routing and intra-session mobility.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If traditional host-based routing is used in NDN, then routing simplicity is maintained, but mobility handling capability is lost

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvemobility handling capabilityVSAvoidrouting complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the NDN header into distinct functional components: a immutable name field for content identification and a mutable forwarding label field for routing and mobility management. This segmentation allows the routing infrastructure to operate on the forwarding label while the name remains stable, enabling mobility handling without compromising routing simplicity or content identification integrity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

2Adaptability or versatility

If identity and addressing space are coupled, then routing stability is maintained, but mobility flexibility is reduced

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvemobility flexibilityVSAvoidrouting stability
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSStability of the object's composition

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts the mobility-related addressing function from the immutable name field and places it in the separate, mutable forwarding label field. This extraction allows the name to maintain its stability for content identification while the forwarding label can be dynamically changed to support mobility, effectively decoupling identity from addressing space.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

3Adaptability or versatility

If forwarding paths are dynamically updated for mobility, then seamless mobility is achieved, but routing overhead increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveseamless mobilityVSAvoidrouting overhead
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces dynamics selectively into the forwarding label field, which can be updated to reflect mobility state changes, while keeping the name field static. This controlled dynamics allows seamless mobility through forwarding path updates without requiring complete routing recalculations, thereby reducing overall routing overhead compared to fully dynamic routing schemes.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Data Source

PatentEP3435631B1Method and apparatus for scalable content routing and mobility in named data networks
Publication Date: 2021.05.05 HUAWEI TECH CO LTD
  • EP3435631B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3435631B1 patent drawingFigure 2~5
  • EP3435631B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

Various disclosed embodiments include methods, systems, and computer-readable media for named data network (NDN) inter/intra-domain mobility. A complete de-coupling of identity and addressing space is established. This provides separation of control and forwarding allowing rich policy based routing, using SDN principles, as well as policy based global resolution. In one embodiment, the de-coupling of identity from location is achieved by a changeable forwarding label field in a header that can have nodal/domain/global scope. This disclosure provides content routing/mobility to be handled with a high degree of flexibility. This disclosure also provides mobility as a service for a component of a name space.