Tackling user-centric media demands through adaptable software defined infrastructures

This paper proposes a conceptual approach to content delivery that addresses emerging media demand trends through cross-layer integration between Virtualised Service Networks (VSNs) and Information Centric Networking (ICN). The transformative effects of software-defined infrastructures are presented and how these technologies can support dynamics needed to deliver personalised, interactive, mobile, and localised media content to consumer

Optimal False-Positive-Free Bloom Filter Design for Scalable Multicast Forwarding

Large-scale information dissemination in multicast communications has been increasingly attracting attention, be it through uptake in new services or through recent research efforts. In these the core issues are supporting increased forwarding speed, avoiding state in the forwarding elements and scaling in terms of the multicast tree size. This paper addresses all these challenges – which are crucial for any scalable multicast scheme to be successful – by revisiting the idea of in-packet Bloom filters and source routing. As opposed to the traditional in-packet Bloom filter concept, we build our Bloom filter by enclosing limited information about the structure of the tree. Analytical investigation is conducted and approximation formulae are provided for optimal length Bloom filters, in which we got rid of typical Bloom filter illnesses such as false-positive forwarding. These filters can be used in several multicast implementations, which is demonstrated through a prototype. Thorough simulations are conducted to demonstrate the scalability of the proposed Bloom filters compared to its counterparts

IPTV Over ICN

The efficient provision of IPTV services requires support for IP multicasting and IGMP snooping, limiting such services to single operator networks. Information-Centric Networking (ICN), with its native support for multicast seems ideal for such services, but it requires operators and users to overhaul their networks and applications. The POINT project has proposed a hybrid, IP-over-ICN, architecture, preserving IP devices and applications at the edge, but interconnecting them via an SDN-based ICN core. This allows individual operators to exploit the benefits of ICN, without expecting the rest of the Internet to change. In this paper, we first outline the POINT approach and show how it can handle multicast-based IPTV services in a more efficient and resilient manner than IP. We then describe a successful trial of the POINT prototype in a production network, where real users tested actual IPTV services over both IP and POINT under regular and exceptional conditions. Results from the trial show that the POINT prototype matched or improved upon the services offered via plain IP

IP Over ICN Goes Live

Information-centric networking (ICN) has long been advocating for radical changes to the IP-based Internet. However, the upgrade challenges that this entails have hindered ICN adoption. To break this loop, the POINT project proposed a hybrid, IP-over-ICN, architecture: IP networks are preserved at the edge, connected to each other over an ICN core. This exploits the key benefits of ICN, enabling individual network operators to improve the performance of their IP-based services, without changing the rest of the Internet. We provide an overview of POINT and outline how it improves upon IP in terms of performance and resilience. Our focus is on the successful trial of the POINT prototype in a production network, where real users operated actual IP-based applications