Custodian-based routing in content-centric networks

1. A computer-executable method, comprising:

receiving, by a computing device, a request for a piece of content that indicates the content by name;

determining whether the content is available locally;

in response to the content not being available locally, determining a custodian identifier of a remote custodian device that stores the content, wherein determining the custodian identifier involves determining a preference level of the remote custodian device, and performing a content-prefix-to-custodian lookup to obtain a mapping from a prefix of the content's name to the custodian identifier, and wherein the custodian identifier does not indicate a network address for the remote custodian device;

identifying a communication endpoint, which corresponds to the custodian identifier of the remote custodian device, through which the computing device is to obtain the content, wherein the communication endpoint indicates one of a plurality of communication interfaces associated with the remote custodian device;

verifying that the computing device satisfies one or more conditions for accessing a namespace specified by the content name's prefix, wherein the namespace is associated with the remote custodian device's communication endpoint;

determining a network address mapped to the identified communication endpoint of the remote custodian device; and

establishing a connection to the communication endpoint using the mapped network address to obtain the requested content.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the computing device and the remote custodian device are coupled via a content-centric network (CCN).

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein determining the custodian identifier of the remote custodian device that stores the content involves performing a lookup based on the content's name.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising constructing a CCN interest for mapping information associated with the content's name.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the communication endpoint involves performing a lookup based on the remote custodian device's name.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the communication endpoint involves determining a preference level of the communication endpoint.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the communication endpoint is a wireless interface, and wherein the network address includes at least one of:

a service set identifier (SSID);

a media access control (MAC) address of an access point associated with the wireless interface; and

an Internet protocol (IP) address.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the connection to the communication endpoint includes a session initiation protocol (SIP) connection.

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

receiving, by a computing device, a request for a piece of content that indicates the content by name;

determining whether the content is available locally;

in response to the content not being available locally, determining a custodian identifier of a remote custodian device that stores the content, wherein determining the custodian identifier involves determining a preference level of the remote custodian device, and performing a content-prefix-to-custodian lookup to obtain a mapping from a prefix of the content's name to the custodian identifier, and wherein the custodian identifier does not indicate a network address for the remote custodian device;

identifying a communication endpoint, which corresponds to the custodian identifier of the remote custodian device, through which the computing device is to obtain the content, wherein the communication endpoint indicates one of a plurality of communication interfaces associated with the remote custodian device;

verifying that the computing device satisfies one or more conditions for accessing a namespace specified by the content name's prefix, wherein the namespace is associated with the remote custodian device's communication endpoint;

determining a network address mapped to the identified communication endpoint of the remote custodian device; and

establishing a connection to the communication endpoint using the mapped network address to obtain the requested content.

10. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the computing device and the remote custodian device are coupled via a content-centric network (CCN).

11. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein determining the custodian identifier of the remote custodian device that stores the content involves performing a lookup based on the content's name.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the method further comprises constructing a CCN interest for mapping information associated with the content's name.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein identifying the communication endpoint involves performing a lookup based on the remote custodian device's name.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein identifying the communication endpoint involves determining a preference level of the communication endpoint.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the communication endpoint is a wireless interface, and wherein the network address includes at least one of:

a service set identifier (SSID);

a media access control (MAC) address of an access point associated with the wireless interface; and

an Internet protocol (IP) address.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the connection to the communication endpoint includes a session initiation protocol (SIP) connection.

17. A computing device, comprising:

a receiving mechanism configured to receive a request for a piece of content that indicates the content by name;

a determining mechanism configured to determine whether the content is available locally;

a routing agent, in response to the content not being available locally, configured to:

determine a custodian identifier of a remote custodian device that stores the content, wherein determining the custodian identifier involves determining a preference level of the remote custodian device, and performing a content-prefix-to-custodian lookup to obtain a mapping from a prefix of the content's name to the custodian identifier, and wherein the custodian identifier does not indicate a network address for the remote custodian device;

identify a communication endpoint, which corresponds to the custodian identifier of the remote custodian device, through which the computing device is to obtain the content, wherein the communication endpoint indicates one of a plurality of communication interfaces associated with the remote custodian device;

verify that the computing device satisfies one or more conditions for accessing a namespace specified by the content name's prefix, wherein the namespace is associated with the remote custodian device's communication endpoint; and

determining a network address mapped to the identified communication endpoint of the remote custodian device; and

a connection mechanism configured to establish a connection to the communication endpoint using the mapped network address to obtain the requested content.

18. The computing device of claim 17 , wherein the computing device is coupled to the remote custodian device via a content-centric network (CCN).

19. The computing device of claim 18 , wherein determining the custodian identifier of the remote custodian device that stores the content involves performing a lookup based on the content's name.

20. The computing device of claim 19 , further comprising an interest construction mechanism configured to construct a CCN interest for mapping information associated with the content's name.

21. The computing device of claim 17 , wherein identifying the communication endpoint involves performing a lookup based on the remote custodian device's name.

22. The computing device of claim 17 , wherein the communication endpoint is a wireless interface, and wherein the network address includes at least one of:

a service set identifier (SSID);

a media access control (MAC) address of an access point associated with the wireless interface; and

an Internet protocol (IP) address.

23. The computing device of claim 17 , wherein the connection to the communication endpoint includes a session initiation protocol (SIP) connection.