System and method for managing devices over a content centric network

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving, by a device, an Interest for managing a device resource, wherein the Interest's name includes a name or a name prefix associated with the device resource, and includes a command for the device resource;

performing a longest-prefix-matching lookup using the Interest's name to determine a destination for the Interest, wherein performing the longest-prefix-matching lookup involves:

forwarding the Interest to a plurality of components;

receiving a Content Object (CO) from each of the plurality of components, wherein a respective Content Object includes a result produced by executing the command on a corresponding component; and

generating a Content Object that includes a result summary for the information produced by the plurality of Content Objects;

determining, from the longest-prefix-matching lookup results, that the Interest's destination includes a component of the local device; and

forwarding the Interest to an agent for the component of the local device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the result summary includes at least one of:

a compilation of results produced by the plurality of components; and

one or more aggregate values that aggregate the results produced by the plurality of components.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the result from the corresponding component includes at least one or more of:

component variables for one or more metrics;

counter values for one or more metrics; and

a configuration state.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the component includes a hardware component of the local device, and wherein the agent runs on the local device on behalf of the hardware component.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the component includes a software component or a hardware component that includes the agent for processing the Interest.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the component includes at least one of:

a line card;

a temperature sensor;

a fan controller;

a forwarding information base (FIB);

a pending Interest table (PIT); and

a content store (CS).

7. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving, by a device, a first Interest for managing a device resource, wherein the Interest's name includes a name or a name prefix for the device resource and a command for monitoring or configuring the device resource; and

responsive to determining that the first Interest's name corresponds to the local device, analyzing the first Interest's command to determine a resource of the device, and to determine a resource-managing operation to perform on the device resource; and

performing the resource-managing operation on the device resource, which involves, in response to determining that a predetermined condition of the command is satisfied:

generating an alert message;

generating a Content Object with a name that includes the first Interest's name, and with a payload that includes the alert message; and

in response to determining that the first Interest originated from the predetermined target device that is to receive the alert message, returning the Content Object over the content centric network to satisfy the first Interest, and to provide the alert message to the predetermined target device.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the resource-managing operation further involves configuring a configuration parameter for the device resource.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the resource-managing operation further involves monitoring an attribute of the device resource.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the command includes a detailed-aggregation command, and wherein performing the resource-managing operation further involves monitoring an attribute of a plurality of resources of the local device.

11. The method of claim 7 , wherein the command includes an aggregation-summary command, and wherein performing the resource-managing operation further involves computing an aggregated attribute from a plurality of resources of the local device.

12. The method of claim 7 , wherein performing the resource-managing operation on the device resource further involves, in response to determining that the first Interest did not originate from the predetermined target device that is to receive the alert message:

determining, from the first Interest, a routable prefix for the predetermined target device;

generating a second Interest that includes the routable prefix and the alert message, wherein the second Interest includes the alert message in a payload of the Interest, or includes the alert message in a name component following the routable prefix in the first Interest's name; and

disseminating the second Interest over the content centric network.

13. 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 a first Interest for managing a device resource, wherein the Interest's name includes a name or a name prefix for the resource and a command for monitoring or configuring the device resource;

responsive to determining that the first Interest's name corresponds to the local device, analyzing the first Interest's command to determine a device resource of the device, and to determine a resource-managing operation to perform on the device resource; and

performing the resource-managing operation on the device resource, which involves, in response to determining that a predetermined condition of the command is satisfied:

generating an alert message;

generating a Content Object with a name that includes the first Interest's name, and with a payload that includes the alert message; and

in response to determining that the first Interest originated from the predetermined target device that is to receive the alert message, returning the Content Object over the content centric network to satisfy the first Interest, and to provide the alert message to the predetermined target device.

14. The storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the resource-managing operation further involves configuring a configuration parameter for the device resource.

15. The storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the resource-managing operation further involves monitoring an attribute of the device resource.

16. The storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the command includes a detailed-aggregation command, and wherein performing the resource-managing operation further involves monitoring an attribute of a plurality of resources of the local device.

17. The storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the command includes an aggregation-summary command, and wherein performing the resource-managing operation further involves computing an aggregated attribute from a plurality of resources of the local device.

18. The storage medium of claim 13 , wherein performing the resource-managing operation on the device resource further involves, in response to determining that the first Interest did not originate from the predetermined target device that is to receive the alert message:

determining, from the first Interest, a routable prefix for the predetermined target device;

generating a second Interest that includes the routable prefix and the alert message, wherein the second Interest includes the alert message in a payload of the Interest, or includes the alert message in a name component following the routable prefix in the first Interest's name; and

disseminating the second Interest over the content centric network.