System and method to facilitate content forwarding using bit index explicit replication (BIER) in an information-centric networking (ICN) environment

1. A method comprising:

receiving an interest packet by a forwarder in an Information-Centric Networking (ICN) network;

refraining from performing a Pending Interest Table (PIT) update by the forwarder if it is determined that the forwarder is not to store content associated with the interest packet;

determining Bit Index Explicit Replication (BIER) information associated with the interest packet; and

forwarding the interest packet based, at least in part, on the BIER information associated with the interest packet.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining whether a BIER Type-Length-Value (TLV) is included with the interest packet;

including a BIER TLV in the interest packet with the BIER TLV having an identifier that is associated with the forwarder based on a determination that no BIER TLV is included with the interest packet; and

performing a Pending Interest Table (PIT) update by the forwarder.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining whether the forwarder is to store content associated with the interest packet.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

performing a Pending Interest Table (PIT) update by the forwarder and including a BIER Type-Length-Value (TLV) in the interest packet having an identifier that is associated with the forwarder or appending a BIER TLV in the interest packet with an identifier that is associated with the forwarder based on a determination that the forwarder is to store content associated with the interest packet.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the determining further comprises at least one of:

determining whether at least one policy configured for the forwarder prohibits the forwarder to store content associated with data packets;

determining whether the forwarder is configured with a content store; and

determining whether a content store configured for the forwarder is full.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining whether content associated with the interest packet is stored at the forwarder.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

forwarding the interest packet to another forwarder or to a producer node based on a determination that no content associated with the interest packet is stored at the forwarder.

8. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

generating a data packet based on a determination that content associated with the interest packet is stored at the forwarder; and

forwarding the data packet toward one or more other forwarders or to one or more consumer nodes.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a data packet comprising content requested by a consumer node;

identifying one or more bits set in a BIER header for the data packet, wherein each of the one or more bits are associated with one or more other forwarders that are to receive the data packet;

determining whether the data packet is to be forwarded along diverging paths in order to reach each of the one or more other forwarders;

replicating the data packet based on a determination that the data packet is to be forwarded along diverging paths, wherein the replicating generates at least two replicated data packets;

resetting one or more bits in a BIER header of each replicated data packet based on one or more forwarders that are to receive each replicated packet; and

forwarding each replicated data packet along the diverging paths.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

forwarding the data packet to one of another forwarder or a consumer node that is to receive the data packet based on a determination that the data packet is not to be forwarded along diverging paths.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the forwarding further comprises:

removing the BIER header from the data packet before the forwarding based on a determination that the forwarder is a last hop forwarder for the data packet.

12. One or more non-transitory tangible media encoding logic that includes instructions for execution by a processor, wherein the execution causes the processor to perform operations, comprising:

receiving an interest packet by a forwarder in an Information-Centric Networking (ICN) network;

refraining from performing a Pending Interest Table (PIT) update by the forwarder if it is determined that the forwarder is not to store content associated with the interest packet;

determining Bit Index Explicit Replication (BIER) information associated with the interest packet; and

forwarding the interest packet based, at least in part, on the BIER information associated with the interest packet.

13. The media of claim 12 , wherein the execution causes the processor to perform further operations, comprising:

determining whether a BIER Type-Length-Value (TLV) is included with the interest packet;

including a BIER TLV in the interest packet with the BIER TLV having an identifier that is associated with the forwarder based on a determination that no BIER TLV is included with the interest packet; and

performing a Pending Interest Table (PIT) update by the forwarder.

14. The media of claim 12 , wherein the execution causes the processor to perform further operations, comprising:

determining whether the forwarder is to store content associated with the interest packet.

15. The media of claim 14 , wherein the execution causes the processor to perform further operations, comprising:

performing a Pending Interest Table (PIT) update by the forwarder and including a BIER Type-Length-Value (TLV) in the interest packet having an identifier that is associated with the forwarder or appending a BIER TLV in the interest packet with an identifier that is associated with the forwarder based on a determination that the forwarder is to store content associated with the interest packet.

16. The media of claim 14 , wherein the determining further comprises at least one of:

determining whether at least one policy configured for the forwarder prohibits the forwarder to store content associated with data packets;

determining whether the forwarder is configured with a content store; and

determining whether a content store configured for the forwarder is full.

17. A forwarder comprising:

at least one memory element for storing data; and

at least one processor for executing instructions associated with the data, wherein the executing causes the forwarder to perform operations, comprising:

receiving an interest packet by the forwarder in an Information-Centric Networking (ICN) network;

refraining from performing a Pending Interest Table (PIT) update by the forwarder if it is determined that the forwarder is not to store content associated with the interest packet;

determining Bit Index Explicit Replication (BIER) information associated with the interest packet; and

forwarding the interest packet based, at least in part, on the BIER information associated with the interest packet.

18. The forwarder of claim 17 , wherein the executing causes the forwarder to perform further operations, comprising:

determining whether a BIER Type-Length-Value (TLV) is included with the interest packet;

including a BIER TLV in the interest packet with the BIER TLV having an identifier that is associated with the forwarder based on a determination that no BIER TLV is included with the interest packet; and

performing a Pending Interest Table (PIT) update by the forwarder.

19. The forwarder of claim 17 , wherein the executing causes the forwarder to perform further operations, comprising:

determining whether the forwarder is to store content associated with the interest packet.

20. The forwarder of claim 19 , wherein the executing causes the forwarder to perform further operations, comprising:

performing a Pending Interest Table (PIT) update by the forwarder and including a BIER Type-Length-Value (TLV) in the interest packet having an identifier that is associated with the forwarder or appending a BIER TLV in the interest packet with an identifier that is associated with the forwarder based on a determination that the forwarder is to store content associated with the interest packet.