System and method to facilitate content forwarding using Bit Index Explicit Replication (BIER) in an Information-Centric Networking (ICN) environment
A method is provided in one example embodiment and may include receiving a packet by a forwarder in an Information-Centric Networking (ICN) network; determining Bit Index Explicit Replication (BIER) information associated with the packet; and forwarding the packet based, at least in part, on the BIER information associated with the packet. The packet can be an interest packet or a data packet received by the forwarder in the ICN network.
1. A method comprising:
receiving an interest packet in an Information-Centric Networking (ICN) network;
generating a data packet that includes content that is associated with the interest packet;
identifying a bit mask in a forwarding table, wherein the bit mask is associated with a forwarder to which the data packet is to be forwarded;
determining that the interest packet includes a value field including a value having an identifier associated with the forwarder, a type field identifying a data type of the value, and a length field identifying a length of the value;
based on the value, encapsulating the data packet in a header identifying the forwarder; and
based on the bit mask and the value, forwarding the data packet to the forwarder.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the forwarder is a neighboring forwarder that is on a path to a destination of the data packet.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
before generating the data packet, determining that the content is available.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
identifying a destination of the data packet based on information in the interest packet.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the bit mask is one of a plurality of bit masks in the forwarding table, and wherein the plurality of bit masks are associated with respective ones of a plurality of forwarders including the forwarder.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the forwarding table is a bit index forwarding table.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the content includes video data.
8. An apparatus comprising:
a network interface configured for network communications; and
one or more processors operatively coupled to the network interface, wherein the one or more processors are configured to:
receive an interest packet in an Information-Centric Networking (ICN) network;
generate a data packet that includes content that is associated with the interest packet;
identify a bit mask in a forwarding table, wherein the bit mask is associated with a forwarder to which the data packet is to be forwarded;
determine that the interest packet includes a value field including a value having an identifier associated with the forwarder, a type field identifying a data type of the value, and a length field identifying a length of the value;
based on the value, encapsulate the data packet in a header identifying the forwarder; and
based on the bit mask and the value, forward the data packet to the forwarder.
9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the forwarder is a neighboring forwarder that is on a path to a destination of the data packet.
10. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
before generating the data packet, determine that the content is available.
11. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
identify a destination of the data packet based on information in the interest packet.
12. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the bit mask is one of a plurality of bit masks in the forwarding table, and wherein the plurality of bit masks are associated with respective ones of a plurality of forwarders including the forwarder.
13. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the forwarding table is a bit index forwarding table.
14. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the content includes video data.
15. One or more non-transitory computer readable storage media encoded with instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:
receive an interest packet in an Information-Centric Networking (ICN) network;
generate a data packet that includes content that is associated with the interest packet;
identify a bit mask in a forwarding table, wherein the bit mask is associated with a forwarder to which the data packet is to be forwarded;
determine that the interest packet includes a value field including a value having an identifier associated with the forwarder, a type field identifying a data type of the value, and a length field identifying a length of the value;
based on the value, encapsulate the data packet in a header identifying the forwarder; and
based on the bit mask and the value, forward the data packet to the forwarder.
16. The one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media of claim 15 , wherein the forwarder is a neighboring forwarder that is on a path to a destination of the data packet.
17. The one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media of claim 15 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:
before generating the data packet, determine that the content is available.
18. The one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media of claim 15 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:
identify a destination of the data packet based on information in the interest packet.
19. The one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media of claim 15 , wherein the bit mask is one of a plurality of bit masks in the forwarding table, and wherein the plurality of bit masks are associated with respective ones of a plurality of forwarders including the forwarder.
20. The one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media of claim 15 , wherein the forwarding table is a bit index forwarding table.