Technique for communication in a communications network with routing by name

1. A communications method implemented by a routing device in a communications network that performs routing by name, said device being configured for storing data segments belonging to different streams in a queue prior to the device routing them to client entities that have requested them, this method comprising:

the routing device receiving from a set of respective client entities a respective set of requests, called an “aggregated request”, for a data segment A,

the routing device transmitting to a server or to another routing device only the first request received among said set of requests for said data segment A,

the routing device determining a credit associated with a stream, said credit varying as a function of a number of pending requests, transmitted by client entities and relating to data segments belonging to the stream; and

on receiving said data segment A in response to said aggregated request, and when memory space available in the queue does not enable said received data segment to be stored:

selecting a stream of the different streams that has at least one data segment stored in the queue and for which the associated credit is the smallest; and

deleting from the queue a data segment B belonging to the selected stream, thus not routing said data segment B to the client entities that have requested the data segment B;

said method further comprising:

storing the data segment A in the queue; and

routing the data segment A to client entities that have requested the data segment A, after extracting the data segment A from the queue.

2. A communications method according to claim 1 , wherein the credit associated with a stream is updated by said device on receiving a request relating to a data segment of the stream and as a function of another credit associated with the stream and included in said request.

3. A communications method according to claim 2 , wherein the credit associated with the stream is determined by a moving average between a preceding value of the credit associated with the stream and said other credit associated with the stream.

4. A communications method according to claim 2 , wherein the routing device is directly connected to a client entity and initializes the credit associated with the stream in the request relating to a data segment of the stream received from the client entity.

5. A communications method according to claim 1 , wherein the deleting is reiterated, so long as the memory space available in the queue is not sufficient for storing the received data segment A.

6. A communications method according to claim 1 , wherein the credit associated with the stream is re-initialized when there is no pending request relating to a data segment of said stream.

7. A routing device in a communications network performing routing by name, the device comprising:

storage means for storing data segments belonging to different streams in a queue in order to route them to client entities that have requested the data segments;

receiving means for receiving from a set of respective client entities a respective set of requests, called an “aggregated request”, for a data segment A,

transmitting means for transmitting to a server or to another routing device only the first request received among said set of requests for said data segment A,

determination means for determining a credit associated with a stream, said credit varying as a function of a number of pending requests: transmitted by client entities and relating to data segments belonging to the stream;

routing means for routing a data segment to client entities that have requested the data segment, after extracting the data segment from the queue;

stream selection means arranged to select a stream having at least one data segment B stored in the queue and for which the associated credit is the smallest; and

deletion means for deleting the data segment B belonging to the selected stream from the queue, thus not routing said data segment B to the client entities that have requested the data segment B;

said selection and deletion means being activated when memory space available in the queue does not enable said data segment A, received in response to said aggregated request, to be stored, and said storage means being configured for storing the data segment A in the queue after the deletion means deletes data segment B from the queue.

8. A routing device according to claim 7 , further including routing means for routing within the network requests sent by client entities, the routing means being arranged to insert credit into a request relating to a data segment of a stream, the inserted credit being the credit associated with the stream as determined by the determination means.

9. A communications network including at least one routing device according to claim 7 .

10. A hardware storage device comprising a program stored thereon for a routing device, the program comprising program code instructions for controlling execution of a communications method, when said program is executed by said routing device, in a communications network that performs routing by name, said device being configured for storing data segments belonging to different streams in a queue prior to the device routing them to client entities that have requested them, wherein the method comprises:

the routing device receiving from a set of respective client entities a respective set of requests, called an “aggregated request”, for a data segment A,

the routing device transmitting to a server or to another routing device only the first request received among said set of requests for said data segment A,

the routing device determining a credit associated with a stream, said credit varying as a function of a number of pending requests: transmitted by client entities and relating to data segments belonging to the stream; and

on receiving said data segment A in response to said aggregated request, and when memory space available in the queue does not enable said received data segment A to be stored:

selecting a stream that has at least one data segment stored in the queue and for which the associated credit is the smallest; and

deleting from the queue a data segment B belonging to the selected stream, thus not routing said data segment B to the client entities that have requested the data segment B;

said method further comprising:

storing the data segment A in the queue; and

routing the data segment A to client entities that have requested the data segment A, after extracting the data segment A from the queue.