Metaverse impacts on the Internet technologies
draft-fmbk-icnrg-metaverse-00
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| Authors | Giuseppe Fioccola , Paulo Mendes , Jeff Burke , Dirk KUTSCHER | ||
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draft-fmbk-icnrg-metaverse-00
Network Working Group G. Fioccola
Internet-Draft Huawei Technologies
Intended status: Informational P. Mendes
Expires: 11 January 2024 Airbus
J. Burke
UCLA REMAP
D. Kutscher
HKUST(GZ)
10 July 2023
Metaverse impacts on the Internet technologies
draft-fmbk-icnrg-metaverse-00
Abstract
This document aims to explore the new challenges for the transport
network brought by the development of Metaverse. It discusses the
Metaverse as an Information-Centric Network (ICN).
Status of This Memo
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Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2023 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
document authors. All rights reserved.
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2. Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3. Gap Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
4. Solution with an ICN approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
4.1. Technical challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
5. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
6. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
7. Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
8. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
9. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1. Introduction
The Web today essentially represents a data-centric application
layer: data named by URLs is manipulated with Representational State
Transfer (REST) primitives. However, the semantic gap with the
underlying host-oriented transport is significant.
The interest in “the Metaverse” suggests that the end-user experience
of the Web will evolve towards an always-on eXtended Reality (XR).
Metaverse introduces the concept of a persistent virtual space of
everyday life as platform-agnostic digital space. It is an
interconnected and limitless virtual world populated by an extension
of physical identities, a digital twin of the physical world.
Metaverse can be seen as the 3D generation of the Internet accessible
via new non-intrusive interfaces (e.g. holographics) and making use
of new types of information (e.g. haptic, temperature, smell,
emotions, digital transactions) that can be exchanged between people,
simulated users, and cyber-physical systems, while preserving data
privacy.
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Metaverse can also be seen as the next generation of Internet, that
can be built based on Web 3.0. The Web 3.0 is an idea for a new
iteration of the World Wide Web which incorporates concepts such as
decentralization, trustworthy interactions, peer-to-peer, data
distribution, decentralized identifiers. This is something more and
different from the vision of Metaverse as full Virtual Reality (VR)
and Augmented Reality (AR).
For this reason, the Metaverse should be considered not as an
application of the current network, but an evolution of the network
itself, reducing rather than widening the gap between network
architecture and application semantics.
The ICN architecture is discussed in this document since it allows to
achieve the integration of application and network layers with less
overhead, low latency, better security, and more disruption tolerance
suitable to diverse uses cases.
2. Requirements
[I-D.han-iccrg-arvr-transport-problem] started to analyze the
requirements of VR and AR to networking, especially to transport
protocol. As emerging technology, the Metaverse brings up a lot of
challenges to technologies such as information display, image
processing, fast computing and networking. Some of the requirements
are:
* Low latency and High-Speed transport to reach services in one-hop
and for real-time user interactions
* Intelligent control and SLA real-time monitoring to convey the
traffic and manage network resources and source/route reselection
* Decentralization and Edge Services by positioning the data close
to the user
* Reducing data sizes through resolution changes, compression, and
more efficient encodings
3. Gap Analysis
It is known that HTML and HTTP are used to locate a web address, but
they do not provide a sufficient technological foundation for the
disparate technologies of the Web 3.0. In this regard, the
HyperSpace Transaction Protocol (HSTP), as described by [IEEE-P2874],
is an evolution of HTTP to connect Metaverse spaces, including all
data and entities (e.g. physical people, cities, buildings, objects,
and their digital twins). It should be able to enable a fully
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augmented experience, bridging Web 3.0 technologies, artificial
intelligence, blended realities (digital and physical), and
distributed ledger technologies. Similarly, HTML would evolve in the
direction of something like HyperSpace Modeling Language (HSML).
Looking at the transport and network layer, there are the same gaps
which needs to be overcame too. There are elaborate solutions for
dealing with bandwidth limitations, network congestion, lossy
transport protocols, and the ever growing size of video data, to
address the above requirements, for instance:
* MPTCP[RFC8684] and MPQUIC[I-D.ietf-quic-multipath] are the
expansions of TCP[RFC9293] and QUIC[RFC9000] in order to dispatch
packets over multiple paths to maximize throughput.
* Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH) aim to improve the
viewport quality of immersive videos by refining the tiles
delivery. But client-driven nature of DASH introduces less
control on the server side.
* Media over QUIC (MoQ) ([I-D.ietf-moq-requirements]) and extensions
such as QuicR ([I-D.jennings-moq-proto]) use similar concepts and
delivery mechanisms to those used by CDN and named objects. There
are fundamental characteristics that QuicR provides for ultra low
latency delivery, by leveraging the characteristics of QUIC
protocol.
* The APplication-aware Networking (APN) aims to develop a framework
to enable fine-granularity network service provisioning (traffic
operations) within the network domain(s) that supports APN
([I-D.li-apn-framework]). APN aims to use the ability to apply
policies to traffic flows entering into the infrastructure. In
modern networks, where things such as deterministic networking and
networking slicing are required, there is a requirement for more
functionality than QoS can provide.
* The Computing-Aware Traffic Steering (CATS) aims to analyze the
problem on the edge node, which makes a decision based on the
metrics of interest, and then steers the traffic to a node that
serves a service instance. Indeed, for AR/VR services, the
performance experienced by the end users depends on both network
metrics such as bandwidth and latency, and compute metrics such as
processing, storage capabilities, and capacity.
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In all of these approaches, the Metaverse is considered as an overlay
application with corresponding infrastructure dependencies, but this
increases the current gaps (and resulting costs and technical
complexity) between distributed applications and the underlying
network architecture.
Additionally, it is important to understand which networking
technology can be aligned with HSTP [IEEE-P2874]. Given that the
current Internet stack is host driven, it is misaligned with the
application layer that is data driven.
4. Solution with an ICN approach
The Information-Centric Networking (ICN) introduces named information
objects, e.g. media contents, as the central concept as opposed to a
physical computer, or node ([RFC7927]). In ICN approaches, the
principal paradigm is not host-to-host communication as in the
current Internet architecture. The increasing demand for highly
scalable and efficient distribution of content has motivated the
development of architectures that focus on information objects, their
properties, and receiver interest in the network to achieve efficient
and reliable distribution of such objects.
Therefore, for the Metaverse, it would be better to assume
information-centric system where most applications participate in
granular 3D content exchange, context-aware integration with the
physical world, and other Metaverse-relevant services. The
assumption is that the Metaverse is an information-centric concept
that will become synonymous with the network itself.
4.1. Technical challenges
Many applications already work with data-oriented paradigms. Mapping
them to a host-centric network model creates complexities and
robustness issues, which can be addressed with an ICN oriented
approach.
The overlay approach to deal with real-time interactive media adds
significant complexity. It is needed a fine-grained, hierarchical
media exchange for low-latency interactive communication that enables
scalable multi-destination distribution, and in-network replication
and transformation that exposes object hierarchy for fine grained
access and security.
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Since the Metaverse is an extension of the Web into immersive XR
modalities that are often aligned with physical space, leveraging ICN
concepts provides support for decentralized publishing, content
interoperability and co-existence, based on general building blocks
and not within separated application silos as today’s initial
prototypes.
There are four ICN capabilities critical to Metaverse concepts:
* scalable and robust multi-destination communication, overcoming IP
multicast challenges such as inter-domain routing, scalability,
and routing communication overhead;
* leveraging wireless broadcast to support shared local views and
low-latency interactivity;
* privacy, selective attention, content filtering, and autonomous
interactions, as well as ownership and control on the publishing
side;
* supporting in-network processing for objects replication and
transformation.
In addition, the interoperability aspects also need to be
investigated, and, for example, Hybrid Information-Centric Networking
(hICN), which implements information-networking functionalities into
IPv6 ([I-D.muscariello-intarea-hicn], can provide a solution.
It would be theoretically possible to leverage the solutions
mentioned in the previous section in order to reach the above ICN
oriented capabilities. But a systemic approach would be highly
desirable in the longer term.
5. Security Considerations
TBD
6. IANA Considerations
This document makes no request of IANA.
7. Contributors
TBD
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8. Acknowledgements
TBD
9. Informative References
[I-D.han-iccrg-arvr-transport-problem]
Han, L. and K. Smith, "Problem Statement: Transport
Support for Augmented and Virtual Reality Applications",
Work in Progress, Internet-Draft, draft-han-iccrg-arvr-
transport-problem-01, 12 March 2017,
<https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-han-iccrg-
arvr-transport-problem-01>.
[I-D.ietf-moq-requirements]
Gruessing, J. and S. Dawkins, "Media Over QUIC - Use Cases
and Requirements for Media Transport Protocol Design",
Work in Progress, Internet-Draft, draft-ietf-moq-
requirements-00, 5 June 2023,
<https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-ietf-moq-
requirements-00>.
[I-D.ietf-quic-multipath]
Liu, Y., Ma, Y., De Coninck, Q., Bonaventure, O., Huitema,
C., and M. Kühlewind, "Multipath Extension for QUIC", Work
in Progress, Internet-Draft, draft-ietf-quic-multipath-04,
13 March 2023, <https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/
draft-ietf-quic-multipath-04>.
[I-D.jennings-moq-proto]
Jennings, C. F. and S. Nandakumar, "QuicR - Media Delivery
Protocol over QUIC", Work in Progress, Internet-Draft,
draft-jennings-moq-proto-00, 13 March 2023,
<https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-jennings-moq-
proto-00>.
[I-D.li-apn-framework]
Li, Z., Peng, S., Voyer, D., Li, C., Liu, P., Cao, C., and
G. S. Mishra, "Application-aware Networking (APN)
Framework", Work in Progress, Internet-Draft, draft-li-
apn-framework-07, 3 April 2023,
<https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-li-apn-
framework-07>.
[I-D.muscariello-intarea-hicn]
Muscariello, L., Carofiglio, G., Auge, J., Papalini, M.,
and M. Sardara, "Hybrid Information-Centric Networking",
Work in Progress, Internet-Draft, draft-muscariello-
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intarea-hicn-04, 20 May 2020,
<https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-muscariello-
intarea-hicn-04>.
[IEEE-P2874]
"IEEE SA P2874 Standard for Spatial Web Protocol,
Architecture and Governance", n.d.,
<https://standards.ieee.org/ieee/2874/10375/>.
[RFC7927] Kutscher, D., Ed., Eum, S., Pentikousis, K., Psaras, I.,
Corujo, D., Saucez, D., Schmidt, T., and M. Waehlisch,
"Information-Centric Networking (ICN) Research
Challenges", RFC 7927, DOI 10.17487/RFC7927, July 2016,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7927>.
[RFC8684] Ford, A., Raiciu, C., Handley, M., Bonaventure, O., and C.
Paasch, "TCP Extensions for Multipath Operation with
Multiple Addresses", RFC 8684, DOI 10.17487/RFC8684, March
2020, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8684>.
[RFC9000] Iyengar, J., Ed. and M. Thomson, Ed., "QUIC: A UDP-Based
Multiplexed and Secure Transport", RFC 9000,
DOI 10.17487/RFC9000, May 2021,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9000>.
[RFC9293] Eddy, W., Ed., "Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)",
STD 7, RFC 9293, DOI 10.17487/RFC9293, August 2022,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9293>.
Authors' Addresses
Giuseppe Fioccola
Huawei Technologies
Palazzo Verrocchio, Centro Direzionale Milano 2
20054 Segrate (Milan)
Italy
Email: giuseppe.fioccola@huawei.com
Paulo Mendes
Airbus
82024 Taufkirchen
Germany
Email: paulo.mendes@airbus.com
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Jeff Burke
UCLA REMAP
102 East Melnitz Hall
Los Angeles, CA 90095
United States of America
Email: jburke@remap.ucla.edu
Dirk Kutscher
HKUST(GZ)
Guangzhou
China
Email: ietf@dkutscher.net
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