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File-Like ICN Collections (FLIC)
draft-irtf-icnrg-flic-06

Document Type Active Internet-Draft (icnrg RG)
Authors Christian Tschudin , Christopher A. Wood , Marc Mosko , David R. Oran
Last updated 2024-10-21
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Intended RFC status Experimental
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draft-irtf-icnrg-flic-06
ICNRG                                                        C. Tschudin
Internet-Draft                                       University of Basel
Intended status: Experimental                                  C.A. Wood
Expires: 24 April 2025                                        Cloudflare
                                                              M.E. Mosko
                                                                        
                                                            D. Oran, Ed.
                                       Network Systems Research & Design
                                                         21 October 2024

                    File-Like ICN Collections (FLIC)
                        draft-irtf-icnrg-flic-06

Abstract

   This document describes a simple "index table" data structure and its
   associated Information Centric Networking (ICN) data objects for
   organizing a set of primitive ICN data objects into a large, File-
   Like ICN Collection (FLIC).  At the core of this collection is a
   _manifest_ which acts as the collection's root node.  The manifest
   contains an index table with pointers, each pointer being a hash
   value pointing to either a final data block or another index table
   node.

Status of This Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
   Task Force (IETF).  Note that other groups may also distribute
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   Drafts is at https://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/.

   Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
   and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
   time.  It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
   material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."

   This Internet-Draft will expire on 24 April 2025.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2024 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

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   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents (https://trustee.ietf.org/
   license-info) in effect on the date of publication of this document.
   Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights
   and restrictions with respect to this document.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     1.1.  FLIC as an ICN experimental tool  . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     1.2.  Requirements Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   2.  Design Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   3.  FLIC Structure  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
     3.1.  Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
     3.2.  Locators  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
     3.3.  Name Constructors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
     3.4.  Manifest Metadata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
     3.5.  Pointer Annotations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
     3.6.  Manifest Grammar (ABNF) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
     3.7.  Manifest Trees  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
       3.7.1.  Traversal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
     3.8.  Manifest Encryption Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  16
       3.8.1.  AEAD Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  17
       3.8.2.  RSA-OAEP Key Transport Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . .  19
     3.9.  Protocol Encodings  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  20
       3.9.1.  CCNx Encoding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  21
         3.9.1.1.  CCNx Hash Naming Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . .  21
         3.9.1.2.  CCNx Single Prefix Strategy . . . . . . . . . . .  22
         3.9.1.3.  CCNx Segmented Prefix Strategy  . . . . . . . . .  22
         3.9.1.4.  CCNx Hybrid Strategy  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  23
       3.9.2.  NDN Encoding  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  24
         3.9.2.1.  NDN Hash Naming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  24
         3.9.2.2.  NDN Single Prefix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  25
         3.9.2.3.  NDN Segmented Prefix  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  25
         3.9.2.4.  NDN Hybrid Schema . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  26
       3.9.3.  Segmented Schema Details  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  27
     3.10. Example Structures  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  28
       3.10.1.  Leaf-only data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  28
       3.10.2.  Linear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  28
   4.  Experimenting with FLIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  28
   5.  Usage Examples  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  29
     5.1.  Locating FLIC leaf and manifest nodes . . . . . . . . . .  29
     5.2.  Seeking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  30
     5.3.  Block-level de-duplication  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  31
     5.4.  Growing ICN collections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  31
     5.5.  Re-publishing a FLIC under a new name . . . . . . . . . .  32
   6.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  33
     6.1.  FLIC Payload Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  33

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     6.2.  FLIC Manifest Metadata and Annotation TLVs  . . . . . . .  33
   7.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  34
     7.1.  Integrity and Origin Authentication of FLIC Manifests . .  34
     7.2.  Confidentiality of Manifest Data  . . . . . . . . . . . .  35
     7.3.  Privacy of names and linkability of access patterns . . .  36
   8.  References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  36
     8.1.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  36
     8.2.  Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  37
   Appendix A.  Building Trees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  38
   Authors' Addresses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  40

1.  Introduction

   ICN architectures, such as Content-Centric Networking (CCNx)[RFC8569]
   and Named Data Networking [NDN], are well suited for static content
   distribution.  Each piece of (possibly immutable) static content is
   assigned a name by its producer.  Consumers fetch this content using
   said name.  Optionally, consumers may specify the full name of
   content, which includes its name and a unique (with overwhelming
   probability) cryptographic digest of said content.

      |  Note: The reader is assumed to be familiar with general ICN
      |  concepts from CCNx or NDN.  For general ICN terms, this
      |  document uses the terminology defined in [RFC7927].  Where more
      |  specificity is needed, we utilize CCNx [RFC8569] terminology
      |  where a Content Object is the data structure that holds
      |  application payload.  Terms defined specifically for FLIC are
      |  enumerated below in Section 3.1.

   To enable requests with full names, consumers need a priori knowledge
   of content digests.  A Manifest, a form of catalog, is a data
   structures commonly employed to store and transport this information.
   Typically, ICN manifests are signed content objects (data) which
   carry a collection of hash digests.  As content objects, a manifest
   itself may be fetched by full name.  A manifest may contain either
   hash digests of, or pointers to, either other manifests or content
   objects.  A collection of manifests and content objects represents a
   large piece of application data, e.g., one that cannot otherwise fit
   in a single content object.  Because a manifest contains a collection
   of hashes, it is by definition non-circular because one cannot hash
   the manifest before filling it in.

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   Structurally, this relationship between manifests and content objects
   is reminiscent of the UNIX inode concept with index tables and memory
   pointers.  In this document, we specify a simple, yet extensible,
   manifest data structure called FLIC - _File-Like ICN Collection_.
   FLIC is suitable for ICN protocol suites such as CCNx and NDN.  We
   describe the FLIC design, grammar, and various use cases, e.g.,
   ordered fetch, seeking, de-duplication, extension, and variable-sized
   encoding.  We also include FLIC encoding examples for CCNx and NDN.

   The purpose of a manifest is to concisely name, and hence point to,
   the constiuent pieces of a larger object.  A FLIC manifest does this
   by using a _root_ manifest to name and cryptographically sign the
   data structure and then use concise lists of hash-based names to
   indicate the constituent pieces.  This maintains strong security from
   a single signature.  A Manifest entry gives one enough information to
   create an _Interest_ for that entry, so it must specify the name, the
   hash digest, and if needed, the locators.

   FLIC is a distributed data structure illustrated by the following
   picture.

               root manifest
   .------------------------------------.
   | optional name:                     |
   |   /icn/name/of/this/flic           |
   |                                    |
   | HashGroup (HG):                    |
   |   optional metadata:               |
   |     overall digest, locator, etc.  |    .------.
   |   hash-valued data pointer -----------> | data |
   |     ...                            |    `------'  sub manifest
   |   hash-valued manifest pointer ------.     .------------------.
   |                                    |  `--> |                ----->
   | optional additional HashGroups     |       |                ----->
   |                                    |       `------------------'
   | optional signature                 |
   `------------------------------------'

          Figure 1: A FLIC manifest and its directed acyclic graph

   A key design decision is how one names the root manifest, the
   application data, and subsidiary manifests.  FLIC uses the concept of
   a Name Constructor.  The root manifest (in fact, any FLIC manifest)
   may include a Name Constructor that instructs a manifest reader how
   to properly create Interests for the associated application data and
   subsidiary manifests.  The Name Constructors allow interest
   construction using a well-known, application-independent set of
   rules.  Some name constructor forms are tailored towards specific ICN

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   protocols, such as CCNx or NDN; some are more general and could work
   with many protocols.  We describe the allowed Name Constructor
   methods in Section 3.3.  There are also particulars of how to encode
   the name schema in a given ICN protocol, which we describe in
   Section 3.9.

   FLIC has encodings for CCNx (Section 3.9.1) as per RFC 8609 [RFC8609]
   and for NDN (Section 3.9.2).

   An example implementation in Python may be found at
   [FLICImplementation].

1.1.  FLIC as an ICN experimental tool

   FLIC enables experimentation with how to structure and retrieve large
   data objects and collections in ICN.  By having a common data
   structure applications can rely on, with a common library of code
   that can be used to create and parse manifest data structures,
   applications using ICN protocols can both avoid unnecessary
   reinvention and also have enhanced interoperability.  Since the
   design attempts to balance simplicity, universality, and
   extensibility, there are a number of important experimental goals to
   achieve that may wind up in conflict with one another.  We provide a
   partial list of these experimental issues in Section 4.  It is also
   important for users of FLIC to understand that some flexibility and
   extensions might be removed if use cases do not materialize to
   justify their inclusion in an eventual standard.

1.2.  Requirements Language

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
   document are to be interpreted as described in [RFC2119].

2.  Design Overview

   The FLIC design adopts the proven UNIX inode concept of direct and
   indirect pointers, but without the specific structural forms of
   direct versus indirect.  FLIC is a collection of pointers, and when
   one de-references the pointer it could be an application object or
   another FLIC manifest.  The pointers in FLIC use hash-based naming of
   Content Objects analogous to the function block numbers play in UNIX
   inodes.

   Because FLIC uses hash-based pointers as names, FLIC graphs are
   inherently acyclic.  Both CCNx and NDN support hash-based naming,
   though the details differ (see Section 3.9.1 and Section 3.9.2).

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   The FLIC datastructure is an acyclic digraph of Content Objects.  In
   this document, our examples are trees, but that is not a requirement.
   For example, a de-duplication representation might have a common
   object with many 0s and that object could be references from multiple
   places in the tree.  As another example, there could be a common sub-
   collection of objects organized in a Manifest, and that sub-manifest
   could be included in multiple places.

   In FLIC terms, a direct pointer links to application-level data,
   which is a Content Object with application data in the Payload.  An
   indirect pointer links to a Content Object with a FLIC Manifest in
   the Payload.

      |  Note: A substantial advantage of using hash-based naming is
      |  that it permits block-level de-duplication of application data
      |  because two blocks with the same payload will have the same
      |  hash name.

   The FLIC structure that is expected most applications would use
   consists of a root manifest with a strong cryptographic signature and
   then cryptographically strong (e.g.  SHA256 [SHS]) hash names as
   pointers to other manifests.  The advantage of this structure is that
   the single signature in the root manifest covers the entire data
   structure no matter how many additional manifests are in the data
   structure.  Another advantage of this structure is it removes the
   need to use chunk (CCNx) or segment (NDN) name components for the
   subordinate manifests.

   Another usage is to have a signed Root Manifest with a single pointer
   to the Top Manifest.  The Top Manifest maybe a CCNx Nameless object.
   This method allows an intermediary service to respond to client
   requests with its own signed Manifest that then points to a small
   Root manifest.  The client trusts the intermediary's reponse because
   of the intermediary's signature, and then trusts the content because
   of the Root manifest.  In some cases, the intermediary could embed
   the Root Manifest (because it is small) and avoid additional round
   trips before beginning download.  This technique is used in a
   peer-to-peer sharing protocol [ProjectOrigin].

   FLIC supports manifest encryption separate from application payload
   encryption (See Section 3.8).  It has a flexible encryption envelope
   to support various encryption algorithms and key discovery
   mechanisms.  The byte layout allows for in-place encryption and
   decryption.

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   A limitation of this approach is that one cannot construct a hash-
   based name for a child until one knows the payload of that child.  In
   practical terms, this means that one must have the complete
   application payload available at the time of manifest creation.

   FLIC's design allows straightforward applications that just need to
   traverse a linear set of related objects to do so simply, but FLIC
   has two extensibility mechanisms that allow for more sophisticated
   uses: manifest metadata, and pointer annotations.  These are
   described in Section 3.4 and Section 3.5 respectively.

   FLIC goes to considerable lengths to allow creation and parsing by
   application-independent library code.  Therefore, any options used by
   applications in the data structure or encryption capabilities MUST
   NOT require applications to have application-specific Manifest
   traversal algorithms.  This ensures that such application agnostic
   libraries can always successfully parse and traverse any FLIC
   Manifest by ignoring the optional capabilities.

   The reader may find it useful to refer to Section Example Usages
   (Section 5) from time to time to see worked out examples.

3.  FLIC Structure

3.1.  Terminology

   Data Object:  a CCNx nameless Content Object that usually only has
      Payload.  It might also have an ExpiryTime to limit the lifetime
      of the data.

   Direct Pointer:  borrowed from inode terminology, it is a CCNx link
      using a content object hash restriction and a locator name to
      point to a Data Object.

   Hash Group:  KA collection of pointers.  A Manifest should have
      atleast one Hash Group.  A Hash Group may have its own associated
      meta data and Name Constructor.

   Indirect Pointer:  borrowed from inode terminology, it is a CCNx link
      using a content object hash restriction and a locator name to
      point to a manifest content object.

   Internal Manifest:  some or all pointers are indirect.  The order and
      number of each is up to the manifest builder.  By convention, all
      the direct manifests come first, then the indirect.

   Leaf Manifest:  all pointers are direct pointers.

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   Locator:  A routing hint in an Interest used by forwarding to get the
      Interest to where it can be matched based on its Name Constructor-
      derived name.

   Manifest:  a CCNx ContentObject with PayloadType 'Manifest' and a
      Payload of the encoded manifest.  A leaf manifest only has direct
      pointers.  An internal manifest has a mixture of direct and
      indirect pointers.

   Manifest Waste:  a metric used to measure the amount of waste in a
      manifest tree.  Waste is the number of unused pointers.  For
      example, a leaf manifest might be able to hold 40 direct pointers,
      but only 30 of them are used, so the waste of this node is 10.
      Manifest tree waste is the sum of waste over all manifests in a
      tree.

   Name Constructor:  The specification of how to construct an Interest
      for a Manifest entry.

   Root Manifest:  A signed, named, manifest that points to nameless
      manifest nodes.  This structure means that the internal tree
      structure of internal and leaf manifests have no names and thus
      may be located anywhere in a namespace, while the root manifest
      has a name to fetch it by.

   Top Manifest:  One useful manifest structure is to use a Root
      manifest that points to a single Internal manifest called the Top
      Manifest.  The Top manifest the begins the structure used to
      organize manifests.  It is also possible to elide the two and use
      only a root manifest that also serves in the role of the top
      manifest.

3.2.  Locators

   Locators are routing hints used by forwarders to get an Interest to a
   node in the network that can resolve the Interest's name.  In some
   naming conventions, the name might only be a hash-based name so the
   Locator is the only available routing information.  Locators exist in
   both CCNx and NDN, though the specific protocol mechanisms differ.  A
   FLIC manifest represents locators in the same way for both ICN
   protocols inside Name Constructors (Section 3.3), though they are
   encoded differently in the underlying protocol.  See Section 3.9 for
   encoding differences.

   A manifest Node may define one or more Locator prefixes that can be
   used in the construction of Interests from the pointers in the
   manifest.  The Locators are inherited when walking a manifest tree,
   so they do not need to be defined everywhere.  It is RECOMMENDED that

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   only the Root manifest contain Locators so that a single operation
   can update the locators.  One use case when storing application
   payloads at different replicas is to replace the Root manifest with a
   new one that contains locators for the current replicas.

3.3.  Name Constructors

   A Manifest may define zero or more name constructors in
   NameConstructorDefinitions (NCD) located in the Manifest Node.  An
   NCD associates a Name Constructor Id (NCID) to a Name Constructor.
   The NCID is used in other parts of the Manifest to refer to that
   specific definition.

   A manifest organizes pointers inside Hash Groups.  Each Hash Group
   uses an NCID to indicate what Name Constructor to use to fetch the
   pointers inside the group.

   NCID 0 is the default name constructor.  If it is not defined in an
   NCD, it is assumed to be a HashNamingConstructor.  A Manifest may re-
   define the default as needed.

   A Manifest MUST use locally unique NCIDs in the NCD.

   NCDs and their associated NCIDs are inherited as one traverses a
   manifest.  That is, a manifest consumer must remember the NCDs as it
   traverses manifests.  If it encounters a HashGroup that uses an
   unknown NCID, the RECOMMENDED action is to report a malformed
   manifest to the user.

   A Manifest may update an NCID.  If a child manifest re-defines an
   NCID, the manifest consumer MUST use the new definition from that
   point forward under that Manifest branch.

   It is RECOMMENDED that only the root or similar top-level manifest
   define NCDs and they not be re-defined in subsequent manifests.

   We expect that an application constructing a Manifest will take one
   of three approaches to name constructors.  The advantage of using, or
   re-defining, the default name constructor is that any hash groups
   that use it do not need to specify an NCID and thus might save some
   space.

   *  A manifest might define (or use) a default name constructor and
      mix subsequent Manifest and Data objects under that same
      namespace.  The manifest only needs to use one Hash Group and can
      freely mix Manifest and Data pointers.

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   *  A manifest might define (or use) a default name constructor for
      subsequent Manifests and define a second NCD for the application
      data.  This places all subsequent manifests under the default
      constructor and places all application data under the second NCD.
      The Manifest must use at least two Hash Groups.

      There are a few options on how to organize the Hash Groups:

      (1)  Manifest Hash Group followed by Data Hash group,
      (2)  Data Hash Group followed by Manifest Hash Group,
      (3)  Intermix multiple manifest and data hash groups for
           interleaved reading, or
      (4)  use a data-on-leaf only approach: the interior manifests
           would use the manifest hash group and the leaves would use
           the data hash group.  Other organizations are possible.

   *  Define multiple NCDs for subsequent manifests and data, or not use
      the default NCD, or use some other organization.

   In this specification, we define the following four types of Name
   Constructors.  Additional name constructor types may be specified in
   a subsequent revision of the specification.  Here, we informally
   define the name constructors.  Section 3.6 specifies the encoding of
   each name constructor.

   Type 0 (Interest-Derived Naming):  Use whatever name was used in the
      Interest to retrieve this Manifest, less a hash component, and
      append the desired hash value.

   Type 1 (Data-Derived Naming):  Use the Manifest Name, less a hash
      component, as the Interest name, and append the desired hash
      value.

   Type 2 (Prefix List):  The NCD specifies a list of 1 or more name
      prefixes.  The consumer may use any (or all) of those prefixes
      with the desired hash appended.

   Type 3 (Segmented Naming):  As in Type 2, but the consumer MUST track
      Segment Numbers.  If the Hash Group provides Segment Number
      annotations for each pointer, it MUST use those numbers.
      Otherwise, the consumer MUST use a 0-based counter that follows
      the traversal order.

   In Type 0, the consumer uses some name N to fetch a manifest.  When
   the consumer receives the Manifest back, it begins issuing interests
   for the content using the same name N, but with the hash pointers
   from the manifest.

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   In Type 1, the consumer uses some name N to fetch a manifest.  The
   consumer receives a manifest back with name M inside the Manifest
   Content Object.  The consumer then uses the name M plus hash pointers
   from the manifest.

   In Type 2, the consumer receives a manifest and begins traversing it.
   If it visits a Hash Group with a PrefixSchema Name Constructor, then
   that Name Constructor provides a list of 1 or more locators to use.
   The consumer may use any or all of the provided locators, plus the
   hash pointer, to fetch the contents.

   In Type 3, if a Hash Group has a SegmentedSchema Name Constructor,
   then the consumer uses the same mechanism as Type 2, but with the
   addition of a Segment Number in the name.  Segmented naming is only
   compatible with deterministic traversal orders or if the Manifest
   provides Segment Number annotations for each pointer.  If the Hash
   Group provides hints about other traversal orders, then it must also
   provide Segment Number annotations for each prefix.

3.4.  Manifest Metadata

   The FLIC Manifest may be extended by defining TLVs that apply to the
   Manifest as a whole, or alternatively, individually to every data
   object pointed to by the Manifest.  This basic specification does not
   specify any, but metadata TLVs may be defined through additional RFCs
   or via Vendor TLVs.  FLIC uses a Vendor TLV structure identical to
   [RFC8609] for vendor-specific annotations that require no
   standardization process.

   For example, some applications may find it useful to allow
   specialized consumers such as _repositories_ (for example
   [repository]) or enhanced forwarder caches to pre-place, or
   adaptively pre-fetch data in order to improve robustness and/or
   retrieval latency.  Metadata can supply hints to such entities about
   what subset of the compound object to fetch and in what order.

      |  Note: FLICs ability to use separate namespaces for the Manifest
      |  and the underlying Data allows different encryption keys to be
      |  used, hence giving a network element like a cache or repository
      |  access to the Manifest data does not as a side effect reveal
      |  the contents of the application data itself.

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3.5.  Pointer Annotations

   FLIC allows each manifest pointer to be annotated with extra data.
   Annotations allow applications to exploit metadata about each Data
   Object pointed to without having to first fetch the corresponding
   Content Object.  This specification defines one such annotation.  The
   _SizeAnnotation_ specifies the number of application layer octets
   covered by the pointer.

   An annotation may, for example, give hints about a desirable
   traversal order for fetching the data, or an importance/precedence
   indication to aid applications that do not require every content
   object pointed to in the manifest to be fetched.  This can be very
   useful for real-time or streaming media applications that can perform
   error concealment when rendering the media.

   Additional annotations may be defined through additional RFCs or via
   Vendor TLVs.  FLIC uses a Vendor TLV structure identical to [RFC8609]
   for vendor-specific annotations that require no standardization
   process.

3.6.  Manifest Grammar (ABNF)

   The manifest grammar is mostly, but not entirely independent of the
   ICN protocol used to encode and transport it.  The TLV encoding
   therefore follows the corresponding ICN protocol, so for CCNx FLIC
   uses 2 octet length, 2 octet type and for NDN uses the 1/3/5 octet
   types and lengths (see [NDNTLV] for details).  There are also some
   differences in how one structures and resolves links.  [RFC8569]
   defines HashValue and Link for CCNx encodings.  The NDN
   ImplicitSha256DigestComponent defines HashValue and NDN Delegation
   (from Link Object) defines Link for NDN.  Section 3.9 below specifies
   these differences.

   The basic structure of a FLIC manifest comprises a security context,
   a node, and an authentication tag.  The security context and
   authentication tag are not needed if the node is unencrypted.  A node
   is made up of a set of metadata, the NodeData, that applies to the
   entire node, and one or more HashGroups that contain pointers.

   The NodeData element defines the namespaces used by the manifest.
   There may be multiple namespaces, depending on how one names
   subsequent manifests or data objects.  Each HashGroup may reference a
   single namespace to control how one forms Interests from the
   HashGroup.  If one is using separate namespaces for manifests and
   application data, one needs at least two hash groups.  For a manifest
   structure of "MMMDDD," (where M means manifest (indirect pointer) and
   D means data (direct pointer)) for example, one would have a first

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   HashGroup for the child manifests with its namespace and a second
   HashGroup for the data pointers with the other namespace.  If one
   used a structure like "MMMDDDMMM," then one would need three hash
   groups.

   TYPE = 2OCTET / {1,3,5}OCTET ; As per CCNx or NDN TLV
   LENGTH = 2OCTET / {1,3,5}OCTET ; As per CCNx or NDN TLV

   Manifest = TYPE LENGTH [SecurityCtx] (EncryptedNode / Node) [AuthTag]

   SecurityCtx = TYPE LENGTH AlgorithmCtx
   AlgorithmCtx = AEADCtx / RsaKemCtx
   AuthTag = TYPE LENGTH *OCTET ; e.g. AEAD authentication tag
   EncryptedNode = TYPE LENGTH *OCTET ; Encrypted Node

   Node = TYPE LENGTH [NodeData] 1*HashGroup
   NodeData = TYPE LENGTH [SubtreeSize] [SubtreeDigest] [Locators]
              0*Vendor 0*NcDef
   SubtreeSize = TYPE LENGTH INTEGER
   SubtreeDigest = TYPE LENGTH HashValue

   NcDef = TYPE LENGTH NcId NcSchema
   NcId = TYPE LENGTH INTEGER
   NcSchema = InterestDerivedSchema / DataDerivedSchema /
              PrefixSchema / SegmentedSchema / HashSchema
   InterestDerivedSchema = TYPE LENGTH [ProtocolFlags]
   DataDerivedSchema = TYPE LENGTH [ProtocolFlags]
   PrefixSchema = TYPE LENGTH Locators [ProtocolFlags]
   SegmentedSchema = TYPE LENGTH Locators [ProtocolFlags]
   HashSchema = TYPE LENGTH Locators [ProtocolFlags]

   Locators = TYPE LENGTH 1*Link
   HashValue = TYPE LENGTH *OCTET ; As per ICN Protocol
   Link = TYPE LENGTH *OCTET ; As per ICN protocol

   ProtocolFlags = TYPE LENGTH *OCTET
                   ; ICN-specific flags, e.g. must be fresh

   HashGroup = TYPE LENGTH [GroupData] (Ptrs / AnnotatedPtrs)
   Ptrs = TYPE LENGTH *HashValue
   AnnotatedPtrs = TYPE LENGTH *PointerBlock
   PointerBlock = TYPE LENGTH *Annotation Ptr
   Ptr = TYPE LENGTH HashValue

   Annotation = SizeAnnotation / SegmentIdAnnotation / Vendor
   SizeAnnotation = TYPE LENGTH Integer
   SegmentIdAnnotation = TYPE LENGTH Integer
   Vendor = TYPE LENGTH PEN *OCTET

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   PEN = 3OCTET ; IANA Private Enterprise Number

   GroupData = TYPE LENGTH [NcId] [LeafSize] [LeafDigest]
               [SubtreeSize] [SubtreeDigest] [StartSegmentId]
   LeafSize = TYPE LENGTH INTEGER
   LeafDigest = TYPE LENGTH HashValue
   StartSegmentId = TYPE LENGTH Integer

   AEADCtx = TYPE LENGTH AEADData
   AEADData = KeyNum AEADNonce Mode
   KeyNum = TYPE LENGTH INTEGER
   AEADNonce = TYPE LENGTH 1*OCTET
   AEADMode = TYPE LENGTH (AEAD_AES_128_GCM / AEAD_AES_256_GCM /
              AEAD_AES_128_CCM / AEAD_AES_128_CCM)

   RsaKemCtx = 2 LENGTH RsaKemData
   RsaKemData = KeyId AEADNonce AEADMode WrappedKey LocatorPrefix
   KeyId = TYPE LENGTH HashValue; ID of Key Encryption Key
   WrappedKey = TYPE LENGTH 4*OCTET 1*OCTET  ; 4-byte salt plus AES key
   LocatorPrefix = TYPE LENGTH Link

                           Figure 2: FLIC Grammar

   SecurityCtx:  information about how to decrypt an EncryptedNode.  The
      structure will depend on the specific encryption algorithm.

   AlgorithmId:  The ID of the encryption method (e.g. preshared key, a
      broadcast encryption scheme, etc.)

   AlgorithmData:  The context for the encryption algorithm.

   EncryptedNode:  An opaque octet string with an optional
      authentication tag (i.e. for AEAD authentication tag)

   Node:  A plain-text manifest node.  The structure allows for in-place
      encryption/decryption.

   NodeData:  the metadata about the Manifest node

   SubtreeSize:  The size of all application data at and below the Node
      or Group

   SubtreeDigest:  The cryptographic digest of all application data at
      and below the Node or Group

   Locators:  An array of routing hints to find the manifest components

   HashGroup:  A set of child pointers and associated metadata

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   Ptrs:  A list of one or more Hash Values

   GroupData:  Metadata that applies to a HashGroup

   LeafSize:  Size of all application data immediately under the Group
      (i.e. via direct pointers)

   LeafDigest:  Digest of all application data immediately under the
      Group

   StartSegmentId:  If using a name constructor that requires a chunk
      number (segment number), this field indicates the starting value
      for the group.  Using the StartSegmentId means that a consumer
      does not need to track the segment id between manifests and
      simplifies interest name generation.

   Ptr:  The ContentObjectHash of a child, which may be a data
      ContentObject (i.e. with Payload) or another Manifest Node.

3.7.  Manifest Trees

3.7.1.  Traversal

   FLIC manifests use a pre-order traversal.  This means they are read
   top to bottom, left to right.  The algorithms in Figure 3 show the
   pre-order forward traversal code and the reverse-order traversal
   code, which we use below to construct such a tree.  This document
   does not mandate how to build trees.  Appendix A provides a detailed
   example of building inode-like trees.

   If using Annotated Pointers, an annotation could influence the
   traversal order.

    preorder(node)
       if (node = null)
          return
       visit(node)
       for (i = 0, i < node.child.length, i++)
          preorder(node.child[i])

   reverse_preorder(node)
      if (node = null)
          return
      for (i = node.child.length - 1, i >= 0, i-- )
          reverse_preorder(node.child[i]) visit(node)

                       Figure 3: Traversal Pseudocode

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   In terms of the FLIC grammar, one expands a node into its hash
   groups, visiting each hash group in order.  In each hash group, one
   follows each pointer in order.  Figure 4 shows how hash groups inside
   a manifest expand like virtual children in the tree.  The in-order
   traversal is M0, HG1, M1, HG3, D0, D1, D2, HG2, D3, D4.

   M0 ____
   |      \
   HG1    HG2
   | \    |  \
   M1 D2  D3  D4
   |
   HG3
   |  \
   D0 D1

                          Figure 4: Node Expansion

   Using the example manifest tree shown in Figure 6, the in-order
   traversal would be: Root, M0, M1, D0, D1, D2, M2, D3, D4, D5, M3, D6,
   D7, D8.

3.8.  Manifest Encryption Modes

   This document specifies two encryption modes.  The first is a
   preshared key mode, where the parties are assumed to have the
   decryption keys already.  It uses AES-GCM or AES-CCM.  This is
   useful, for example, when using a key agreement protocol such as
   CCNxKE [I-D.wood-icnrg-ccnxkeyexchange].  The second is an RSA key
   encapsulation mode (RsaKem [RFC5990]), which may be used for group
   keying.

   Additional modes may be defined in subsequent specifications.  We
   expect that an RSA KemDem mode and Elliptic Curve mode should be
   specified.

   All encryption modes use standard encryption algorithms and
   specifications.  Where appropriate, we adopt the TLS 1.2 standards
   for how to use the encryption algorithms.  This section specifies how
   to encode algorithm parameters or ICN-specific data.

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   For group key based encryption, we use RsaKem.  This specification
   only details the pertinent aspects of the encryption.  It describes
   how a consumer locates the appropriate keys in the ICN namespace.  It
   does not specify aspects of a key manager which may or may not be
   used as part of key distribution and management, nor does it specify
   the protocol between a key manager and a publisher.  In its simpliest
   form, the publisher could be the key manager, in which case there is
   no extra protocol needed between the publisher and key manager.

   While the preshared key algorithm is limited in use, the AES
   encryption mode described applies to the group key mechanisms too.
   The group key mechanism facilitates the distribution of the shared
   key without an on-line key agreement protocol like (the expired
   draft) CCNxKE [I-D.wood-icnrg-ccnxkeyexchange].

3.8.1.  AEAD Mode

   This mechanism uses AES-GEM [AESGCM] or AES-CCM [RFC3310] for
   manifest encryption.  A publisher creating a SecurityCtx SHOULD use
   the mechanisms in [RFC6655] for AES-CCM IV generation and [RFC5288]
   for AES-GCM IV generation.

   When the publisher and consumer establish the KeyNum, they SHOULD
   also establish a salt.  This results in a 4-byte salt and 8-byte
   nonce.  If no salt exists, the AEADNonce may be the entire IV.

   As these references specify, it is essential that the publisher
   creating a Manifest never use a Nonce more than once for the same
   key.  For keys exchanged via a session protocol, such as CCNx, the
   publisher MUST use unique nonces on each Manifest for that session.
   If the key is derived via a group key mechanism, the publisher MUST
   ensure that the same Nonce is not used more than once for the same
   Content Encryption Key.

   The AEAD Mode uses [RFC5116] defined symbols AEAD_AES_128_CCM,
   AEAD_AES_128_GCM, AEAD_AES_256_CCM and AEAH_AES_256_GCM to specify
   the key length and algorithm.

   The KeyNum identifies a key on the receiver.  The key MUST be exactly
   of the length specific by the Mode.  Many receivers may have the same
   key with the same KeyNum.

   When a Consumer reads a manifest that specifies a KeyNum, the
   consumer SHOULD verify that the Manifest's publisher is an expected
   one for the KeyNum's usage.  This trust mechanism employed to
   ascertain whether the publisher is expected is beyond the scope of
   this document, but we provide an outline of one such possible trust
   mechanism.  When a consumer learns a shared key and KeyNum, it

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   associates that KeyNum with the publisher ID used in a public key
   signature.  When the consumer receives a signed manifest (e.g. the
   root manifest of a manifest tree), the consumer matches the KeyNum's
   publisher with the Manifest's publisher.

   Each encrypted manifest node has a full security context (KeyNum,
   Nonce, Mode).  The AEAD decryption is independent for each manifest
   so Manifest objects can be fetched and decrypted in any order.  This
   design also ensures that if a manifest tree points to the same
   subtree repeatedly, such as for deduplication, the decryptions are
   all idempotent.

   To encrypt a Manifest, the publisher:

   1.  Removes any SecurityCtx or AuthTag from the Manifest.

   2.  Creates a SecurityCtx and adds it to the Manifest.

   3.  Treats the Manifest TLV through the end of the Node TLV Length as
       unencrypted authenticated Header.  That includes anything from
       the start of the Manifest up to but not including the start of
       the Node's body.

   4.  Treats the body of the Node to the end of the Manifest as
       encrypted data.

   5.  Appends the AEAD AuthTag to the end of the Manifest, increasing
       the Manifest's length

   6.  Changes the TLV type of the Node to EncryptedNode.

   To decrypt a Manifest, the consumer:

   1.  Verifies that the KeyNum exists and the publisher is trusted for
       that KeyNum.

   2.  Saves the AuthTag and removes it from the Manifest, decreasing
       the Manifest length.

   3.  Changes the EncryptedNode type to Node.

   4.  Treats everything from the Manifest TLV through the end of the
       Node Length as unencrypted authenticated Header.  That is, all
       bytes from the start of the Manifest up to but not including the
       start of the Node's body.

   5.  Treats the body of the Node to the end of the Manifest as
       encrypted data.

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   6.  Verifies and decrypts the data using the key and saved AuthTag.

   7.  If the decryption fails, the consumer SHOULD notify the user and
       stop further processing of the manifest.

3.8.2.  RSA-OAEP Key Transport Mode

   The RSA-OAEP mode uses RSA-OAEP (see RFC8017 Sec 7.1 [RFC8017] and
   [RSAKEM]) to encrypt a symmetric key that is used to encrypt the
   Manifest.  We call this RSA key the Key Encryption Key (KEK) and each
   group member has this private key.  A separate key distribuiton
   system is responsible for distributing the KEK.  For our purposes, it
   is reasonable to assume that the KEK private key is available at a
   Locator and that group members can decrypt this private key.

   The symmetric key MUST be one that is compatible with the AEAD Mode,
   i.e. a 128-bit or 256-bit random number.  Further, the symmetric key
   MUST fit in the OAEP envelope (which will be true for normal-sized
   keys).

   Any group key protocol and system needed are outside the scope of
   this document.  We assume there is a Key Manager (KM) and a Publisher
   (P) and a set of group members.  Through some means, the Publisher
   therefore has at its disposal:

   *  A Content Encryption Key (CEK), i.e. the symmetric key.

   *  The RSA-OAEP wrapped CEK.

   *  The KeyId of the KEK used to wrap the CEK.

   *  The Locator of the KEK, which is shared under some group key
      protocol.

   This Manifest specification requires that if a group member fetches
   the KEK key at Locator it can decrypt the WrappedKey and retrieve the
   CEK.  The WrappedKey includes a 4-byte salt plus an AES key.  The
   4-byte salt is used by the AEAD algorithm as part of the IV, and MUST
   remain the same for the given KeyId.

   In one example, a publisher could request a key for a group and the
   Key Manager could securely communicate (CEK, Wapped_CEK, KeyId,
   Locator) back to the publisher.  The Key Manager is responsible for
   publishing the Locator.  In another example, the publisher could be a
   group member and have a group private key in which case the publisher
   can create their own key encryption key, publish it under the Locator
   and proceed.  The publisher generates CEK, Wrapped_CEK, KeyId, and a
   Locator on its own.

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   To create the wrapped key using a Key Encryption Key:

   1.  Obtain the CEK in binary format (e.g. 32 bytes for 256 bits)

   2.  RSA encrypt the CEK using the KEK public key with OAEP padding,
       following RFC8017 Sec 7.1 [RFC8017].  The encryption is not
       signed because the root Manifest must have been signed by the
       publisher already.

   To decrypt the wrapped key using a Key Encryption Key:

   1.  RSA decrypt the WrappedKey using the KEK private key with OAEP
       padding, following RFC8017 Sec 7.1 [RFC8017].

   2.  Verify the unwrapped key is a valid length for the AEADMode.

   To encrypt a Manifest, the publisher:

   1.  Acquires the set of (CEK, Wrapped_CEK, KeyId, Locator).

   2.  Generates a 4-byte salt to included in the WrappedKey

   3.  Creates a SecurityCtx and adds it to the Manifest.  The
       SecurityCtx includes an AEADNonce and AEADMode, as per AEAD mode.

   4.  Encrypts the Manifest as per AEAD Mode using the RSA-OAEP
       SecurityCtx and CEK.

   To decrypt a Manifest, the consumer:

   1.  Acquires the KEK from the Key Locator.  If the consumer already
       has a cached copy of the KeyId in memory, it may use that cached
       key.

   2.  SHOULD verify that it trusts the Manifest publisher to use the
       provided key Locator.

   3.  Decrypts the WrappedKey to get the CEK and salt.  If the consumer
       has already decrypted the same exact WrappedKey TLV block, it may
       use that cached CEK and salt.

   4.  Using the CEK, AEADNonce, and AEADMode, decrypt the Manifest as
       per AEAD Mode, ignoring the KeyNum steps.

3.9.  Protocol Encodings

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3.9.1.  CCNx Encoding

   In CCNx, application data content objects use a PayloadType of
   T_PAYLOADTYPE_DATA.  In order to clearly distinguish FLIC Manifests
   from application data, a different payload type is required.
   Therefore this specification defines a new payload type of
   T_PAYLOADTYPE_FLIC.

   ManifestContentObject = TYPE LENGTH [Name] [ExpiryTime]
                           PayloadType Payload
   Name = TYPE LENGTH *OCTET ; As per RFC8569
   ExpiryTime = TYPE LENGTH *OCTET ; As per RFC8569
   PayloadType = TYPE LENGTH T_PAYLOADTYPE_FLIC ; Value TBD
   Payload : TYPE LENGTH *OCTET ; the serialized Manifest object

                      Figure 5: CCNx Embedding Grammar

3.9.1.1.  CCNx Hash Naming Strategy

   The Hash Naming Strategy uses CCNx nameless content objects and the
   HashSchema name constructor.  This means that only the Root Manifest
   should have a name embedded in the Content object.  All other are
   CCNx nameless objects.  The Manifest should provide a set of Locators
   that the client may use to form the Interests.

   It proceeds as follows:

   *  The Root Manifest content object bound to a name assigned by the
      publisher and signed by the publisher.  It also may have a set of
      Locators used to fetch the remainder of the manifest.  The root
      manifest has a single HashPointer that points to the Top Manifest.
      It may also have cache control directives, such as ExpiryTime.

   *  The Root Manifest has an NsDef that specifies HashSchema.  Its
      GroupData uses that NsId.  All internal and leaf manifests use the
      same GroupData NsId.  A Manifest Tree MAY omit the NsDef and NsId
      elements and rely on the default being HashSchema.

   *  The Top Manifest is a nameless CCNx content object.  It may have
      cache control directies.

   *  Internal and Leaf manifests are nameless CCNx content objects,
      possibly with cache control directives.

   *  The Data content objects are nameless CCNx content objects,
      possibly with cache control directives.

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   *  To form an Interest for a direct or indirect pointer, use a Name
      from one of the Locators and put the pointer HashValue into the
      ContentObjectHashRestriction.

3.9.1.2.  CCNx Single Prefix Strategy

   The Single Prefix strategy uses a named Root manifest and then all
   other data and sub-manifest objects use the same Name.  They are
   differentiated only by their hash.

   It proceeds as follows:

   *  The Root Manifest content object has a name used to fetch the
      manifest.  It is signed by the publisher.  It has a single Locator
      used to fetch the remainder of the manifest using the commong
      Single Prefix name.  It has a single HashPointer that points to
      the Top Manifest.  It may also have cache control directives, such
      as ExpiryTime.

   *  The Root Manifest has an NsDef that specifies PrefixSchema with
      the Locator for the single prefix.

   *  The Top Manifest has the name SinglePrefixName.  It may have cache
      control directies.  Its GroupData elements must have an NsId that
      references the NsDef.

   *  An Internal or Leaf manifest has the name SinglePrefixName,
      possibly with cache control directives.  Its GroupData elements
      must have an NsId that references the NsDef.

   *  The Data content objects have the name SinglePrefixName, possibly
      with cache control directives.

   *  To form an Interest for a direct or indirect pointer, use
      SinglePrefixName as the Name and put the pointer HashValue into
      the ContentObjectHashRestriction.

3.9.1.3.  CCNx Segmented Prefix Strategy

   The Segmented Prefix schema uses a different name in all Content
   Objects and distinguishes them via their ContentObjectHash.  Note
   that in CCNx, using a SegmentedPrefixSchema means that only the Root
   Manifest has a Locator for the Segmented Prefix (minus the segment
   number).

      |  *Optional*: Use AnnotatedPointers to indicate the segment
      |  number of each hash pointer to avoid needing to infer the
      |  segment numbers.

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      |  
      |  *Optional*: Use StartSegmentId in GroupData to indicate the
      |  segment number of for each group.  The producer must ensure
      |  that each subsequent GroupData starts at the correct offset.

   It proceeds as follows:

   *  The Root Manifest content object has a name used to fetch the
      manifest.  It is signed by the publisher.  It has a set of
      Locators used to fetch the remainder of the manifest.  It has a
      single HashPointer that points to the Top Manifest.  It may also
      have cache control directives, such as ExpiryTime.

   *  The Root Manifest has an NsDef that specifies SegmentedPrefix and
      the SegmentedPrefixSchema element specifies the
      SegmentedPrefixName.

   *  The publisher tracks the chunk number of each content object
      within the NsId.  Objects are be numbered in their traversal
      order.  Within each manifest, the name can be constructed from the
      SegmentedPrefixName plus a Chunk name component.

   *  The Top Manifest has the name SegmentedPrefixName plus chunk
      number.  It may have cache control directies.  It's GroupData
      elements must have an NsId that references the NsDef.

   *  An Internal or Leaf manifest has the name SegmentedPrefixName plus
      chunk number, possibly with cache control directives.  Its
      GroupData elements must have an NsId that references the NsDef.

   *  The Data content objects have the name SegmentedPrefixName plus
      chunk number, possibly with cache control directives.

   *  To form an Interest for a direct or indirect pointer, use
      SegmentedPrefixName plus chunk number as the Name and put the
      pointer HashValue into the ContentObjectHashRestriction.  A
      consumer must track the chunk number in traversal order for each
      SegmentedPrefixSchema NsId.

3.9.1.4.  CCNx Hybrid Strategy

   A manifest may use multiple schemas.  For example, the application
   payload in data content objects might use SegmentedPrefix while the
   manifest content objects might use HashNaming.

   The Root Manifest should specify an NsDef with a first NsId (say 1)
   as the HashNaming schema and a second NsDef with a second NsId (say
   2) as the SegmentedPrefix schema along with the SegmentedPrefixName.

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   Each manifest (Top, Internal, Leaf) uses two or more HashGroups,
   where each HashGroup has only Direct (with the second NsId) or
   Indirect (with the first NsId).  The number of hash groups will
   depend on how the publisher wishes to interleave direct and indirect
   pointers.

   Manifests and data objects derive their names according to the
   application's naming schema.

3.9.2.  NDN Encoding

   In NDN, all Manifest Data objects use a ContentType of FLIC (1024),
   while all application data content objects use a PayloadType of Blob.

3.9.2.1.  NDN Hash Naming

   In NDN Hash Naming, a Data Object has a 0-length name.  This means
   that an Interest will only have an ImplicitDigest name component in
   it.  This method relies on using NDN Forwarding Hints.

   It proceeds as follows:

   *  The Root Manifest Data has a name used to fetch the manifest.  It
      is signed by the publisher.  It has a set of Locators used to
      fetch the remainder of the manifest.  It has a single HashPointer
      that points to the Top Manifest.  It may also have cache control
      directives.

   *  The Root Manifest has an NsDef that specifies HashSchema.  Its
      GroupData uses that NsId.  All internal and leaf manifests use the
      same GroupData NsId.  A Manifest Tree MAY omit the NsDef and NsId
      elements and rely on the default being HashSchema.

   *  The Top Manifest has a 0-length Name.  It may have cache control
      directies.

   *  Internal and Leaf manifests has a 0-length Name, possibly with
      cache control directives.

   *  The application Data use a 0-length name, possibly with cache
      control directives.

   *  To form an Interest for a direct or indirect pointer, the name is
      only the Implicit Digest name component derived from a pointer's
      HashValue.  The ForwardingHints come from the Locators.  In NDN,
      one may use one or more locators within a single Interest.

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3.9.2.2.  NDN Single Prefix

   In Single Prefix, the Data name is a common prefix used between all
   objects in that namespace, without a Segment or other counter.  They
   are distinguished via the Implicit Digest name component.  The FLIC
   Locators go in the ForwardingHints.

   It proceeds as follows:

   *  The Root Manifest Data object has a name used to fetch the
      manifest.  It is signed by the publisher.  It has a set of
      Locators used to fetch the remainder of the manifest.  It has a
      single HashPointer that points to the Top Manifest.  It may also
      have cache control directives.

   *  The Root Manifest has an NsDef that specifies SinglePrefix and the
      SinglePrefixSchema element specifies the SinglePrefixName.

   *  The Top Manifest has the name SinglePrefixName.  It may have cache
      control directies.  Its GroupData elements must have an NsId that
      references the NsDef.

   *  An Internal or Leaf manifest has the name SinglePrefixName,
      possibly with cache control directives.  Its GroupData elements
      must have an NsId that references the NsDef.

   *  The Data content objects have the name SinglePrefixName, possibly
      with cache control directives.

   *  To form an Interest for a direct or indirect pointer, use
      SinglePrefixName as the Name and append the pointer's HashValue
      into an ImplicitDigest name component.  Set the ForwardingHints
      from the FLIC locators.

3.9.2.3.  NDN Segmented Prefix

   In Segmented Prefix, the Data name is a common prefix plus a segment
   number, so each manifest or application data object has a unique full
   name before the implicit digest.  This means the consumer must
   maintain a counter for each SegmentedPrefix namespace.

      |  *Optional*: Use AnnotatedPointers to indicate the segment
      |  number of each hash pointer to avoid needing to infer the
      |  segment numbers.
      |  
      |  *Optional*: Use StartSegmentId in GroupData to indicate the
      |  segment number of for each group.  The producer must ensure
      |  that each subsequent GroupData starts at the correct offset.

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   It proceeds as follows:

   *  The Root Manifest Data object has a name used to fetch the
      manifest.  It is signed by the publisher.  It has a set of
      Locators used to fetch the remainder of the manifest.  It has a
      single HashPointer that points to the Top Manifest.  It may also
      have cache control directives.

   *  The Root Manifest has an NsDef that specifies SegmentedPrefix and
      the SegmentedPrefixSchema element specifies the
      SegmentedPrefixName.

   *  The publisher tracks the segment number of each Data object within
      a SegmentedPrefix NsId.  Data is numbered in traversal order.
      Within each manifest, the name is constructed from the
      SegmentedPrefixName plus a Segment name component.

   *  The Top Manifest has the name SegmentedPrefixName plus segment
      number.  It may have cache control directies.  Its GroupData
      elements must have an NsId that references the NsDef.

   *  An Internal or Leaf manifest has the name SegmentedPrefixName plus
      segment number, possibly with cache control directives.  Its
      GroupData elements must have an NsId that references the NsDef.

   *  The Data content objects have the name SegmentedPrefixName plus
      chunk number, possibly with cache control directives.

   *  To form an Interest for a direct or indirect pointer, use
      SegmentedPrefixName plus segment number as the Name and put the
      pointer HashValue into the ImplicitDigest name component.  A
      consumer must track the segment number in traversal order for each
      SegmentedPrefixSchema NsId.

3.9.2.4.  NDN Hybrid Schema

   A manifest may use multiple schemas.  For example, the application
   payload in data content objects might use SegmentedPrefix while the
   manifest content objects might use HashNaming.

   The Root Manifest should specify an NsDef with a first NsId (say 1)
   as the HashNaming schema and a second NsDef with a second NsId (say
   2) as the SegmentedPrefix schema along with the SegmentedPrefixName.

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   Each manifest (Top, Internal, Leaf) uses two or more HashGroups,
   where eash HashGroup has only Direct (with the second NsId) or
   Indirect (with the first NsId).  The number of hash groups will
   depend on how the publisher wishes to interleave direct and indirect
   pointers.

   Manifests and data objects derive their names according to the
   application's naming schema.

3.9.3.  Segmented Schema Details

   When using CCNx Segmented Prefix Strategy or NDN Segmented Prefix
   strategy, the consumer must determine the segment number to use in
   the name.  There are two methods.

   *  If fetching a pointer with a SegmentIdAnnotation, the consumer
      MUST use that segment number for the pointer.  A pointer with
      SegmentIdAnnotation does not increment the SegmentId used by the
      GroupData case.

   *  If the GroupData has a StartSegmentId parameter, then that segment
      number MUST be used for the first in-order pointer of the group.
      The consumer then increments the segment number for each in-order
      pointer of that group.

   Every group of a segmented NsId MUST have either a GroupData with a
   StartSegmentId, or use annotated pointers with SegmentIdAnnotation.

   A segment number MUST indicate exactly one data item.  That is, the
   producer MUST NOT duplicate the segment number in an object name for
   different objects.  The object hash MUST be the same for the same
   segment number of a name.

   It is allowed to have multiple manifest entries with the same segment
   number (see below).

   While a producer is allowed to mix using GroupData StartSegmentId and
   SegmentIdAnnotation, we in general do not consider that a good idea.
   It is up to the manifest producer to ensure that every segment may be
   fetched, and fetch in the right order.  Segments, when fetched in the
   *manifest order* reconstruct the original data.

   Let us make this clear, the original data is constructed by the in-
   order manifest retrieval, not the segment number order.  We recommend
   that the manifest in-order sequence SHOULD correspond to the segment
   number sequence.

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   A consumer is not required to fetch every segment.  A consumer may
   fetch segments in any order it chooses.  It may skip around or omit
   segments.

   It is allowed to have multiple pointers to the same segment number.
   This can be used for data de-duplication, e.g. multiple occurances of
   the same binary string within the reconstructed data object.  If the
   producer uses this method, then the original data cannot be
   reconstructed by simply fetching the sequence numbers in order.

3.10.  Example Structures

3.10.1.  Leaf-only data

                                   Root
                                    |
                             ______ M0 _____
                            /       |       \
                           M1       M2       M3
                         / | \    / | \    / | \
                        D0 D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 D7 D8

                     Figure 6: Leaf-only manifest tree

3.10.2.  Linear

   Of special interest are "skewed trees" where a pointer to a manifest
   may only appear as last pointer of (sub-) manifests.  Such a tree
   becomes a sequential list of manifests with a maximum of datapointers
   per manifest packet.  Beside the tree shape we also show this data
   structure in form of packet content where D stands for a data pointer
   and M is the hash of a manifest packet.

   Root -> M0 ----> M1 ----> ...
   |->DDDD  |->DDDD

4.  Experimenting with FLIC

   FLIC is expected to enable a number of salient experiments in the use
   of ICN protools by applications.  These experiments will help not
   only to inform the desirable structure of ICN applications but
   reflect back to the features included in FLIC to evaluate their
   usefulness to those applications.  While many interesting design
   aspects of FLIC remain to be discovered through experience, a number
   of important questions to be answered through experimentation
   include:

   *  use for just files or other collections like directories

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   *  use for particular applications, like streaming media manifests

   *  utility of pointer annotations to optimize retrieval

   *  utility of the encryption options for use by repositories and
      forwarders

   *  need for application metadata in manifests

5.  Usage Examples

5.1.  Locating FLIC leaf and manifest nodes

   The names of manifest and data objects are often missing or not
   unique, unless using specific naming conventions.  In this example,
   we show how using manifest locators is used to generate Interests.
   Take for example the figure below where the root manifest is named by
   hash h0.  It has nameless children with hashes with hashes h1 ... hN.

   Objects:
   manifest(name=/a/b/c, ptr=h1, ptr=hN)  - has hash h0
   nameless(data1)                        - has hash h1
   ...
   nameless(dataN)                        - has hash hN

   Query for the manifest:
   interest(name=/a/b/c, implicitDigest=h0)

                        Figure 7: Data Organization

   After obtaining the manifest, the client fetches the contents.  In
   this first instance, the manifest does not provide any Locators data
   structure, so the client must continue using the name it used for the
   manifest.

   interest(name=/a/b/c, implicitDigest=h1)
   ...
   interest(name=/a/b/c, implicitDigest=hN)

                          Figure 8: Data Interests

   Using the locator metadata entry, this behavior can be changed:

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   Objects:
   manifest(name=/a/b/c,
   hashgroup(loc=/x/y/z, ptr=h1)
   hashgroup(ptr=h2)             - has hash h0
   nameless(data1)               - has hash h1
   nameless(data2)               - has hash h2

   Queries:
   interest(name=/a/b/c, implicitDigest=h0)
   interest(name=/x/y/z, implicitDigest=h1)
   interest(name=/a/b/c, implicitDigest=h2)

                          Figure 9: Using Locators

5.2.  Seeking

   Fast seeking (without having to sequentially fetch all content) works
   by skipping over entries for which we know their size.  The following
   expression shows how to compute the byte offset of the data pointed
   at by pointer P_i, call it offset_i.  In this formula, let P_i.size
   represent the Size value of the _i_-th pointer.

   offset_i = \sum_{k=1}^{i-1} > P_k.size

   With this offset, seeking is done as follows:

   Input: seek_pos P, a FLIC manifest with a hash group having N entries
   Output: pointer index i and byte offset o, or out-of-range error
   Algorithm:
   offset = 0
   for i in 1..N do
      if (P > offset + P_i.size)
         return (i, P - offset)
      offset += P_i.size
   return out-of-range

                        Figure 10: Seeking Algorithm

   Seeking in a BlockHashGroup is different since offsets can be quickly
   computed.  This is because the size of each pointer P_i except the
   last is equal to the SizePerPtr value.  For a BlockHashGroup with N
   pointers, OverallByteCount D, and SizePerPointer L, the size of P_N
   is equal to the following:

   D - ((N - 1) * L)

   In a BlockHashGroup with k pointers, the size of P_k is equal to:

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   D - L * (k - 1)

   Using these, the seeking algorithm can be thus simplified to the
   following:

   Input: seek_pos P, a FLIC manifest with a hash group having
                      OverallByteCount S and SizePerPointer L.
   Output: pointer index i and byte offset o, or out-of-range error
   Algorithm:
   if (P > S)
      return out-of-range
   i = floor(P / L)
   if (i > N)
      return out-of-range # bad FLIC encoding
   o = P mod L
   return (i, o)

                        Figure 11: Seeking Algorithm

      |  *Note*: In both cases, if the pointer at position i is a
      |  manifest pointer, this algorithm has to be called once more,
      |  seeking to seek_pos o inside that manifest.

5.3.  Block-level de-duplication

   Consider a huge file, e.g. an ISO image of a DVD or program in binary
   be patched.  In this case, all existing encoded ICN chunks can remain
   in the repository while only the chunks for the patch itself is added
   to a new manifest data structure, as is shown in the diagram below.
   For example, the venti archival file system of Plan9 [venti] uses
   this technique.

         old_mfst -  - > h1 --> oldData1  <-- h1 < -  -  new_mfst
                  \  - > h2 --> oldData2  <-- h2 < -  - /
                   \            replace3  <-- h5 < -  -/
                    \- > h3 --> oldData3              /
                     \ > h4 --> oldData4  <-- h4 < - /

                         Figure 12: De-duplication

5.4.  Growing ICN collections

   A log file, for example, grows over time.  Instead of having to re-
   FLIC the grown file it suffices to construct a new manifest with a
   manifest pointer to the old root manifest plus the sequence of data
   hash pointers for the new data (or additional sub-manifests if
   necessary).

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      |  *Note* that this tree will not be skewed (anymore).

           old data < -  -  -  mfst_old <-- h_old -  - mfst_new
                                                       /
           new data1 <-- h_1 -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -/
           new data2                                 /
           ...                                      /
           new dataN <-- h_N -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -/

                      Figure 13: Growing A Collection

5.5.  Re-publishing a FLIC under a new name

   There are several use cases for republishing a collection under a new
   namespace, or having one collection exist under several namespaces:

   *  It can happen that a publisher's namespace is part of a service
      provider's prefix.  When switching provider, the publisher may
      want to republish the old data under a new name.

   *  A publishes wishes to distribute its content to several
      repositories and would like a result to be delivered from the
      repository for consumers who have good connectivity to that
      repository.  For example, the publisher /alpha wishes to place
      content at /beta and /gamma, but routing only to /alpha would not
      send a request to either /beta or /gamma.  The operators of of
      /beta and /gamma could create a named and signed version of the
      root manifest with appropriate keys (or delegate that to /alpha)
      so the results are always delivered by the corresponding
      repository without having to change the bulk of the manifest tree.

   This can easily be achieved with a single nameless root manifest for
   the large FLIC plus arbitrarily many per-name manifests (which are
   signed by whomever wants to publish this data):

data < - nameless_mfst() <-- h  < - mfst(/com/example/east/the/flic)
                                < - mfst(/com/example/west/old/the/flic)
                                < - mfst(/internet/archive/flic234)

                  Figure 14: Relocating A Collection

      |  Note that the hash computation (of h) only requires reading the
      |  nameless root manifest, not the entire FLIC.

   This example points out the problem of HashGroups having their own
   locator metadata elements: A retriever would be urged to follow these
   hints which are "hardcoded" deep inside the FLIC but might have
   become outdated.  We therefore recommend to name FLIC manifests only

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   at the highest level (where these names have no locator function).
   Child nodes in a FLIC manifest should not be named as these names
   serve no purpose except retrieving a sub-tree's manifest by name, if
   would be required.

6.  IANA Considerations

   IANA is requested to perform the actions in the following sub-
   sections.

      |  IANA should also note that FLIC uses the definitions of
      |  AEAD_AES_128_GCM, AEAD_AES_128_CCM, AEAD_AES_256_GCM,
      |  AEAD_AES_256_CCM from [RFC5116].

6.1.  FLIC Payload Type

   Register FLIC as a Payload Type in the _CCNx Payload Types_ Registry
   referring to the description in Section 3.9.1 as follows:

      +======+====================+================================+
      | Type |        Name        |           Reference            |
      +======+====================+================================+
      | TBA  | T_PAYLOADTYPE_FLIC |       Section 3.9.1 and        |
      |      |                    | Section 3.6.2.2.1 of [RFC8609] |
      +------+--------------------+--------------------------------+

                     Table 1: FLIC CCNx Payload Type

6.2.  FLIC Manifest Metadata and Annotation TLVs

   Create the following registry to be titled _FLIC Manifest Metadata
   and Annotation TLVs_ Manifest Metadata is described in Section 3.4;
   Pointer Annotations are described in Section 3.5.  The registration
   procedure is *Specification Required*. The Type value is 2 octets.
   The range is 0x0000-0xFFFF.  Allocate a value for the single
   _SizeAnnotation_ TLV.

             +======+===================+====================+
             | Type |        Name       |     Reference      |
             +======+===================+====================+
             | TBA  | T_SIZE_ANNOTATION | Size (Section 3.5) |
             +------+-------------------+--------------------+

                    Table 2: FLIC Manifest Metadata and
                              Annotation TLVs

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7.  Security Considerations

   TODO Need a discussion on:

   *  signing and hash chaining security. (*Note: Did I cover this
      adequately below?*)

   *  republishing under a new namespace. (*Note: need help here - is
      this to reinforce that you can re-publish application data by
      creating a new root Manifest and signing that, requiring only one
      signature to change?*)

   *  encryption mechanisms. (*Note: did I cover this adequately
      below?*)

   *  encryption key distribution mechanisms.(*Note: not sure what needs
      to be said here*)

   *  discussion of privacy, leaking of linkability information - *could
      really use some help here*.

   *Anything else?????*.

7.1.  Integrity and Origin Authentication of FLIC Manifests

   A FLIC Manifest is used to describe how to form Interests to access
   large CCNx or NDN application data.  The Manifest is itself either an
   individual content object, or a tree of content objects linked
   together via the corresponding content hashes.  The NDN and CCnx
   protocol architectures directly provide both individual object
   integrity (using cryptographically strong hashes) and data origin
   authentication (using signatures).  The protocol specifications,
   [NDN] and CCNx [RFC8609] respectively, provide the protocol machinery
   and keying to support strong integrity and authentication.
   Therefore, FLIC utilizes the existing protocol specifications for
   these functions, rather than providing its own.  There are a few
   subtle differences in the handling of signatures and keys in NDN and
   CCNx worth recapitulating here:

   *  NDN in general adds a signature to every individual data packet
      rather than aggregating signatures via some object-level scheme.
      When employing FLIC Manifests to multi-packet NDN objects, it is
      expected that the individual packet signatures would be elided and
      the signture on the Manifest used instead.

   *  In contrast, CCNx is biased to have primitive objects or pieces
      thereof be "nameless" in the sense they are identified only by
      their hashes rather than each having a name directly bound to the

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      content through an individual signature.  Therefore, CCNx depends
      heavily on FLIC (or an alternative method) to provide the name and
      the signed binding of the name to the content described in the
      Manifest

   A FLIC Manifest therefore gets integrity of its individual pieces
   through the existing secure hashing procedures of the underlying
   protocols.  Origin authentication of the entire Manifest is achieved
   through hash chaining and applying a signature *only* to the root
   Manifest of a manifest tree.  It is important to note that the Name
   of the Manifest, which is what the signature is bound to, need not
   bear any particular relationship to the names of the application
   objects pointed to in the Manifest via Name Constructors.  This has a
   number of important benefits described in Section 3.3.

7.2.  Confidentiality of Manifest Data

   ICN protocol architectures like CCNx and NDN, while providing
   integrity and origin authentication as described above, leaves
   confidentiality issues entirely in the domain of the ICN application.
   Therefore, since FLIC is an application-level construct in both NDN
   and CCNx, it is incumbent on this specification for FLIC to provide
   the desired confidentiality properties using encryption.  One could
   leave the specification of Manifest encryption entirely in the hands
   of the individual application utilizing FLIC, but this would be
   undesirable for a number of reasons:

   *  The sensitivity of the information in a Manifest may be different
      from the sensitivity of the application data it describes.  In
      some cases, it may not be necessary to encrypt manifests, or to
      encrypt them with a different keying scheme from that used for the
      application data

   *  One of the major capabilities enabled by FLIC is to allow
      repositories or forwarding caches to operate on Manifests (see in
      particular Section 3.4).  In order to allow such intermediaries to
      interpret manifests without revealing the underlying application
      data, separate encryption and keying is necessary

   *  A strong design goal of FLIC is _universality_ such that it can be
      used transparently by many different ICN applications.  This
      argues that FLIC should have a set of common encryption and keying
      capabilities that can be delegated to library code and not have to
      be re-worked by each individual application (see Section 2,
      Paragraph 11)

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   Therefore, this specification directly specifies two encryption
   encapsulations and associated links to key management, as described
   in Section 3.8.  As more experience is gained with various use cases,
   additional encryption capabilities may be needed and hence we expect
   the encryption aspects of this specification to evolve over time.

7.3.  Privacy of names and linkability of access patterns

   What to say here, if anything?

8.  References

8.1.  Normative References

   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
              Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2119>.

   [RFC3310]  Niemi, A., Arkko, J., and V. Torvinen, "Hypertext Transfer
              Protocol (HTTP) Digest Authentication Using Authentication
              and Key Agreement (AKA)", RFC 3310, DOI 10.17487/RFC3310,
              September 2002, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3310>.

   [RFC5116]  McGrew, D., "An Interface and Algorithms for Authenticated
              Encryption", RFC 5116, DOI 10.17487/RFC5116, January 2008,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5116>.

   [RFC5288]  Salowey, J., Choudhury, A., and D. McGrew, "AES Galois
              Counter Mode (GCM) Cipher Suites for TLS", RFC 5288,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC5288, August 2008,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5288>.

   [RFC5990]  Randall, J., Kaliski, B., Brainard, J., and S. Turner,
              "Use of the RSA-KEM Key Transport Algorithm in the
              Cryptographic Message Syntax (CMS)", RFC 5990,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC5990, September 2010,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5990>.

   [RFC6655]  McGrew, D. and D. Bailey, "AES-CCM Cipher Suites for
              Transport Layer Security (TLS)", RFC 6655,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC6655, July 2012,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6655>.

   [RFC8017]  Moriarty, K., Ed., Kaliski, B., Jonsson, J., and A. Rusch,
              "PKCS #1: RSA Cryptography Specifications Version 2.2",
              RFC 8017, DOI 10.17487/RFC8017, November 2016,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8017>.

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   [RFC8569]  Mosko, M., Solis, I., and C. Wood, "Content-Centric
              Networking (CCNx) Semantics", RFC 8569,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC8569, July 2019,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8569>.

   [RFC8609]  Mosko, M., Solis, I., and C. Wood, "Content-Centric
              Networking (CCNx) Messages in TLV Format", RFC 8609,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC8609, July 2019,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8609>.

8.2.  Informative References

   [AESGCM]   Dworkin, M., "Recommendation for Block Cipher Modes of
              Operation: Galois/Counter Mode (GCM) and GMAC", National
              Institute of Standards and Technology SP 800-38D, 2007,
              <https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.SP.800-38D>.

   [FLICImplementation]
              Mosko, M., "FLIC Implementation in Python", various,
              <https://github.com/mmosko/ccnpy>.

   [I-D.wood-icnrg-ccnxkeyexchange]
              Mosko, M., Uzun, E., and C. A. Wood, "CCNx Key Exchange
              Protocol Version 1.0", Work in Progress, Internet-Draft,
              draft-wood-icnrg-ccnxkeyexchange-02, 6 July 2017,
              <https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-wood-icnrg-
              ccnxkeyexchange-02>.

   [NDN]      "Named Data Networking", various,
              <https://named-data.net/project/execsummary/>.

   [NDNTLV]   "NDN Packet Format Specification.", 2016,
              <http://named-data.net/doc/ndn-tlv/>.

   [ProjectOrigin]
              Mosko, M., "Peer-to-Peer Sharing with CCNx 1.0", 2014,
              <https://github.com/PARC/CCNxReports/blob/master/
              SelectedTopics/p2pshare.pdf>.

   [repository]
              "Repo Protocol Specification", Various,
              <https://redmine.named-data.net/projects/repo-ng/wiki/
              Repo_Protocol_Specification>.

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   [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/info/rfc7927>.

   [RSAKEM]   Barker, E., Chen, L., Roginsky, A., Vassilev, A., Davis,
              R., and S. Simon, "Recommendation for Pair-Wise Key-
              Establishment Using Integer Factorization Cryptography",
              National Institute of Standards and Technology SP 800-56B
              Rev. 2, 2019, <https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.SP.800-56Br2>.

   [SHS]      Technology, N. I. O. S. A., "Secure Hash Standard, United
              States of American, National Institute of Science and
              Technology, Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS)
              180-4", National Institute of Standards and Technology SP
              180-4, 2012,
              <https://csrc.nist.gov/publications/fips/fips180-4/
              fips180-4_final.pdf>.

   [venti]    "Venti: a new approach to archival storage", Bell Labs
              Document Archive /sts/doc, 2002,
              <http://doc.cat-v.org/plan_9/4th_edition/papers/venti/>.

Appendix A.  Building Trees

   This appendix describes one method to build trees.  It constructs a
   pre-order tree in a single pass of the application data, going from
   the tail to the beginning.  This allows us to work up the right side
   of the tree in a single pass, then work down each left branch until
   we exhaust the data.  Using the reverse-order traversal, we create
   the right-most-child manifest, then its parent, then the indirect
   pointers of that parent, then the parent's direct pointers,then the
   parent of the parent (repeating).  This process uses recursion, as it
   is the clearest way to show the code.  A more optimized approach
   could do it in a true single pass.

   Because we're building from the bottom up, we use the term 'level' to
   be the distance from the right-most child up.  Level 0 is the bottom-
   most level of the tree, such as where node 7 is:

                                1
                            2      3
                          4  5    6  7
                          preorder: 1 2 4 5 3 6 7
                          reverse:  7 6 3 5 4 2 1

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   The Python-like pseudocode build_tree(data, n, k, m) algorithm
   creates a tree of n data objects.  The data[] array is an array of
   Content Objects that hold application payload; the application data
   has already been packetized into n Content Object packets.An interior
   manifest node has k direct pointers and m indirect pointers.

   build_tree(data[0..n-1], n, k, m):
     # data is an array of Content Objects (Data in NDN) with app data.
     # n is the number of data items
     # k is the number of direct pointers per internal node
     # m is the number of indirect pointers per internal node

     segment = namedtuple('Segment', 'head tail')(0, n)
     level = 0

     # This bootstraps the process by creating the right most child
     # manifest. A leaf manifest has no indirect pointers, so k+m
     # are direct pointers
     root = leaf_manifest(data, segment, k + m)

     # Keep building subtrees until we're out of direct pointers
     while not segment.empty():
       level += 1
       root = bottom_up_preorder(data, segment, level, k, m, root)

     return root

   bottom_up_preorder(data, segment, level, k, m, right_most_child=None):
     manifest = None
     if level == 0:
       assert right_most_child is None
       # build a leaf manifest with only direct pointers
       manifest = leaf_manifest(data, segment, k + m)
     else:
       # If the number of remaining direct pointers will fit
       # in a leaf node, make one of those. Otherwise, we need to be
       # an interior node
     if right_most_child is None and segment.length() &lt;= k + m:
       manifest = leaf_manifest(data, segment, k+m)
     else:
       manifest = interior_manifest(data, segment, level,
                                    k, m, right_most_child)
     return manifest

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   leaf_manifest(data, segment, count):
     # At most count items, but never go before the head
     start = max(segment.head(), segment.tail() - count)
     manifest = Manifest(data[start:segment.tail])
     segment.tail -= segment.tail() - start
     return manifest

   interior_manifest(data, segment, level, k, m, right_most_child)
     children = []
     if right_most_child is not None:
       children.append(right_most_child)

     interior_indirect(data, segment, level, k, m, children)
     interior_direct(data, segment, level, k, m, children)

     manifest = Manifest(children)
     return manifest, tail

   interior_indirect(data, segment, level, k, m, children):
     # Reserve space at the head of the segment for this node's
     # direct pointers before descending to children.  We want
     # the top of the tree packed.
     reserve_count = min(k, segment.tail - segment.head)
     segment.head += reserve_count

     while len(children) &lt; m and not segment.head == segment.tail:
       child = bottom_up_preorder(data, segment, level - 1, k, m)
       # prepend
       children.insert(0, child)

       # Pull back our reservation and put those pointers in
       # our direct children
       segment.head -= reserve_count

   interior_direct(data, segment, level, k, m, children):
     while len(children) &lt; k+m and not segment.head == segment.tail:
       pointer = data[segment.tail() - 1]
       children.insert(0, pointer)
       segment.tail -= 1

Authors' Addresses

   Christian Tschudin
   University of Basel
   Email: christian.tschudin@unibas.ch

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   Christopher A. Wood
   Cloudflare
   Email: caw@heapingbits.net

   Marc Mosko
   Email: marc@mosko.org

   David Oran (editor)
   Network Systems Research & Design
   Email: daveoran@orandom.net

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