Research Directions for Using Information-Centric Networking (ICN) in Disaster Scenarios
RFC 8884
Internet Research Task Force (IRTF) J. Seedorf
Request for Comments: 8884 HFT Stuttgart - Univ. of Applied Sciences
Category: Informational M. Arumaithurai
ISSN: 2070-1721 University of Göttingen
A. Tagami
KDDI Research Inc.
K. Ramakrishnan
University of California
N. Blefari Melazzi
University Tor Vergata
October 2020
Research Directions for Using Information-Centric Networking (ICN) in
Disaster Scenarios
Abstract
Information-Centric Networking (ICN) is a new paradigm where the
network provides users with named content instead of communication
channels between hosts. This document outlines some research
directions for ICN with respect to applying ICN approaches for coping
with natural or human-generated, large-scale disasters. This
document is a product of the Information-Centric Networking Research
Group (ICNRG).
Status of This Memo
This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is
published for informational purposes.
This document is a product of the Internet Research Task Force
(IRTF). The IRTF publishes the results of Internet-related research
and development activities. These results might not be suitable for
deployment. This RFC represents the consensus of the Information-
Centric Networking Research Group of the Internet Research Task Force
(IRTF). Documents approved for publication by the IRSG are not a
candidate for any level of Internet Standard; see Section 2 of RFC
7841.
Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8884.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2020 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
document authors. All rights reserved.
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
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to this document.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Disaster Scenarios
3. Research Challenges and Benefits of ICN
3.1. High-Level Research Challenges
3.2. How ICN Can be Beneficial
3.3. ICN as Starting Point vs. Existing DTN Solutions
4. Use Cases and Requirements
5. ICN-Based Research Approaches and Open Research Challenges
5.1. Suggested ICN-Based Research Approaches
5.2. Open Research Challenges
6. Security Considerations
7. Conclusion
8. IANA Considerations
9. References
9.1. Normative References
9.2. Informative References
Acknowledgment
Authors' Addresses
1. Introduction
This document summarizes some research challenges for coping with
natural or human-generated, large-scale disasters. In particular,
the document discusses potential research directions for applying
Information-Centric Networking (ICN) to address these challenges.
Research and standardization approaches exist (for instance, see the
work and discussions in the concluded IRTF DTN Research Group [dtnrg]
and in the IETF DTN Working Group [dtnwg]). In addition, a published
Experimental RFC in the IRTF Stream [RFC5050] discusses Delay-
Tolerant Networking (DTN), which is a key necessity for communicating
in the disaster scenarios we are considering in this document.
'Disconnection tolerance' can thus be achieved with these existing
DTN approaches. However, while these approaches can provide
independence from an existing communication infrastructure (which
indeed may not work anymore after a disaster has happened), ICN
offers key concepts, such as new naming schemes and innovative
multicast communication, which together enable many essential
(publish/subscribe-based) use cases for communication after a
disaster (e.g., message prioritization, one-to-many delivery of
messages, group communication among rescue teams, and the use cases
discussed in Section 4). One could add such features to existing DTN
protocols and solutions; however, in this document, we explore the
use of ICN as a starting point for building a communication
architecture that supports (somewhat limited) communication
capabilities after a disaster. We discuss the relationship between
the ICN approaches (for enabling communication after a disaster)
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