ContentFlow: Mapping Content to Flows in Software Defined Networks

TL;DR

ContentFlow introduces a network architecture that maps content names to IP flows, enabling content-based routing in legacy IP networks using OpenFlow switches, bridging current IP and future ICN architectures.

Contribution

It presents ContentFlow, a novel architecture that supports content routing, management, and caching over existing IP infrastructure with minimal modifications.

Findings

ContentFlow enables content routing with OpenFlow switches.

Implementation demonstrates feasibility and performance.

Supports transparent content management in legacy networks.

Abstract

Information-Centric Networks place content as the narrow waist of the network architecture. This allows to route based upon the content name, and not based upon the locations of the content consumer and producer. However, current Internet architecture does not support content routing at the network layer. We present ContentFlow, an Information-Centric network architecture which supports content routing by mapping the content name to an IP flow, and thus enables the use of OpenFlow switches to achieve content routing over a legacy IP architecture. ContentFlow is viewed as an evolutionary step between the current IP networking architecture, and a full fledged ICN architecture. It supports content management, content caching and content routing at the network layer, while using a legacy OpenFlow infrastructure and a modified controller. In particular, ContentFlow is transparent from the point of view of the client and the server, and can be inserted in between with no modification at either end. We have implemented ContentFlow and describe our implementation choices as well as the overall architecture specification. We evaluate the performance of ContentFlow in our testbed.