An Analytical Model for Loc/ID Mappings Caches

TL;DR

This paper introduces an analytical model based on working-set theory to predict cache performance in Location/ID mapping caches, validated with real network traces and extended to account for malicious traffic impacts.

Contribution

It develops a novel analytical approach for cache performance prediction in Location/ID mappings, incorporating real traffic data and attack scenarios.

Findings

Model accurately predicts cache miss rates using measurable traffic parameters.

Cache performance is significantly degraded by low-intensity malicious traffic.

Overprovisioning or complex eviction policies can mitigate attack impacts.

Abstract

Concerns regarding the scalability of the inter-domain routing have encouraged researchers to start elaborating a more robust Internet architecture. While consensus on the exact form of the solution is yet to be found, the need for a semantic decoupling of a node's location and identity is generally accepted as a promising way forward. However, this typically requires the use of caches that store temporal bindings between the two namespaces, to avoid hampering router packet forwarding speeds. In this article, we propose a methodology for an analytical analysis of cache performance that relies on the working-set theory. We first identify the conditions that network traffic must comply with for the theory to be applicable and then develop a model that predicts average cache miss rates relying on easily measurable traffic parameters. We validate the result by emulation, using real packet traces collected at the egress points of a campus and an academic network. To prove its versatility, we extend the model to consider cache polluting user traffic and observe that simple, low intensity attacks drastically reduce performance, whereby manufacturers should either overprovision router memory or implement more complex cache eviction policies.