Information-Centric Networking (ICN): Content-Centric Networking (CCNx) and Named Data Networking (NDN) Terminology
RFC 8793

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Internet Research Task Force (IRTF)                          B. Wissingh
Request for Comments: 8793                                           TNO
Category: Informational                                          C. Wood
ISSN: 2070-1721                          University of California Irvine
                                                            A. Afanasyev
                                        Florida International University
                                                                L. Zhang
                                                                    UCLA
                                                                 D. Oran
                                       Network Systems Research & Design
                                                             C. Tschudin
                                                     University of Basel
                                                               June 2020

Information-Centric Networking (ICN): Content-Centric Networking (CCNx)
              and Named Data Networking (NDN) Terminology

Abstract

   Information-Centric Networking (ICN) is a novel paradigm where
   network communications are accomplished by requesting named content
   instead of sending packets to destination addresses.  Named Data
   Networking (NDN) and Content-Centric Networking (CCNx) are two
   prominent ICN architectures.  This document provides an overview of
   the terminology and definitions that have been used in describing
   concepts in these two implementations of ICN.  While there are other
   ICN architectures, they are not part of the NDN and CCNx concepts and
   as such are out of scope for this document.  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/rfc8793.

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
   carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
   to this document.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction
   2.  A Sketch of the Big Picture of ICN
   3.  Terms by Category
     3.1.  Generic Terms
     3.2.  Terms Related to ICN Nodes
     3.3.  Terms Related to the Forwarding Plane
     3.4.  Terms Related to Packet Types
     3.5.  Terms Related to Name Types
     3.6.  Terms Related to Name Usage
     3.7.  Terms Related to Data-Centric Security
   4.  Semantics and Usage
     4.1.  Data Transfer
     4.2.  Data Transport
     4.3.  Lookup Service
     4.4.  Database Access
     4.5.  Remote Procedure Call
     4.6.  Publish/Subscribe
   5.  IANA Considerations
   6.  Security Considerations
   7.  References
     7.1.  Normative References
     7.2.  Informative References
   Acknowledgments
   Authors' Addresses

1.  Introduction

   Information-centric networking (ICN) is an architecture to evolve the
   Internet infrastructure from the existing host-centric design to a
   data-centric architecture, where accessing data by name becomes the
   essential network primitive.  The goal is to let applications refer
   to data independently of their location or means of transportation,
   which enables native multicast delivery, ubiquitous in-network
   caching, and replication of data objects.

   As the work on this topic continues to evolve, many new terms are
   emerging.  The goal of this document is to collect the key terms with
   a corresponding definition as they are used in the CCNx and NDN
   projects.  Among the important documents for these projects are
   [RFC8569], [RFC8609], and [NDNTLV].  Other ICN projects such as
   [NETINF], [PSIRP], or [MOBILITY-FIRST] are not covered and may be the
   subject of other documents.

   In this document, to help provide context for the individual defined
   terms, we first sketch the bigger picture of an ICN network by
   introducing the basic concepts and identifying the major components
   of the architecture in Section 2; after which, in Section 3, ICN-