Internames: A name-to-name principle for the future Internet

Information Centric Networking (ICN), a novel network paradigm, places the focus on the content instead of the end-hosts. ICN addresses content by names instead of locations and can ease content retrieval and improve network efficiency. Ongoing work attempts to extend the use of ICN to scenarios such as real time communication, group communication, push services, and addresses the issue of migration from the current network and coexistence of different network paradigms. In this work, we argue that by extending the current design of ICN from a “host-to-name” to a “name-to-name” architecture, the utility and efficiency of ICN could be further increased. We propose Internames, an architectural framework in which names are used to identify all entities involved in communication: content, users, devices, logical points, and services. Internames is envisioned to be an overarching name-to-name communication primitive that is fully compatible with ICN principles, accommodates the coexistence (or gradual migration) of different network realms (e.g., IP, ICN, VANET) and is suitable for application scenarios where ICN is somehow limited by its reliance on a “host-to-name” approach. In this paper, we provide early insights into the Internames architecture by leveraging on the work done by the research community and identify components and challenges that require more detailed investigation.