Modeling data transfer in content-centric networking

Content-centric networking proposals, as Parc's CCN, have recently emerged to define new network architectures where content, and not its location, becomes the core of the communication model. These new paradigms push data storage and delivery at network layer and are designed to better deal with current Internet usage, mainly centered around content dissemination and retrieval. In this paper, we develop an analytical model of CCN in-network storage and receiver-driven transport, that more generally applies to a class of content oriented networks identified by chunk-based communication. We derive a closed-form expression for the mean stationary throughput as a function of hit/miss probabilities at the caches along the path, of content popularity and of content/cache size. Our analytical results, supported by chunk level simulations, can be used to analyze fundamental trade-offs in current CCN architecture, and provide an essential building block for the design and evaluation of enhanced CCN protocols.