We are seeking outstanding proposals that address relevant questions for networking named-data such as (but not limited to) the following:

• The use of named-data promises significant benefits derived from caching throughout the network, but is this useful? Some past research indicates that might not be the case. We would like to investigate named-data caching in greater detail. Our areas of interest include: Comparisons with co-operative caching, efficiency of on-path vs. off-path co-operative caching, broad-based optimization models for evaluating cache efficiency, importance of topology awareness to pervasive caching, and whether any specific extensions to existing named-data models can improve cache efficiency and performance.
• What type of naming architectures will scale for global routing of named data? A content-based Internet could need to host O(10^15) named content objects. Recent results have shown that prima facie, a global routing protocol (like BGP, or some replacement thereof) that simply carrys routes to all the content in the world cannot scale. What sort of scheme will scale to the sizes of content tables required, while still keeping forwarding stretch down and maintaining high forwarding rates? We would like to understand the trade-offs of different approaches, backed up by simulations of large networks.
• Can the various named-data proposals improve data security, including data authenticity and integrity for a regional, national or global population? What are the new vulnerabilities and potential attacks on named-data? There is a critical need to ensure that data from publicly accessible caches and repositories are not fraudulent. Denial of Service, phishing, and other Internet-based attacks cost corporations and end users billions of dollars in losses each year. Sybil attacks on servers are a potential problem for systems that use public key cryptography. The ability to resist attacks is an important factor in comparing the named-data and Internet-host models.
• How does named-data improve network privacy? Today, Internet host source and destination addresses are exposed in the network packet. Named-data protocols such as CCN do not expose receiver information end-to-end, but expose the content being requested. We would like to understand the privacy challenges using named data and the risks of exposing the data name, which is sent from receiver to the ICN repository or cache. We are interested both in anonymity approaches with specific privacy aims and also in improving baseline privacy for people who choose not to take any steps to protect their privacy.

Proposal Submission:

After a preliminary review, we may ask you to revise and resubmit your proposal.

RFPs may be withdrawn as research proposals are funded, or interest in the specific topic is satisfied.

Researchers should plan to submit their proposals as soon as possible.

General Requirements for Consideration, Proposal Details, FAQs

You can find the information by scrolling down to the bottom of the webpage: Research Gifts. If your questions are not answered in the FAQs, please contact research@cisco.com.