Towards reliable and efficient data retrieving in ICN-based satellite networks

Building a reliable and efficient network layer for large-volume content delivery over satellite is extremely challenging due to space circumstances of unreliable connectivity, long propagation delay and high dynamics. In this paper, we address those challenges in satellite networking and propose an information-centric data retrieval scheme to provide disruption-tolerant, low-delay and highly efficient content delivery. Our design, namely Coding-enabled Adaptive-Pull (CAP) scheme, is rooted in the concept of information-centric networking, transferring named contents rather than maintaining unreliable end-to-end connections in space. CAP retrieves data in one-to-many request-response model and adaptively adjusts the retrieval expectation according to network states. Meanwhile, the data retrieval scheme embeds with fountain-style erasure coding over its named packets for reliable transmission to reduce the needs of packet retransmission and utilizes in-network caching to tolerate possible link disruption. Evaluation results show that our scheme reduces delivery delay in most cases of unreliable links by nearly 82% and 75% compared with IP and NDN, respectively, and by 72% compared to delay-tolerant networking technique in a space-oriented scenario, with outstanding performance in tolerating delays and disruptions.