Adaptive forwarding in named data networking

In Named Data Networking (NDN) architecture, packets carry data names rather than source or destination addresses. This change of paradigm leads to a new data plane: data consumers send out Interest packets, routers forward them and maintain the state of pending Interests, which is used to guide Data packets back to the consumers. NDN routers' forwarding process is able to detect network problems by observing the two-way traffic of Interest and Data packets, and explore multiple alternative paths without loops. This is in sharp contrast to today's IP forwarding process which follows a single path chosen by the routing process, with no adaptability of its own. In this paper we outline the design of NDN's adaptive forwarding, articulate its potential benefits, and identify open research issues.