System and method for routing packets in a stateless content centric network

An apparatus comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a memory storing instructions that when executed by the processor cause the apparatus to implement:
• a communication module operable to receive, via a first interface of the network node, an Interest that includes a location-independent name for a data collection;
• an Interest-processing module operable to:
• determine whether the Interest includes an Anchor Identifier (Anchor ID) associated with an anchor node of the content-centric network via which the data collection can be obtained;
• in response to determining that the Interest does not include an Anchor ID, performing a lookup operation in a name-prefix forwarding-information base (NP-FIB) to select an Anchor identifier (Anchor ID) for an anchor for the data collection, and to select a second interface for forwarding the Interest toward the anchor;
• updating the Interest to include the Anchor ID;
• and
• an Interest-forwarding module operable to forward the updated Interest toward the anchor via the second interface.

A method, comprising:

• receiving, by a network node of a content centric network via a first interface of the network node, an Interest that includes a location-independent name for a data collection, an anonymous identifier (AID);
• performing a lookup operation in a routing table, based at least on the AID to obtain a corresponding table entry;
• in response to determining that a corresponding table entry exists, identifying a second interface to a next-hop neighbor on a path toward the anchor node, and a second AID that is to be used by the next-hop neighbor to process the Interest, from the table entry;
• updating the Interest to replace the Interest's AID with the second AID;
• and
• forwarding the Interest via the second interface to the next-hop neighbor.