Since its inception, the Internet has evolved from a textual information system towards a multimedia information system, in which data, services and applications are consumed as content. Today, however, the main problem faced is that applications are now content-oriented but the protocol stack remains the same, based on the content location. Thus, it is clear that the Internet’s current architecture must change. This new architecture should take into account aspects to improve content location and delivery efficiency and also content availability. Fulfilling these requirements is the main goal of information-centric networks (ICNs).

ICN is a new communication paradigm to increase the efficiency of content delivery and also content availability. In this new concept, the network infrastructure actively contributes to content caching and distribution. This book presents the basic concepts of ICNs, describes the main architecture proposals for these networks, and discusses the main challenges to their development. Information Centric-Networks looks at the current challenges for this concept, including: naming, routing and caching on the network-core elements, several aspects of content security, user privacy, and practical issues in implementing ICNs.