Empowering 5G Network Softwarization through Information Centric Networking

Fifth-generation (5G) systems are designed as flexible and programmable multiservice networking and computing infrastructures, with improved throughput, latency, and reliability performance. In this paper, we discuss our view about the role of Information-Centric Networking (ICN) in 5G systems and present some architectural perspectives for the ICN-5G deployment. The proposed architecture relies on a hybrid approach, which makes the best of the centralized software-defined networking and the distributed ICN delivery mechanism to effectively suit the mobility of users, contents, and virtualized network/service functions. Its viability is showcased in a representative use case against a legacy non-ICN approach.