Internet Naming and Discovery: Architecture and Economics

Naming is an integral building block within data networks and systems and is becoming ever more important as complex data-centric usage models emerge. Internet Naming and Discovery is timely in developing a unified model for studying the topic of naming and discovery. It details the architectural and economic tools needed for designing naming and discovery schemes within the broader context of internetwork architecture. Readers will find in this book a historic overview of the Internet and a comprehensive survey of the literature, followed by and an in-depth examination of naming and discovery. Specific topics covered include: - formal definitions of name, address, identifier, locator, binding, routing, discovery, mapping, and resolution; - a discussion of the properties of names and bindings, along with illustrative case studies; - taxonomy that helps in organizing the solution space, and more importantly in identifying new avenues for contributing to the field; - a general model for exploring the tradeoffs involved in designing discovery systems; - an illustrative design exercise for differentiated discovery services; - broad treatment of the main economic issues that arise in the context of discovery; and - a game-theoretic incentive model for route distribution (and discovery) in the context of path-vector routing protocols (mainly BGP). Internet Naming and Discovery will be of great value to readers, including graduate students, engineers and computer scientists, theoreticians and practitioners, seeking a training in advanced networking, or specializing in computer and communications networks.