Patent ID: 8891541

Claim:
A method implemented in a computer system for routing at least one interest packet in a named data network including a plurality of nodes, the method comprising: mapping, with the computer system, each of a plurality of names of a respective plurality of data objects to one of a plurality of path labels, wherein each path label uniquely identifies a path between a source node and a destination node; providing, with the computer system, an interest packet having both the name of a requested data object and one of the path labels, wherein the path label provided with the interest packet points to the requested data object at the destination node of the path label provided with the interest packet; receiving the interest packet at an intermediate node, the intermediate node being a node on the path identified by the path label provided with the interest packet and the intermediate node is between the source node and the destination node; checking if the requested data object identified by the name in the interest packet is locally cached at the intermediate node; replying to the interest packet from the intermediate node if the requested data object identified by the name in the interest packet is locally cached at the intermediate node; and forwarding the interest packet from the intermediate node to the destination node if the requested data object identified by the name in the interest packet is not locally cached at the intermediate node.