MDVAC: A Multi-Dimensional Value-Aware Caching Strategy for Information-Centric Networks

With the increasing demand for efficient and reliable data delivery in wide-area transmission scenarios, traditional TCP/IP-based endto-end architectures encounter inherent limitations, particularly under conditions of packet loss and long transmission paths. Information-Centric Networking (ICN), characterized by content-based naming and in-network caching, offers a promising alternative. However, most existing caching strategies are primarily designed to improve cache hit ratios, with limited attention to leveraging cached replicas for in-transit packet loss recovery. Consequently, they lack mechanisms to jointly optimize both immediate recovery value during ongoing transmissions and future reuse value across subsequent requests. These two value dimensions differ in terms of spatialscope and temporal duration, posing challenges for effective resource coordination. To address this issue, we propose a multi-dimensional value-aware caching strategy that integrates both value dimensions within a unified cache management framework. The strategy estimates the expected retransmission delay of path segments to quantify recovery value and employs a probabilistic placement mechanism to enhance loss resilience. Simultaneously, it evaluates reuse value through sliding-window-based request analysis and places replicas at nodes with low cache utilization to improve cache hitefficiency. Furthermore, a differentiated protection time mechanism is introduced to coordinate cache management. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed strategy significantly improves transmission reliability, reduces latency, and increases cache hit ratios