A Comparative Study and Performance Modeling of Information-Centric Networking Architectures for the Future Internet

Information-Centric Networking (ICN) is a transformative communication paradigm that emphasizes content retrieval by name rather than host-based addressing, aiming to overcome limitations of the traditional IP-based Internet. This paper provides a comparative analysis of major ICN architectures—Content-Centric Networking (CCN), Named Data Networking (NDN), Data-Oriented Network Architecture (DONA), Network of Information (NetInf), and the Publish-Subscribe Internet Routing Paradigm (PURSUIT). Each architecture is evaluated in terms of naming, routing, name resolution, and caching mechanisms. Furthermore, we develop mathematical models and simulations to quantify performance metrics such as content retrieval latency, cache hit ratio, packet overhead, and average delay under varying network conditions. The results reveal key strengths and tradeoffs among these architectures, offering valuable insights for their deployment in future content-centric and delay-tolerant networking scenarios.