Information-centric networking and multimedia services: present and future challenges

The emerging information-centric networking (ICN) paradigm is gaining worldwide the attention of academia and industrial research communities, thanks to its inherent ability to support also the next generation information and communication technology services beyond the current host-centric Internet rationale. In this context, significant scientific efforts are being devoted to the investigation of ICN-based multimedia systems because they represent the most popular use case for Internet users. In order to offer a unifying view on such valuable contributions, this paper presents a thorough review of the state of the art, a comprehensive framework to classify the most significant proposals, an overlook at the road ahead towards mature ICN-based multimedia systems and a critical discussion on available tools. Our final wish is twofold: from one hand, this paper will provide a useful starting point for beginners in the field; whereas, from the other hand, it will help researchers already working on ICN-related topics in finding a common agreement on participated scientific activities.