ICN Challenges for Metaverse Platform Interoperability

The Internet-Draft titled "ICN Challenges for Metaverse Platform Interoperability" [1] explores how Information-Centric Networking (ICN) can enhance interoperability among metaverse platforms. By focusing on content delivery rather than host-based communication, ICN offers features like in-network caching and inherent security, which can address key challenges in the metaverse, including scalability, low-latency performance, data ownership, and the need for standardization.

The document identifies several challenges for ICN in supporting metaverse interoperability:

• Scalability: Managing large data volumes and numerous simultaneous interactions across platforms without causing bottlenecks.
• Latency and Real-Time Interaction: Achieving ultra-low latency for real-time interactions, such as avatar movements and voice communications.
• Security and Privacy: Ensuring secure content distribution across platforms, including strong encryption and access controls.
• Data Ownership and Rights Management: Supporting complex ownership structures with permissions and usage rights for assets across platforms.
• Interoperability Standards: Developing and adopting standards to facilitate seamless interaction between diverse metaverse platforms.

To address these challenges, the draft proposes several solutions:

• Adaptive Caching Strategies: Optimizing caching to reduce latency and keep content readily available near users.
• Leveraging Multicast and Broadcast: Utilizing ICN’s multicast capabilities to improve content distribution for real-time, interactive experiences.
• Enhanced Security Layers: Implementing advanced encryption, authentication, and access controls to protect digital assets and sensitive data.
• Rights Management via Named Data Objects: Enhancing Named Data Objects (NDOs) to manage ownership, permissions, and usage rights for assets in the metaverse.

[1] https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-hong-icn-metaverse-interoperability/