On information-theoretic approach to estimate the efficiency of caching techniques in content delivery networks

Abstract

Nowadays content delivery network is a modern wide spread tool to distribute media content to end users via the Internet but still we have no generally accepted way to estimate its efficiency. This paper is devoted to the description of information-theoretic approach for performance estimation of such systems. The keynote of the method is a calculation of a special characteristic suggested which indicates actually the growth rate of the amount of files that can be transmitted via the network depending on a certain unit of time. The calculation of this defined as entropy efficiency within the paper characteristic is based on the Information Theory and let it possible to evaluate the estimation analytically considering only description of the desired parameters of a network being constructed. This approach is considered then in terms of a way to apply the approach to the efficiency estimation of different caching strategies. Simple calculation example is provided also in order to clarify the approach.