This paper presents the design and implementation of the Intentional Naming System (INS), a resource discovery and service location system for dynamic and mobile networks of devices and computers. Such environments require a naming system that is (i) expressive, to describe and make requests based on specific properties of services, (ii) responsive, to track changes due to mobility and performance, (iii) robust, to handle failures, and (iv) easily configurable. INS uses a simple language based on attributes and values for its names. Applications use the language to describe what they are looking for (i.e., their intent), not where to find things (i.e., not hostnames). INS implements a late binding mechanism that integrates name resolution and message routing, enabling clients to continue communicating with end-nodes even if the name-to-address mappings change while a session is in progress. INS resolvers self-configure to form an application-level overlay network, which they use to discover new services, perform late binding, and maintain weak consistency of names using soft-state name exchanges and updates. We analyze the performance of the INS algorithms and protocols, present measurements of a Java-based implementation, and describe three applications we have implemented that demonstrate the feasibility and utility of INS.

Today's Internet naming scheme, the Domain Name System [28], implicitly assumes that applications want to reach an address, where the address signifies location in the network topology. Typically, applications desire either information or functionality, and do not often know the best network location that satisfies their needs. We argue that current efforts to efficiently enable new services such as mobility, group communication, resource discovery, service location, caching, etc. have been greatly hampered by the lack of a flexible naming system and the inability of the name resolution process to affect data routing decisions. Significant effort is spent in creating independent, but similar infrastructure for each situation.