  The Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP) is an HTTP-like protocol for
RESTful applications intended to run on constrained devices, typically part of
the Internet of Things. CoAP observe is an extension to the CoAP specification
that allows CoAP clients to observe a resource through a simple
publish/subscribe mechanism. In this paper we leverage Information-Centric
Networking (ICN), transparently deployed within the domain of a network
provider, to provide enhanced CoAP services. We present the design and the
implementation of CoAP observe over ICN and we discuss how ICN can provide
benefits to both network providers and CoAP applications, even though the
latter are not aware of the existence of ICN. In particular, the use of ICN
results in smaller state management and simpler implementation at CoAP
endpoints, and less communication overhead in the network.
