  TTL caching models have recently regained significant research interest,
largely due to their ability to fit popular caching policies such as LRU. This
paper advances the state-of-the-art analysis of TTL-based cache networks by
developing two exact methods with orthogonal generality and computational
complexity. The first method generalizes existing results for line networks
under renewal requests to the broad class of caching policies whereby evictions
are driven by stopping times. The obtained results are further generalized,
using the second method, to feedforward networks with Markov arrival processes
(MAP) requests. MAPs are particularly suitable for non-line networks because
they are closed not only under superposition and splitting, as known, but also
under input-output caching operations as proven herein for phase-type TTL
distributions. The crucial benefit of the two closure properties is that they
jointly enable the first exact analysis of feedforward networks of TTL caches
in great generality.
