Timely Private Information Retrieval

Abstract: We introduce the problem of \emph{timely} private information retrieval (PIR) from $N$ non-colluding and replicated servers. In this problem, a user desires to retrieve a message out of $M$ messages from the servers, whose contents are continuously updating. The retrieval process should be executed in a timely manner such that no information is leaked about the identity of the message. To assess the timeliness, we use the \emph{age of information} (AoI) metric. Interestingly, the timely PIR problem reduces to an AoI minimization subject to PIR constraints under \emph{asymmetric traffic}. We explicitly characterize the optimal tradeoff between the PIR rate and the AoI metric (peak AoI or average AoI) for the case of $N=2$, $M=3$. Further, we provide some structural insights on the general problem with arbitrary $N$, $M$.