Theoretical Foundations of Collaborative Information Storage and Transmission

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AbstractTheoretical Foundations of Collaborative Information Storage and TransmissionThis research addresses the theoretical foundations for enabling distributed information storage and communication in next-generation large-scale heterogeneous systems. A key theme underlying this investigation is that of massive collaboration among system nodes in accomplishing this, in contrast to scaling the network by solely throwing infrastructure at the problem. The fundamental challenge is to embrace a distributed systems approach that can rely on the strength of numbers or the system scale itself to build an overall network that is scalable, robust, and capable of meeting performance guarantees. The application scope of this research is broad, and includes next-generation distance learning, and multi-node video conferencing based on peer-to-peer collaboration that has the potential to reach the masses rather than being confined to those privileged to have access to expensive centralized infrastructure. The basis for this investigation is the development of both the theoretical foundations and the architectures and algorithms needed to realize a massively scalable, inherently robust, and quantifiably reliable information storage and transmission systems. A focal point of the study is that of distributed storage and collaborative media delivery paradigms, both with and without delay constraints. In recognition of the bottleneck caused by centralized knowledge and global coordination, this study embraces a distributed approach involving local and randomized individual behavior that result in a highly dynamic system topology. The key challenge is to exploit the scale of the system itself in guaranteeing reliability and global performance guarantees out of these local interactions. The focal point of this study will be on distributed storage systems based on network coding.