NeTS: Small:Performance-Engineered Overlay Networks for Real-time Distributed Applications

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This project is exploring how overlay networks can be designed and engineered to meet the demanding performance requirements of real-time distributed applications such as large-scale virtual worlds and distributed cyber-physical systems. These applications are characterized by sessions with large numbers of distributed endpoints that issue regular status reports that must be delivered to a dynamically changing set of recipients. They require non-stop data delivery, even as the communication pattern changes. We address this requirement using a novel communication primitive called a comtree that functions like a per-session private network that is provisioned to support continuous data delivery in the presence of rapidly changing traffic. Each comtree defines its own routing context, enabling simple and scalable routing for both unicast and multicast packets. Multicast groups can be highly dynamic with each endpoint subscribing to tens or hundreds of multicast groups and changing their subscriptions many times per second. Our provisioning methods ensure that each comtree has sufficient capacity to support its traffic, even in the presence of rapidly changing multicast groups. The methods developed in this project will enable large-scale, highly interactive virtual worlds that are better able to support social interaction and group collaboration applications in business and education.