Host-Level Protocol Support for Interoperable Distributed Computing

这个研究项目探索了分布式计算的一个新兴的和潜在的重要领域：交互式分布式应用程序，涉及到移动的用户与不同的网络连接和计算设备。 具体而言，该项目解决了可靠多播，事件同步和领导控制的组通信协议的设计。 关键问题包括这些协议如何适应移动的节点产生的网络动态，以及它们如何消除网络连接和硬件平台之间的性能差异。 该项目研究了三个主机级技术的集成来支持组通信：增强的网络接口卡功能，新的操作系统服务和用户级/基于代理的协议。 除了分析和模拟，该项目还包括在研究试验台上进行广泛的实验。 预期成果包括：供软件开发人员使用的新协议和实施技术;关于各种开发技术优缺点的性能数据;以及开发和测试新应用程序的框架。 在更广泛的范围内，改善对交互式分布式应用程序的底层支持，提高了它们的性能，使它们更容易被教育、科学和公共安全等领域所使用。

This research project explores an emerging and potentiallyimportant area of distributed computing: interactive distributedapplications that involve mobile users with disparate networkconnections and computing devices. Specifically, the projectaddresses the design of group communication protocols forreliable multicasting, event synchronization, and leadershipcontrol. Key issues include how such protocols adapt to networkdynamics produced by mobile nodes and how they accommodateperformance differences among network connections and hardwareplatforms. The project investigates the integration of threehost-level techniques to support group communication: enhancednetwork interface card functionality, new operating systemservices, and user-level/proxy-based protocols. In addition toanalysis and simulation, the project involves extensiveexperimentation on a research testbed. Expected results include:new protocols and implementation techniques for use by softwaredevelopers; performance data on the merits and deficiencies ofvarious development techniques; and a framework for developingand testing new applications. On a broader scale, improving theunderlying support for interactive distributed applicationsenhances their performance and makes them more accessible todomains such as education, science, and public safety.