Collaborative Research: NECO: Designing Intermittency-Aware Networked Systems

合作研究：NECO：设计间歇性感知网络系统互联网和电话系统都表现出对持续连接的深刻假设，这在世界上的大部分地区，包括农村地区和发展中地区，都是不正确的。在大多数发展中国家，由于各种因素，包括高昂的使用成本、频繁的停电、网络故障和使用容忍延迟的网络，间歇性的网络连接是一个现实。传统的网络应用程序不是为在间歇性环境中工作而设计的。尽管在容忍延迟网络（DTN）方面的工作已经创建了支持间歇性的可行的低级网络协议，但是编写能够很好地容忍断开的应用程序仍然很困难。该项目提出了间歇性感知网络架构（IANA），这是一种新的网络平台，可以实现一系列间歇性感知应用程序。这项工作将开发若干新的应用，以展示发展中地区间歇性联网的力量，并测试和验证IANA平台。提议的应用程序包括间歇性版本的网络搜索、协作wiki软件、自动柜员机（ATM）支持和语音信息移动电话。这些具有挑战性的应用程序涵盖了一系列可伸缩性、数据共享和安全性问题。所有四个应用程序的试验版本将部署在印度或非洲，以了解该平台在具有挑战性的环境中实现实际应用程序的能力。IANA设计的首要目标是确定构建通用网络体系结构的基本原则，该体系结构既可以跨不同类型的间歇网络采用，又可以用作跨多个间歇应用程序的公共平台。一个重要的相关挑战是为间歇应用程序确定合适的通用应用程序编程接口（API）。为了实现这个更大的目标，这项工作将1)对间歇性网络的种类进行分类，这有助于对断开做出适当的反应；2)在DTN之上开发一个间歇感知的覆盖网络，实现特定于应用的网络优化，从而实现更好的性能和更好的数据分发和共享；3)开发一系列新的api，超越低级连接api（套接字），以支持间歇会话、数据收集和分发、数据复制和一致性以及移动性。智力优势：这项工作将大大提高创建在间歇环境中工作良好的应用程序的能力。主要贡献包括一个覆盖网络，帮助管理复制、移动性、聚合和共享，通过实际应用验证的新高级api，以及通过在发展中地区大规模部署来评估新平台的有效性。更广泛的影响：目标应用程序在弥合数字鸿沟方面具有直接价值。协作软件支持农村内容的创建和共享，并促进教育、医疗保健和应急响应方面的内容分发。ATM软件可以帮助解决由于有限的现金流和有限的银行服务而导致的经济效率低下的问题。语音信息电话可以将手机革命的影响扩展到农村地区和低文化水平的用户。这些项目负责人在发展中地区有影响力的应用程序的历史，并期望从拟议的部署和免费、开源的应用程序发布中产生类似的影响。实地工作和新课程也将促进具有强烈国际视野的发展意识的研究生。这些应用和部署促进了鼓舞人心的实习，这将鼓励多样性和多学科研究。

Brewer 0832153B: Project SummaryCollaborative Research: NECO:Designing Intermittency-Aware Networked SystemsBoth the Internet and phone system exhibit deep assumptions about continuous connectivity that are simply not true in much of the world, including rural areas and developing regions in particular. Intermittent network connectivity is a fact of life in most developing countries due to a variety of factors including high usage costs, frequent power outages, network failures and the use of delay tolerant networks. Traditional networked applications are not designed to work in intermittent environments. Although work on delay-tolerant networking (DTN) has created viable low-level networking protocols that support intermittency, it remains difficult to write applications that tolerate disconnections well.This project proposes Intermittent Aware Network Architecture (IANA), a new network platform that can enable a spectrum of intermittent-aware applications. This work will develop several novel applications that show the power of intermittent networking in developing regions and that test and validate the IANA platform. The proposed applications include intermittent versions of web search, collaborative wiki software, automatic teller machine (ATM) support, and voice-messaging cellular phones. These are challenging applications that cover a range of scalability, data sharing, and security issues. Pilot versions of all the four applications will be deployed in India or Africa to understand how well the platform enables real applications in challenging environments.An overarching goal in the design of IANA is to determine the underlying principles in building a generic network architecture that can be both adopted across different types of intermittent networks and be used as a common platform across several intermittent applications. An important related challenge is to determine an appropriate and generic Application Programming Interface (API) for intermittent applications. In pursuit of this larger goal, this work will 1) classify the kinds of intermittent networks, which facilitates appropriate responses to disconnection; 2) develop an intermittent-aware overlay network above DTN that enables application-specific in network optimizations, which in turn enables both better performance and better data distribution and sharing; and 3) develop a range of new APIs that move beyond low-level connection APIs (sockets) to support intermittent sessions, data collection and distribution, data replication and consistency, and mobility.Intellectual Merit: This work will result in a substantial increase in the ability to create applications that work well in intermittent environments. The key contributions include an overlay network to help manage replication, mobility, aggregation and sharing, new higher-level APIs validated by real applications, and an evaluation of the effectiveness of the new platform via large-scale deployments in developing regions.Broader Impact: The target applications have direct value in bridging the digital divide. The collaboration software empowers rural content creation and sharing and facilitates content distribution for education, health care, and emergency response. ATM software can help address the economic inefficiencies due to limited cash flow and limited access to banking services. The voice-messaging phone can extend the impact of the cellular revolution to rural areas and to low-literacy users. The PIs have a history of impactful applications in developing regions and expect similar impact from the proposed deployments and from the free, open-source release of the apps. Field work and new curriculum will also promote development-aware graduate students with strong international exposure. The applications and deployments facilitate inspiring internships, which will encourage diversity and multi-disciplinary research.