Collaborative Research: NECO: Designing Intermittency-Aware Networked Systems

布鲁尔0832153B：项目摘要合作研究：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连续连接的深刻假设，但在世界上许多地区，包括农村地区和发展中地区，这一假设根本不成立。由于各种因素，包括高使用成本、频繁停电、网络故障和使用容忍延迟的网络，间歇性网络连接在大多数发展中国家是司空见惯的。传统的联网应用程序不能在间歇性环境中工作。虽然对延迟容忍网络(DTN)的研究已经创建了可行的支持间歇性的底层网络协议，但编写能够很好地容忍断开的应用程序仍然是困难的。该项目提出了间歇性感知网络体系结构(IANA)，这是一种新的网络平台，可以支持一系列间歇性感知应用。这项工作将开发几个新的应用程序，展示发展中地区间歇性联网的力量，并测试和验证IANA平台。拟议的应用包括断断续续的网络搜索、协作维基软件、自动柜员机(ATM)支持和语音消息移动电话。这些都是具有挑战性的应用程序，涵盖了一系列可伸缩性、数据共享和安全问题。将在印度或非洲部署所有四个应用的试点版本，以了解该平台在具有挑战性的环境中支持真实应用的情况。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性网络采用，也可以作为跨几个间歇性应用的公共平台。一个重要的相关挑战是为间歇性应用程序确定适当的通用应用程序编程接口(API)。为了实现这一更大的目标，这项工作将1)对间歇性网络的类型进行分类，这有助于对断开做出适当的响应；2)在DTN之上开发一个间歇性感知覆盖网络，它能够在网络优化中实现特定于应用的，这反过来又能够实现更好的性能和更好的数据分发和共享；以及3)开发一系列新的API，它超越了低级别连接API(套接字)以支持间歇性会话、数据收集和分发、数据复制和一致性以及移动性。主要贡献包括帮助管理复制、移动性、聚合和共享的覆盖网络，通过实际应用程序验证的新的更高级别的API，以及通过在发展中地区的大规模部署对新平台的有效性进行评估。广泛影响：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的内容分发。ATM软件可以帮助解决由于现金流有限和获得银行服务的机会有限而造成的经济效率低下问题。语音短信电话可以将蜂窝革命的影响扩展到农村地区和低识字率用户。私人投资机构在发展中地区有影响应用程序的历史，预计拟议的部署和应用程序的免费、开源发布也会产生类似的影响。实地考察和新课程也将促进具有强烈国际视野的具有发展意识的研究生。这些应用程序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.