Protocols for collaborative applications on overlay networks.

Third, we address the limitations of traditional multicasting models. Towards this, we propose a model where a source node has different switching time for each child node and the message arrival time at each child depends on the order in which the source chooses to send the messages. This model captures the heterogeneous nature of communication links and node hardware on the overlay network. Given a multicast tree with link delays and generalized switching delay vectors at each non-leaf node, we provide an algorithm which schedules the message delivery at each non-leaf node in order to minimize the delay of the multicast tree.First, we consider the floor control problem wherein the participating users coordinate among themselves to gain exclusive access to the communication channel. To solve the floor control problem, we present an implementation and evaluation of distributed Medium Access Control (MAC) protocols on overlay networks. As an initial step in the implementation of these MAC protocols, we propose an algorithm to construct an efficient communication channel among the participating users in the overlay network. We also show that our implementation scheme (one of the first among decentralized floor control protocols) preserves the causal ordering of messages.Our research is focused on the development of algorithms for the construction of overlay networks that meet the demands of the distributed applications. In addition, we have provided network protocols that can be executed on these overlay networks for a chosen set of collaborative applications: floor control and multicasting. Our contribution in this research is four fold.Fourth, we address the problem of finding an arbitrary application designer specific overlay network on the Internet. This problem is equivalent to the problem of subgraph homeomorphism and it is NP-Complete. We have designed a polynomial-time algorithm to determine if a delay constrained multicasting tree (call it a guest) can be homeomorphically embedded in a general network (call it a host). A delay constrained multicasting tree is a tree wherein the link weights correspond to the maximum allowable delay between the end nodes of the link and in addition, the link of the guest should be mapped to a shortest path in the host. Such embeddings will allow distributed application to be executed in such a way that application specific quality-of-service demands can be met. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)Second, we address the problem of designing multicasting sub-network for collaborative applications using which messages are required to arrive at the destinations within a specified delay bound and all the destinations must receive the message from a source at 'approximately' the same time. The problem of finding a multicasting sub-network with delay and delay-variation bound has been proved to be NP-Complete in the literature and several heuristics have been proposed

Efficient Multicast in Heterogeneous Networks of Workstations

This paper studies the problem of efficient multicast in heterogeneous networks of workstations (HNOWs) using a parameterized communication model [3]. This model associates a sending overhead and a receiving overhead with each node as well as a network latency parameter. The problem of finding optimal multicasts in this model is known to be NP-complete in the strong sense. Nevertheless, we show that for two different properties that arise in typical HNOWs, provably near-optimal and optimal solutions, respectively, can be found in polynomial time. Specifically, we show the following two results: When the ratios of receiving overhead to sending overhead among the nodes is bounded by constants, solutions within a bounded ratio of optimal can be found in time O(n log n). Secondly, if the number of distinct types of workstations is fixed then optimal solutions can be found in polynomial time. These results provide a practical means of finding optimal and provably near-optimal multicast schedules in a large class of frequently occurring heterogeneous networks of workstations

Application layer multicast algorithm

This paper presents a multicast algorithm, called MSM-s, for point-to-multipoint transmissions. The algorithm, which has complexity O(n2) in respect of the number n of nodes, is easy to implement and can actually be applied in other point-to multipoint systems such as distributed computing. We analyze the algorithm and we provide some upper and lower bounds for the multicast time delay.Peer Reviewe

Algorithms for Data Dissemination and Collection

Broadcasting and gossiping are classical problems that have been widely studied for decades. In broadcasting, one source node wishes to send a message to every other node, while in gossiping, each node has a message that they wish to send to everyone else. Both are some of the most basic problems arising in communication networks. In this dissertation we study problems that generalize gossiping and broadcasting. For example, the source node may have several messages to broadcast or multicast. Many of the works on broadcasting in the literature are focused on homogeneous networks. The algorithms developed are more applicable to managing data on local-area networks. However, large-scale storage systems often consist of storage devices clustered over a wide-area network. Finding a suitable model and developing algorithms for broadcast that recognize the heterogeneous nature of the communication network is a significant part of this dissertation. We also address the problem of data collection in a wide-area network, which has largely been neglected, and is likely to become more significant as the Internet becomes more embedded in everyday life. We consider a situation where large amounts of data have to be moved from several different locations to a destination. In this work, we focus on two key properties: the available bandwidth can fluctuate, and the network may not choose the best route to transfer the data between two hosts. We focus on improving the task completion time by re-routing the data through intermediate hosts and show that under certain network conditions we can reduce the total completion time by a factor of two. This is done by developing an approach for computing coordinated data collection schedules using network flows

Decentralization of multimedia content in a heterogeneous environment

The aim of this study has been the decentralization of multimedia content in a heterogeneous environment. The environment consisted of the research networks connecting the European Organization for Nuclear Research and the Finnish University and Research Network. The European Organization for Nuclear Research produces multimedia content which can be used as studying material all over the world. The Web University pilot in the European Organization for Nuclear Research has been developing a multimedia content delivery service for years. Delivering the multimedia content requires plenty of capacity from the network infrastructure. Different content of the material can have different demands for the network. In a heterogeneous environment, like the Internet, fulfilling all the demands can be a problem. Several methods exist to improve the situation. Decentralization of the content is one of the most popular solutions. Mirroring and caching are the main methods for decentralization. Recently developed content delivery networks are using both of these techniques to satisfy the demands of the content. The practical application consisted of measurements of the network connection between the multimedia server in the European Organization for Nuclear Research and the Finnish University and Research Network, planning and building a decentralization system for the multimedia content. After the measurements, it became clear that there is n o need for decentralization of the multimedia content for users that are able to utilise the Finnish University and Research Network. There could be double today's usage, and still there would be no problems with the capacity. However, the European Organization for Nuclear Research routes all traffic that comes from outside research networks through a gateway in the USA. This affects every connection that is made from Finland: users are not able to use the international connection offered by the Finnish University and Research Network. For these users I designed and built a simple, modular and portable decentralization system

Real-time multicast algorithms for P2P networks

Nowadays, many applications use multicast transmissions, such as online games, videoconference programs, or sharing applications in a P2P network. However, multicast transmission is a problem that has still not been satisfactorily solved. In this work we show a family of algorithms capable to solve this problem, concretely focused on the real-time transmissions, in which a node called root or source sends information to a specific group of nodes. These algorithms take advantage of the transmission delay of a message between one node and another in order to send it towards another node. In order to study the behaviour of these new real-time transmission algorithms we have worked with two virtual networks that models the IP network, to which we have added a number of users, from 10 to 1000. These users form the multicast group. Later, we have obtained the overlay network. This network is defined in the application layer, and the user nodes form it. Finally, the multicast algorithms have been applied on those networks and results have been analysed to extract the conclusions for our original purposes

Application-layer multicast algorithms for bounded delay transmissions

This work shows the design and study of a family of algorithms that solves the multicast routing problem. In this problem, a given node called root has to send information to a certain group of receiving nodes. Although the algorithm can be applied at any level of the protocol stack, this paper studies its performance in the application level. This family of algorithms provides optimal routing tables between nodes belonging to the same multicast group, in such a way that the total transmission time is minimum. The algorithms take benefit from the delay time in the transmission of a message between one peer and another to forward the data to a third peer. Beginnig with a first algorithm, defined to send only one packet, some other algorithms has been described under certain conditions to send more than a packet with the maximum possible cadence and without congestion problems. With this purpose, we have restricted the number of times that the root may send a packet and also the maximum cadence time for the rest of the nodes. Moreover, we have applied mechanisms to guarantee full connectivity. With the aim of evaluating the performance of the different algorithms, we have calculated theoretically a set of bounds for transmission delays. Moreover, we present a serie of simulations over a virtual network that models an IP network. Over that first network, we have defined a second network of user nodes, which has been created at application level (so we can call it overlay network). We have applied the algorithms over the overlay networks, obtaining delay times, cadence times, number of nodes with congestion problems, and routing trees. Finally, we compare the results to check the best algorithm in any case. As expected, the fastest algorithms can usually have important congestion issues (more than a 50% of affected nodes). Moreover, the algorithm defined to avoid congestion has at most 50% bigger delay than the fastest algorithms, and hence we finally advice its application in multicast transmissions