/ 
App-OCD-0.01
River stage zero No dependents
/ App::OCD

NAME

App::OCD - A collection of "Online Code" Demos

SYNOPSIS

perldoc App::OCD

DESCRIPTION

This page is intented as a top-level introduction to various packages available in the App::OCD::* name space. I am using this name space to present various applications and demos that use my Net::OnlineCode module. That module can be used to implement reliable multicast data transmission across a network.

The Net::OnlineCode module implements only the basic algorithm required to enable a sender to be able to construct a series of "check" blocks from an original message and for the receiver to be able to combine these check blocks in a certain way to recover the original message. It does not cover details such as:

  • how and where the message is stored on the sending side;

  • XORing of data blocks (the Online Code algorithm is based completely on such XORs);

  • the sending and receiving of data blocks over the network;

  • other network protocol details (such as how transfers are initiated and how acknowledgements are handled); and

  • storage (and caching) of check blocks and other intermediate data needed on the receiving side

Because these data manipulation and networking parts are completely decoupled from the algorithmic parts, I feel that I need to give some example applications that include all the parts. Rather than clutter up the Net::OnlineCode module with these examples, I've decided to release them as separate modules. This will also allow me to add new demos and evolve them without requiring pointless version updates to the original module.

For the most part, the demos in this name space will be focused on multicast applications, which is to say that one machine will be sending data (eg, a data structure or a file) over a network, where it may be received by multiple receivers at once. Using multicast to send to multiple receivers like this is very efficient since it only requires slightly more bandwidth than the equivalent unicast (single sender, single reciever) file transfers would take.

Some of the demos here will have a single "master" host that does the sending, while others will focus on more peer-to-peer type arrangements that don't have any distinguished "master" hosts. Or, to put it another way, some of the programs will demo "one to many" transfers, while other will be more "many to many".

I think that multicast (and reliable multicast in particular) is a very interesting building block for network-based applications, so in addition to some of the demos that are included simply to provide examples of how to use the Net::OnlineCode module, I'll also be adding more complex and feature-laden examples intended as a showcase of the kinds of cool things that you can do with multicast in general (and the Online Code algorithm in particular).

DEMO LIST

None ... yet!

SEE ALSO

Related links:

  • the Net::OnlineCode module

  • the papers describing the Online Code algorithms (see Net::OnlineCode man page)

  • the udpcast application home page (another provide implementing a reliable multicast protocol)

  • the flamethrowerd application home page (which uses udpcast)

  • my App::Diskd demo application (a simple Perl/POE-based peer-to-peer network daemon, which I will use as a template for various demos presented here)

  • my top-level github repository (https://github.com/declanmalone/gnetraid.git) where the latest versions of the App::OCD::*, Net::OnlineCode modules (and other programs and documentation) may be found

AUTHOR

Declan Malone, <idablack@users.sourceforge.net>

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

Copyright (C) 2015 by Declan Malone

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of version 2 (or, at your discretion, any later version) of the "GNU General Public License" ("GPL").

Please refer to http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html for the full text of this license.

DISCLAIMER

This package is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

See the "GNU General Public License" for more details.