Compressing the X graphics protocol
John M. Danskin · 1994
This dissertation is about compressing networked graphics for transmission across low bandwidth networks like phone lines and wireless networks. It concentrates on the X Window System Version 11 (X) because X is the most widely available networked window system today. The dissertation is divided into three main sections: The first section describes a system for tracing the X protocol, the traces gathered, and an analysis of the results. The traces were analyzed by breaking the protocol down into discrete instructions or messages, and analyzing the frequency and network resource requirements of these messages. This analysis has resulted in preliminary results in 4 areas: the relative importance of X messages, how X usage changes during different application stages, differing application idioms for accomplishing similar tasks, and the size distributions of X messages and groups of X messages. Some of these results have architectural implications for network protocols and implementations....