MIRAGE: A Model for Latency in Communication
Joseph D. Touch · ScholarlyCommons (University of Pennsylvania) · 1990
1 ABSTRACT: Mirage is a formal model for the design and analysis of high speed wide area network protocols. It attempts to extend Shannon’s communication theory by accounting for the effects of latency, just as Shannon’s accounts for communication errors. Current protocols are expected to become inefficient if used at speeds in excess of 1 Gigabit per second, in wide area networks. These potential inefficiencies would arise since the speed of communication is increased, without a corresponding decrease in latency; only now, in the gigabit, wide area domain, are these effects becoming noticable. This is a proposal for the development of a model for understanding communication under noticable latency, which may also explain the deficiencies of existing protocols in this new domain. We want to construct a framework for examining these issues, to determine if and why existing protocols may fail. Mirage is motivated by concepts from quantum physics, and attempts to introduce virtual communication akin to quantum virtual particles. Existing protocols are akin to classical mechanics; 1Gigabit/second is the speed near which relativistic effects emerge. In order to account for these effects, we need to express knowledge at a distance, latent measurement, and uncertainty as real entities, not negligible estimates. The result is a model which can express existing protocols, and may contribute to a better understanding of the Gigabit communications domain. 2