HackerPapers

arXiv:1809.10897cs.NI

cISP: A Speed-of-Light Internet Service Provider

Debopam Bhattacherjee, Sangeetha Abdu Jyothi, Ilker Nadi Bozkurt, Muhammad Tirmazi, Waqar Aqeel, Anthony Aguirre, Balakrishnan Chandrasekaran, P. Brighten Godfrey, Gregory P. Laughlin, Bruce M. Maggs, Ankit Singla

Abstract

Low latency is a requirement for a variety of interactive network applications. The Internet, however, is not optimized for latency. We thus explore the design of cost-effective wide-area networks that move data over paths very close to great-circle paths, at speeds very close to the speed of light in vacuum. Our cISP design augments the Internet's fiber with free-space wireless connectivity. cISP addresses the fundamental challenge of simultaneously providing low latency and scalable bandwidth, while accounting for numerous practical factors ranging from transmission tower availability to packet queuing. We show that instantiations of cISP across the contiguous United States and Europe would achieve mean latencies within 5% of that achievable using great-circle paths at the speed of light, over medium and long distances. Further, we estimate that the economic value from such networks would substantially exceed their expense.

arXiv comments
Journal reference
DOI
Subjects
cs.NINetworking and Internet Architecture

On Hacker News

Linked by 2 identifiable commenters in 2 comments across 2 threads, from Apr 2021 to Jan 2022. Found in 1 HN submission from Oct 2018 to Oct 2018. Open submission discussions.

Comments linking this paper, per year.

Discussed in comments2 threads

  1. Bitcoin network power slumps as Kazakhstan crackdown hits crypto miners 1 comment

    • That's right. The natural way to do this is to do long-haul point to point wireless using commodity hardware. Such backhaul links will be limited to a few Gbps each but that's better than nothing. Building this out further, you could create a network like this…

      barathrView on HNParent context

  2. Google open-sources the Lyra audio codec 1 comment

    • Internet latency is much higher than it could be, even using fiber: https://arxiv.org/abs/1811.10737 And adding an HFT-style microwave backbone could reduce Internet latency even more: https://arxiv.org/abs/1809.10897

      wmfView on HNParent context

Submitted to Hacker News

Connected through shared HN threads, not inferred similarity or a recommendation.