Was reading a previous thread that had some replies about a decentralized internet. Well for anyone interested, I designed one about 6 months ago. I have documents and diagrams for anyone interested in piggybacking from it - I don't have the time to devote to a project this big, so I thought I'd just dump this text wall that introduces the idea. If there is actual interest in this, I might continue to work on it
Here's an image for any tl;dr people:
http://oi54.tinypic.com/fjgizp.jpgHow does it relate to Bitcoin? Simple - automate Bitcoins to be the currency for paying/getting payed for being a node in the access mesh. It's an instant success story for Bitcoin if the network catches on.
Now here's the tl part for anyone that wants to read. This is just an introduction, as I have a few other documents and diagrams that go into more technical detail. PS - Chroud and ChroudNet were codenames for the project:
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IntroChroudNet is an infrastructure, interface, and philosophical model that represents the creation of new internet and cellular media, in a liberated and consolidated network. It utilizes the shared relay capacities of all connected devices to form an infrastructure of people, rather than service providers - sending data across connected devices in a distributed, parallel fashion. It is also fully designed and optimized for cloud computing and remote processing. Most importantly, ChroudNet is open for critique, scrutiny, and prototyping.
InfrastructureIt’s based on an ad-hoc, wireless mesh network that relays data in a distributed, parallel fashion. It replaces the current networking infrastructure with people’s devices – cellphones, laptops, desktops, tablets, televisions, game consoles, cars, the list goes on and will only continue to grow. Because of the increasing density of connected devices and the growing capacity for high-speed wireless data transfer over large distances (i.e. – WiMAX), a model such as this has great potential. It would also maintain its relevance with the progression of technology for many years to come - a "true" internet 2.0.
Wireless does have its own inherent difficulties like packet loss - but because of the design, if a packet misses its target at any node, the detection and response is local, so it's much faster.
Building The NetworkProbably the largest obstacle to such an extremely ambitious project as this is building the network from scratch. The network would require new hardware and require early adopters. However, once prototypes have been built and standards are developed, the ad-hoc nature of the network means that networks can start locally: providing local services such as news, file transfer, and communication within a city or campus - and then connect with other networks as soon as they reached within distance of eachother. The design for resolving servers is this:
A dynamically cached and updated local interface provides visual access to servers that resolve within the system, based on physical location (GPS) used to direct the flow of parallel transfer, and server identification (such as a global unique identifier). A server would periodically broadcast their presence, informing connected nodes of it’s location and content. Then when a user requests information, the packets act like hound dogs sniffing out the server using GPS and identification information. This way, a device is capable of seeing exactly what services and content are available at any given moment. As local networks grow into each other, assuming they followed a standardized model, they would immediately merge into an incrementally large network.
Front-end (remote processing and client devices)ChroudNet functionality would be entirely server-side (or cloud-side). Devices would simply act as transceivers with very little local computational capability. Cost and battery that would normally go into CPU and GPU hardware would be directed to networking hardware and battery instead. See services like OnLive. The front-end would be a fully consolidated interface that is visually consistent across all devices (based on open standards). It would present media for the equivalent of voice, television, and internet, in an operating system for all things connected. Such an operating system would offer two things: an interface to the network and its media, as well as a unified subscription model to ease both access and payment for commercial content. Content providers would adhere to a generic, standardized subscription model that can be further defined in software by billing providers. This way, users have their choice of billing methods – again to decentralize the model so that there is no monopoly on any sub-service of ChroudNet.
Media Structure1.) “ChroudCom” – Voice and video communication service.
2.) “ChroudServe” – Streaming software for home and business. Each service can be free or commercial.
3.) “ChroudPlay” – Streaming gaming. Each game can be free or commercial.
4.) "ChroudChan" - Typical internet, but with much higher capabilities as websites would be processed and streamed server-side (no client-side security issues). Imagine 3D, interactive content that can run native code.
Benefits/MotivationNo service providers – ChroudNet removes service providers like Comcast and Verizon from the equation – including all related cost and regulation.
Consolidation of networks – One network for voice, video, and data. All at the high speed of distributed transfer.
Everything on all devices – Because devices are simply receiving and displaying streams, they will be able to handle all types of data without extra cost of data-specific hardware.
No regulation/policing – Neutral net and communications.
No wires – runs entirely on local perimeter, wireless access. Forget tearing up residential land, installing, and maintaining expensive wires.
Greener – Without a physical infrastructure, there are no repairs, centralized data centers, or service trucks.
Fast – distributed, parallel transfer breaks data into small pieces that are sent over the network effectively multiplying your connection speed by the number of local devices.
Secure – Users in the network only operate on tiny fragmented pieces that don’t equate to anything locally. It’s not until each fragment reaches your computer in collection that the data becomes meaningful at all.
Adaptable – Infrastructure upgrades are as simple as releasing upgraded devices. This means a network that grows just as fast as the technology that drives it. No year(s)-long waits for selected cities to be torn up and accommodated for physical cables.
Optimized for cloud-side computing – The bulk of cloud-side transfer is deploying data, such as streaming video and gaming, from the server. Servers can transmit data over hundreds of its own local tranceivers, travelling in parallel over hundreds of devices, only converging in the jumps before your device. At theoretical peak, 300 jumps over 300 devices, each with a 10 mile radius, could cross the entire United States in the time of a single, 10 mile wireless transfer.
Progressive – As wireless speeds and distances increase with technology, and more users join the network, speed and availability grow exponentially.
Scalable – The network not only automatically scales with its number of users – it actually becomes faster (due to passive:active device ratio)
