IQNets - low b/w end user nodes - maximise 'user experience'

[Zenaan Harkness]

On Fri, Dec 13, 2019 at 03:35:53PM +1100, Zenaan Harkness wrote:
> On Fri, Dec 13, 2019 at 12:55:13PM +1100, Zenaan Harkness wrote:
> >   Node End-user Low Bandwidth => NELB
> 
> > So for a "compelling user experience", at least with NELBs, by
> > default we ought limit both time duration T and bandwidth BW, for all
> > link contracts handed out to incoming requests.
> > 
> > Low T means "problematic" (from end user experience point of view)
> > link contracts will time out "relatively soon".
> > 
> > Low BW, as a percentage of total NELB BW, should minimize "obtrusive
> > slowdowns due to the overlay net", again, from the end user
> > perspective.
> 
> The limit case is an early 1990s modem link or slower, e.g. 14.4kbps
> or less than 2KiB/s.
> 
> With a UDP packet between 0.5 and 1.5KiB, we might be talking about 1
> packet per second.
> 
> The types of comms activity suitable for such a network are limited,
> as some will recall - basic text based web pages, SMTP/POP, etc.
> 
> In this limit case, an overlay network as today's users would think
> of that, is not practical (since neither is "normal Internet surfing
> by today's standards"),
> 
> BUT, IQNets ought actually optimize such networks - with user (at the
> UI/GUI) insight into the types of traffic he wants to xfer, and
> design for certain high latency + low b/w text comms, an IQNet node
> may be quite a bit more practically useful than a plain W98 TCP stack.
> 
> 1.5KiB/s ~= 126MiB per day, or about 3.5GiB/month.
> 
> Could we implement a useful high latency, low b/w text messaging
> overlay network in 3.5GiB/month?
> 
> Of course we could - which was likely the point of the early
> cypherpunks email mixnet experiments etc.
> 
> 
> 
> 
>   The Packet
>   Anon
> 
>   Oh packet, crypt packet, tell me, what be your meme?
>   This secret you hide, a hint may I glean?
> 
>   "Some text for another, 'tis not you I tease,"
>   "So forward me quickly, through your friends if you please!"
> 
>   "In chaff I must hide, tasty wheat for the ride,
>   "Wait no longer, I linger, such importance inside!"
> 
> 
>   Oh packet! Crypt packet .. go on and be free,
>   To quietly, stealthily, target your creed!
> 
>   "Why thank, dear kind Sir, you good will be true,
>   "For free speech, anon speech, good causes anew!"
> 
>   "Now I shall depart, you may have the last laugh,"
>   "We be daŋkə schön, muffas! 'Member, give from yo heart..."


A note to those interested in "free speech" overlay nets, the IQNets project (to collate some ideas regarding a possible new overlay net - as an improvement to current Tor and I2P status quo) exists in ideas and a few notes only at the moment, all of which can be found here:

https://github.com/zenaan/iqnets

Last update was some months back, and then just now (generally copy off emails to a "must review" tmp folder, finally got to them today) - see iqnets/doc/*.txt :

 - tin foil chat info,

 - wireless congestion control links,

 - one way blog discussion

 - ("atomic ccdex" fmradio link I did not include, this proj is about overlay nets not DCs, and for now I have no idea what ccdex means, so perhaps if someone comments that it's somehow quite relevant to the implementation of an overlay net, it can get added in),

 - ZKP/ zero knowledge proofs - there may well be gold nuggets under this rainbow,

 - obstor,

 - "obscurity is a time buffer" (thank you Spirit of Nikopol :),

 - p2p reputation too, which is likely foundational for any robust overlay net

 - Note, still have some 'plain' iqnets emails etc to comb, on my todo list ...

(I personally have two unrelated court cases which appear to shall continue engage the bulk of my attention this year).

There are other projects around which may be more active.