Jörg Liebeherr

Lecturer	Jörg Liebeherr (University of Toronto, Canada)
Title	Overlays over Everything – Advances in Multisubstrate Overlay Networks
Date	Thursday 10/04/2017
Location	Room 9222, building E3, Ahornstrasse 55, RWTH Aachen
Abstract
Peer-to-peer overlay networks have shown to be a disruptive technology. The ability to create large networks on-the-fly has enabled new application services in support of content distribution, file sharing, video streaming, and interactive teleconferences. But could the role of self-organizing overlay networks be even greater? Is it conceivable that peer network protocols become the foundation for a new architecture that is entirely based on the concepts of self-organizing overlays networks? Can peer network protocols evolve into a follow-on technology to the Internet protocols? We claim that potential and fundamental limits of the peer networking approach remain largely unexplored. We envision a network architecture characterized by the coexistence of virtually unlimited numbers of peer networks that can quickly grow to arbitrarily large sizes and adapt to changes in the number of peers and substrate networks. Using applications that we built in recent years, and an ongoing project for safety-critical train communication, we make the case that the overlay networking approach has distinct advantages in situations with unknown, uncertain, and changing requirements for information access.