The implementation of guaranteed, reliable, secure broadcast networks

摘要

This paper depicts a conceptually simple and easy to implement protocol that provides reliable and secure broadcast/multicast communication. The methodology used in this protocol is surprisingly simple. Three logical nodes are enforced in the network - a Central Retransmitter, a Designated Acknowledger, and a (many when needed) Playback Recorder(s). Through the coordinated service of the three nodes, every user node can be guaranteed to receive all broadcast messages in the correct temporal order. A fourth logical node, the Security Controller, can be added to the protocol to provide security-related services such as user authentication, message encryption, etc. This protocol (GRSB - Guaranteed, Reliable, Secure Broadcast) can be implemented in many types of networks - local area networks, wide area networks, as well as satellite communications. Some of its implementation and performance issues are also discussed in the paper.