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UDP + Math = Fast File Transfers

Posted by michael on from the udp-is-painless dept.

Wolfger writes: "A new file transfer protocol talked about in EE Times gets data from one place to another without actually transmitting the data..." Well, the information is transmitted, just not in its original form. I think there are a couple of other places working on similar ideas - wasn't there a company using this for a fast file download application? User would go to download a game demo or something, receive pieces from several different places, and knit them together? Wish I could recall the company's name.

3 of 449 comments (clear)

  1. I think I know how this works by David+H · · Score: 1, Redundant

    It looks like they just use UDP to "send" the original data and then follow it up with parity information until the "receiving" client gets enough parity data to reconstruct any missing original data. The parity files everyone has started using on Usenet are pretty cool, and this just sounds too similar.

  2. Re:Compression by M100 · · Score: 1, Redundant

    No - it's not compression. You actually need to send more data than the original file - but the receiver has to receive approx the same amount of data as the original file (about 5% if I remember correctly).
    Think about simultaneous equations. If I have 2 unknowns I can solve it if I have two equations. Now imagine that I send you 4 equations, each with the two variables. You only need to receive 2 of the equations to be able to reconstruct the original two pieces of data.

  3. A new invention by Peaker · · Score: 1, Redundant

    Called compression?