Characterizing the temporal and semantic coherency of broadcast-based data dissemination

Abstract

In this paper, we develop a general theory of temporal and semantic coherency for an extended client/server architecture in which the server broadcasts items of interest to a large number of clients without a specific client request. Such architectures are part of an increasing number of emerging applications in wireless mobile computing systems; they also provide a scalable means to deliver information in web-based applications, for example in publish-subscribe systems. We introduce various forms of temporal and semantic coherency applicable to such architectures and present a framework to precisely define protocols for enforcing them.