SMPL : a network architecture for collaborative distributed services

Abstract

This thesis proposes a network architecture, called SMPL, for the design and development of collaboration-oriented, distributed applications over the Internet. The goal of SMPL is to enable the development of applications that easily integrate the capabilities of different types of computing resources, software platforms, and data repositories across the Internet transcending the level of a single device. SMPL proposes a new abstraction of the Internet as a network composed of services, resources, and capabilities instead of just machines. The SMPL architecture distributes resources through a peer-to-peer network of service providers. The design of SMPL encourages developers to add value to the system by facilitating the creation of new functionalities based upon compositions of the existing ones.