Approximate Networking for Global Access to the Internet for All (GAIA)

TL;DR

This paper proposes an 'approximate networking' approach for the GAIA system, enabling cost-effective, context-aware global Internet access by accepting tradeoffs to improve accessibility for all.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of approximate networking for global Internet access, emphasizing context-specific tradeoffs to enhance accessibility and performance.

Findings

Conceptual framework for approximate networking

Potential for increased global Internet accessibility

Tradeoff analysis for different user contexts

Abstract

Decades of experience have shown that there is no single one-size-fits-all solution that can be used to provision Internet globally and that invariably there are tradeoffs in the design of Internet. Despite the best efforts of networking researchers and practitioners, an ideal Internet experience is inaccessible to an overwhelming majority of people the world over, mainly due to the lack of cost efficient ways of provisioning high-performance global Internet. In this paper, we argue that instead of an exclusive focus on a utopian goal of universally accessible "ideal networking" (in which we have high throughput and quality of service as well as low latency and congestion), we should consider providing "approximate networking" through the adoption of context-appropriate tradeoffs. Approximate networking can be used to implement a pragmatic tiered global access to the Internet for all (GAIA) system in which different users the world over have different context-appropriate (but still contextually functional) Internet experience.