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Improvements in the cost reduction of wireless technology have produced an enormous increase in the use of Bluetooth and WiFi HotSpots to extend IP networks. But one drawback can be the unpredictable magnetic reflections that are very site dependent and the magnetic field ‘pollution’ with resulting fluctuations. All of which, unlike fixed IP networks, affect the available bandwidth and can result in unpredictable saturation.
If the nature of the data being transferred is relatively static then it may not be a problem compared to the advantages that wireless accessibility offers. But when you wish to use the advantages of wireless networks to distribute real-time data from remote sensors for example, then the difficulty in providing good performance over unpredictable networks becomes evident. Providing live data over the network can be achieved by polling, but this only adds unnecessary traffic even under normal bandwidth conditions but more importantly adds to the congestion chaos even further when the wireless fluctuations impact the bandwidth. On the other hand if the polling time is increased too much then the user will not actually perceive the changes in real-time but only according to the predetermined rate. In either case Polling is not scaleable and if larger numbers of users need to be added to receive the service it again burdens the network and decreases performance and efficiency. Push solutions are an alternative and offer a big improvement because they only transmit packets as events occur, but if there is no congestion management or bandwidth control then this will again run into difficulty as data is continually transmitted onto a congested network and packets get lost. |
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Use what you have more efficiently |
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In order to try and increase the bandwidth, rather than throw more hardware at the problem a better solution is to render more efficient the available bandwidth and alleviate congestion by intelligent and adaptive packet transmission. Although not currently a feature of data feeds, web servers and textual streaming servers, by adding Lightstreamer it is possible to improve wireless network efficiency by managing and prioritising the transmission at TCP packet level with very little overhead.
Lightstreamer delivers real-time data both to custom client applications and to common Web browsers. In the latter case, using a pure-HTML true push solution (not simulated or polling) Lightstreamer automatically updates from the server each single field of an HTML page viewed by a browser, without the need to download external components (Java applets/midlets, plug-ins,ActiveX controls or applications). The less efficient is the network the greater the impact Lightstreamer has on improving the network performance.
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Lightstreamer Bandwidth Allocation & Management |
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The low bandwidth requirements and Lightstreamer’s unique
automatic adaptive control of the TCP network makes Lightstreamer indispensable for streaming/pushing data through Internet wireless connections (GSM, GPRS, UMTS, WI-FI). It can in fact modulate the bandwidth required to push data as a function of the available bandwidth at any instant. This means that whenever the network quality decreases, Lightstreamer reduces the update frequency through heuristic filters. In this way, the user always receives new data, independent from the connection speed available at any instant in time.
In addition, there is the facility to define the bandwidth control for each individual user. Whereby different service levels (e.g. standard, premium, gold) corresponding to utilized bandwidth (and consequently price) are controlled. Depending on the type of chosen service level, individually assigned
maximum bandwidth, data update frequency and message filtering, are set-up for each user access.
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Types of Live Pushed Services |
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The diversity and scope for the potential application of Lightstreamer technology is endless. It relates to any application area where it is necessary to update users with real-time information.
Some example applications are:
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Telemetry for racing (cars, boats), military vehicles etc. |
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Chat & Instant Messaging via HTML (On-line communities) |
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Remote monitoring (Systems Management, Alerts, Weather etc.) |
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Polls, Consumer surveys |
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Public Administration (Traffic, Civil Protection, Storm warning, Earthquake etc.) |
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Transportation, Live Arrival & Departure timetable updates for flights, trains, ferries etc. |
To have a deeper insight please download our White Paper. |
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