Abstract

The key performance parameter here is the response time observable by the user, rather than the number of operations per second as in noninteractive application systems. n Distributed user community. Cooperating users must be able to work on different machines connected over the Internet with nonnegligible and nondeterministic latency. While fiber-optic communication technologies offer virtually unlimited Internet bandwidth, the communication latency over an intercontinental connection cannot be reduced much below 100 milliseconds due to the speed limit of electronic and light signals. It is therefore communication latency, rather than bandwidth, that challenges the design of Internet-based, response-sensitive systems and calls for latency-tolerant or latencyhiding technical solutions. n Unconstrained operation. Multiple users must be allowed to edit the document freely at any time to facilitate a natural cooperative infor18

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