Campus - wide asynchronous lecture distribution using wireless laptops ∗

This work explored mechanisms to asynchronously distribute video objects to intranet users. The primary application driver was to disseminate lecture videos created by the instructor as well as annotated videos from students. The storage requirements made remote storage mechanisms as well as local infrastructure storage impractical. Hence, we investigated the feasibility of distributing video contents from user devices. Based on the recent trend of devices going wireless, we analyzed the viability of using laptop devices. We envision a variant of RSS feed mechanism that searched for the lectures among currently available replicas. The effectiveness of this distribution mechanism depended on the total number of voluntary replicas and availability patterns of wireless devices. Using extensive analysis of the observed node behavior, we showed that though laptop users were online for shorter durations, their temporal consistency can provide reasonable availability, especially at the times of the day when students were typically active.