futures (Re: [net2-wg] Packet interface)

[Philip Levis]

On Dec 2, 2005, at 7:41 AM, Omprakash Gnawali wrote:

> Ironically, one bit future can express the fact that you have infinite
> packets to send but a finite counter based futures can not do that in
> a natural way. When nodes are wall powered (in-door permanent
> deployments, for example) and are running applications that constantly
> sample the environment, this is not a far-fetched possibility.
>
> It is still possible to use finite futures that increments every so
> many cycles of next calls, but that still does not seem "natural".

How can you have infinite packets to send? Does that express an app/ 
protocol that just generates and sends data as quickly as it can  
(e.g., a ping flood)? You don't have infinite storage, so you must be  
generating the packets dynamically. Constantly sampling doesn't mean  
an unbounded number of outstanding packets.

Phil

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"We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time."

- T. S. Eliot,  'Little Gidding'