CluNet (Mobile Cluster Network)

Applications running on powerful clusters represent invaluable assets for use cases such as decision support and clinical information. In emergency situations access to such systems might be limited. Users rely on limited resources of mobile devices they have on-site. ATCorp designed and  built a Phase I prototype of CluNet, a software solution that combines multiple mobile devices into one cluster. CluNet partitions and distributes complex problems across devices and combines the results to present it to the user. CluNet introduces two terms: resource-unit and work-unit. Recourse-units include compute power, memory, network bandwidth, and storage. Work-unit are subtasks that run independently of other work-units. Each subtask requires resource-units to produce  results. Resource and work units are normalized across devices and used by CluNet to find the optimal task distribution. CluNet is lightweight middleware that runs on mobile devices. Developers use this middleware to build apps that quickly solve hard problems in austere environments. Unlike other cluster solutions, CluNet’s mobility-centric architecture specifically targets tactical environments where disconnected, intermittent, lossy (DIL) communications are the norm. Though designed to run foremost on common mobile devices (smartphones and tablets), the CluNet middleware can just as easily be hosted on higher-powered laptops, desktops, and rack-mount servers.