Information Traffic Patterns

Typology

A typology of network traffic under centralized control!

From Jonas Andersen in his thesis on Communication Networks:

"Transmission is the already well-known traffic pattern of sending information through a channel from a source to a destination as described by Shannon and Weaver. The concept of transmission needs no further explanation as it it’s meaning is similar in Bordevijk and Kaam’s terminology.

Registration takes place when a distributor controls information, such as a database, that is produced by the users. In registering, the user yields information to the distributor at the centre who controls its representation and distribution. The registration pattern is very illustrative of the redefinition of the source and destination roles. Here, the users are actually acting as both source and destination of the information. The centre only distributes and represents the data.

Consultation takes place when information is distributed at the user’s request. The centre actually produces the information, and the user must make an active selection to request specific information in order to have it distributed.

Finally a last information traffic pattern has been discovered in the domain of networked computers: conversation. Here the distributor only facilitates the platform for users’ production and distribution of information. Having such ‘direct’ access to exchange information, the traffic pattern actually resembles that of everyday conversation. But still, Bordevijk and Kaam’s information traffic patterns presuppose a centralised network structure by defining either centre or user to be in control of the information. Even in direct conversation between users, the centre plays a vital role in facilitating and constraining the distribution of information. So is this really network distribution, or is it just a reproduction of a centralised structure in a new medium?" (http://dotjonas.net/wordpress/?page_id=7)