Samuel T. Chanson - Böcker

The concept of content delivery (also known as content distribution) is be­ coming increasingly important due to rapidly growing demands for efficient distribution and fast access of information in the Internet. Content delivery is very broad and comprehensive in that the contents for distribution cover a wide range of types with significantly different characteristics and performance concerns, including HTML documents, images, multimedia streams, database tables, and dynamically generated contents. Moreover, to facilitate ubiqui­ tous information access, the network architectures and hardware devices also vary widely. They range from broadband wired/fixed networks to bandwid- constrained wireless/mobile networks, and from powerful workstations/PCs to personal digital assistants (PDAs) and cellular phones with limited processing and display capabilities. All these levels of diversity are introducing numerous challenges on content delivery technologies. It is desirable to deliver contents in their best quality based on the nature of the contents, network connections and client devices. This book aims at providing a snapshot of the state-of-the-art research and development activities on web content delivery and laying the foundations for future web applications. The book focuses on four main areas: (1) web con­ tent delivery; (2) dynamic web content; (3) streaming media delivery; and (4) ubiquitous web access. It consists of 17 chapters written by leading experts in the field. The book is designed for a professional audience including academic researchers and industrial practitioners who are interested in the most recent research and development activities on web content delivery.

This PSTV'94 Symposium is the fourteenth of a series of annual meetings organized under the auspices of IFIP W.G. 6.1, a Working Group dedicated to "Architectures and Protocols for Computer Networks". This is the oldest and most established symposium in the emerging field of protocol engineering which has spawn many international conferences including FORTE (International Conference on Formal Description Tech­ niques), IWPTS (International Workshop on Protocol Test Systems), ICNP (Interna­ tional Conference on Network Protocols) and CAY (Conference on Computer-Aided Verification). The main objective of this PSTV symposium is to provide a forum for researchers and practitioners in industry and academia interested in advances in using formal methods and methodologies to specify, develop, test and verify communication protocols and distributed systems. This year's PSTV symposium enjoys a nice mixture of formal methods and practical issues in network protocols through the invited addresses of three outstanding speakers, Ed Brinksma (University of Twente), Raj Jain (Ohio State University) and David Tennenhouse (MIT) as well as 5 tutorials, in addition to 9 techni­ cal sessions and two practical panel sessions. The 5 tutorials are offered on the first day in two parallel tracks for intensive exposure on hot topics of current interest. This year, out of 51 submissions the Program Committee selected 18 regular papers (with an allotment of 16 pages in the Proceedings) and 9 mini-papers (of 8 pages).

This text addresses formal description techniques (FDTs) applicable to distributed systems and communication protocols. It aims to present the state of the art in theory, application, tools an industrialization of FDTs. Among the important features presented are FDT-based system and protocol engineering, FDT application to distributed systems, protocol engineeering, practical experience and case studies. This text contains the proceedings of the Joint International Conference on Formal Description Techniques for Distributed Systems and Communication Protocols and Protocol Specification, Testing, and Verification, which was sponsored by the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) and was held in Beijing, China, in October 1999. This volume is suitable as a secondary text for a graduate level course on Distributed Systems or Communications and as a reference for researchers and industry practitioners.

The concept of content delivery has become increasingly more important due to rapidly growing demands for efficient distribution and fast access of information from the Internet. The content can be diverse and broad-ranging, and the desire to facilitate ubiquitous information access demands varied network architectures and hardware devices. The need to deliver quality information -- given the nature of the content, network connections and client devices -- introduces various challenges for content delivery technologies. Web Content Delivery offers the most comprehensive coverage of state-of-the-art research, providing insightful and thought-provoking possibilities for the future of web applications. Written by leading international researchers, the book focuses on web content delivery, dynamic web content, streaming media delivery and ubiquitous web access. Web Content Delivery is an essential reference for both academic researchers and industrial practitioners.

Formal Methods for Protocol Engineering and Distributed Systems addresses formal description techniques (FDTs) applicable to distributed systems and communication protocols. It aims to present the state of the art in theory, application, tools an industrialization of FDTs. Among the important features presented are: FDT-based system and protocol engineering; FDT application to distributed systems; Protocol engineeering; Practical experience and case studies. Formal Methods for Protocol Engineering and Distributed Systems contains the proceedings of the Joint International Conference on Formal Description Techniques for Distributed Systems and Communication Protocols and Protocol Specification, Testing, and Verification, which was sponsored by the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) and was held in Beijing, China, in October 1999. This volume is suitable as a secondary text for a graduate level course on Distributed Systems or Communications, and as a reference for researchers and industry practitioners.