Topic-based resource allocation for real-time publish/subscribe communication systems

We address the issue of supporting real-time message dissemination in a publish/subscribe system. The asynchronous operation and connection brokering approach embodied in the publish/subscribe paradigm aid scalability and support varied topologies. These advantages, however, create challenges for providing predictable performance for real-time applications. We propose an efficient design for message queuing and forwarding by brokers in a publish/subscribe system. We differentiate messages by topics and not just be publishers or subscribers. Our real-time publish/subscribe design is analogous to the design of packet routers for high-speed networks. We manage input and output message queues per-client and per-topic. This approach facilitates a multiple-input multiple-output architecture and provides performance isolation for different topics. This approach differs from conventional system architectures that either use first-in first-out ordering of messages or employ per-client (not per-topic) prioritization. Our framework can provide deterministic upper bounds on delay for periodic and general (sigma, rho)-bounded real-time message flow in a publish/subscribe system with low overhead.