Paramecium: Assembling Raw Nodes into Composite Cells

In conventional DHTs, each node is assigned an exclusive slice of identifier space. Simple it is, such arrangement may be rough. In this paper we propose a generic component structure: several independent nodes constitute a cell; a slice of identifier space is under nodes’ condominium; part of nodes in the same cell cooperatively and transparently shield the internal dynamism and structure of the cell from outsiders; this type of structure can be recursively repeated. Cells act like raw nodes in conventional DHTs and cell components can be used as bricks to construct any DHT-like systems. This approach provides encapsulation, scalable hierarchy, and enhanced security with bare incurred complexity.