[freehaven-dev] ramblings about mixmasters

[Joseph Sokol-Margolis <seph@MIT.EDU>]

we talked a little last meeting about a low latency mixnet, and came
to the conclusion that we wanted one, and that there probably wasn't a
good one, and that we should create one to run freehaven over *later*

that said, I thought a bit about ways to make a mixnet, and how to
layer tcp/ip traffic over it and whatnot. It's not really something I
know much about, so I"m sure I'm missing large chunks.

I think we want to avoid something like misnet, where your address is
your reply box, it's too hard to change addresses when pieces
fail. What if we extended the meeting place concept so you had a "name",
and you'd generate your "reply block" and stick it in a
meetingplace/keyserver that that would facilitate contact between
nodes.

Now, we want to layer this all over tcp. What ifwe ran the "remailers"
at the tcp level, so each hop would be an IP address. We'd also want
the "name" to be an IP address. and it happens we can get large
amounts of ip addresses right now (IPv6)

I'm still working on how the meeting places should work, but I keep
pondering things like multicast, and whatnot. otoh, the IPv6 block
effective needs a central authority (or perhaps moer than 1) "be in
charge of" the ip space to keep nym conflicts. if you wanted to make
money, that be where you charged people. But the meeting places could
be as simple as the routers, I, 207.106.88.19 want to talk to <some
ipv6 nym> to get there, my normal packets go from hop to hop,
until they get to the ipv6 router for the subnet the nym is on. that
router pulls up the current reply block from it's cache, and sends it
off it's merry way, not knowing where it's really going.

An interesting thing about this, is that it allows for several IPv6
nym spaces to exist. arma could run one for free, and hand out nyms to
whomever, whereas I could run one and charge people for the
privledge. Or I could run 2, one with a faster router, or who
knows.... yay flexibility.

I think it could work. now just to find people interested in it.

comments? feasibility? Interest?

seph