Enhancing discovery with liveness [network device disappearance detection protocol]

Discovery protocols like SSDP, SLP, Rendezvous and Jini allow fast detection of devices. They are typically less suitable for fast detection of disappearing devices. This paper describes the design of a liveness protocol that quickly detects that devices have left the network. Mechanisms that improve important properties like reliability and efficiency over wireless, scalability and high-dynamics are highlighted. The performance of the liveness protocol is analyzed: it has significantly less message overhead than alternative solutions.