Forge Pool

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QUIC Transport ​

High-Performance, Low-Latency Transport for Distributed Compute ​

Forge Pool uses QUIC as the primary transport protocol between Hub and Agents.
QUIC provides high throughput, multiplexed bidirectional streams, built-in TLS, and resilience under network variability, making it ideal for global distributed compute.

Private deployments may support approved TCP-based fallback where UDP is restricted.

1. Why QUIC? ​

Benefits: ​

  • No head-of-line blocking (unlike TCP)
  • Multiplexed streams within a single connection
  • Faster connection establishment than TLS/TCP
  • Superior congestion control
  • Packet loss recovery at the protocol level
  • Better performance on mobile and unstable networks
  • Mandatory encryption (TLS 1.3)

QUIC enables stable compute execution even when Agents are:

  • behind NAT
  • on mobile hotspots
  • in high-latency regions
  • experiencing packet loss

2. Transport Layer Architecture ​


Hub <───QUIC───> Agent
│    │
Streams Metadata
Streams Shard Payloads
Streams Partial Results

Each shard runs in its own QUIC stream:

  • isolated
  • independently retriable
  • latency-optimized

The Hub may open dozens of parallel compute streams per Agent.

3. QUIC Stream Roles ​

3.1 Control Stream ​

Exchanges:

  • lifecycle events
  • heartbeats
  • version checks
  • Agent capabilities

3.2 Work Stream ​

Transfers:

  • shard definitions
  • encoded kernel parameters
  • seed offsets

3.3 Result Stream ​

Sends:

  • partial results
  • verification data
  • diagnostics
  • timing metadata

Streams operate under flow control to prevent congestion.

4. Reliability Model ​

QUIC offers robust reliability under:

  • packet loss
  • intermittent disconnects
  • mobile network switching
  • NAT rebinding

If a connection drops:

  • Agent reconnects
  • streams are resumed
  • unacknowledged shards are resubmitted

Hub always knows which shards completed.

5. Security Model ​

  • QUIC enforces TLS 1.3 encryption
  • certificate pinning optional per deployment
  • no plaintext traffic
  • Agent identity established per session
  • no credentials embedded in streams
  • Blob access via signed URLs only

6. Performance Expectations ​

ConditionLatencyThroughput
Same region8–20 ms50–200 Mbps
Cross-region80–150 ms10–50 Mbps
Mobile / weak links40–90 ms5–20 Mbps

QUIC ensures Agents remain usable even under “imperfect” real-world network conditions.

Related Documentation ​