Offline Collaboration Tool utilizing WebRTC in Ad Hoc Peer-to-Peer Networks

Advancement in technology introduced us to various platforms that changed our way of communicating and collaborating. With the sudden demand for technological dependence, the COVID-19 situation exposed the limited internet infrastructure and costly internet service of countries like the Philippines. In this study, the researchers explored the option of real-time offline collaboration in an ad hoc network as a solution to unimpeded collaboration in low bandwidth and poor connectivity environments. The researchers developed on top of CONCLAVE, an open-source collaborative text editor that utilizes WebRTC. Offline functionality was enabled in this collaborative platform along with the implementation of offline peer discovery using Websockets and a peer handling technique inspired by Scalable Content Addressable Networks (CAN). These modifications were evaluated on an ad hoc network using different metrics such as packet delay, jitter, data rate, and peer disconnection resolution time. Results of the testing was favorable to the modified version of CONCLAVE in an ad hoc network. With these results, the project has successfully enabled offline use and continued operation in the event of a disconnected peer, and has successfully implemented a peer handling technique that has improved the P2P operation of the original application.