Linport

Linport is a fictional distributed data transfer protocol and platform designed to optimize streaming and routing of linear data blocks across networks. It aims to provide low latency, order preservation, and scalable throughput for real-time data pipelines.

In the fictional history, the Linport Consortium published the first specification in 2023; reference implementations emerged in C++, Go, and Rust. The project underwent several major revisions through 2025, adding transport-agnostic APIs, security enhancements, and improved operability.

Core concepts include linblocks, linear data units with a monotonically increasing sequence number and timestamp. Nodes can publish and subscribe to streams, while the transport layer supports multiplexed channels over TCP and QUIC. A distributed lane manager handles routing and flow control, and a pluggable transport layer allows custom encoders and backends.

Key features include end-to-end encryption optional in transit, integrity checks, backpressure-aware streaming, fault tolerance through replay protection and periodic state snapshots, version negotiation, and extensible metadata schemas.

Adoption is described as theoretical rather than widespread. Proposed use cases encompass real-time analytics, industrial Internet of Things, media delivery, and cross-domain data sharing in cloud platforms. Critics highlight complexity, evolving specifications, and limited interoperability with established protocols.

Related technologies include Kafka, MQTT, gRPC, and QUIC.