<s>
The	O
MarioNet	O
Internet	O
Appliance	O
is	O
an	O
application	O
that	O
runs	O
on	O
a	O
server	B-Application
and	O
sends	O
pre-rendered	O
graphical	O
images	O
to	O
a	O
light-weight	O
client	B-Protocol
for	O
display	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
concept	O
behind	O
MarioNet	O
was	O
to	O
build	O
a	O
thin-client	B-Device
browser	B-Application
to	O
provide	O
web-based	O
content	O
to	O
very	O
small	O
client	B-Protocol
platforms	O
with	O
little	O
RAM	B-Architecture
or	O
ROM	B-Device
and	O
minimal	O
processing	O
power	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
designed	O
to	O
run	O
on	O
a	O
range	O
of	O
embedded	B-Operating_System
operating	I-Operating_System
systems	I-Operating_System
or	O
indeed	O
a	O
ROM	B-Device
platform	O
without	O
an	O
operating	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
server	B-Application
side	O
used	O
Mozilla	B-Operating_System
,	O
the	O
recently	O
open-sourced	O
web	B-Application
browser	I-Application
based	O
on	O
Netscape	B-Protocol
's	I-Protocol
Navigator	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Target	O
client	B-Protocol
devices	O
included	O
cell	O
phones	O
,	O
tablet	B-Device
devices	I-Device
,	O
touch	B-Device
screen	I-Device
information	O
kiosks	O
and	O
vending	O
machines	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
majority	O
of	O
the	O
browser	B-Application
code	O
resided	O
on	O
a	O
web	B-Application
server	I-Application
where	O
most	O
of	O
the	O
work	O
would	O
be	O
done	O
including	O
HTML	B-Language
processing	O
,	O
image	O
rendering	O
for	O
the	O
target	O
device	O
and	O
the	O
connection	O
to	O
the	O
World	O
Wide	O
Web	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
remote	O
controlled	O
client	B-Protocol
was	O
a	O
small	O
graphics	O
engine	O
which	O
simply	O
uncompressed	O
and	O
displayed	O
images	O
and	O
relayed	O
mouse	O
movements	O
and	O
keystrokes	O
(	O
hence	O
the	O
marionette	B-Application
play	O
on	O
words	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
technology	O
is	O
also	O
called	O
a	O
cloud	O
browser	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Web	B-Application
browsers	I-Application
are	O
large	O
complex	O
programs	O
,	O
including	O
back	O
then	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
are	O
resource-intensive	O
and	O
to	O
perform	O
well	O
they	O
require	O
multiple	O
client/server	O
connections	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
protocol	O
was	O
very	O
simple	O
and	O
required	O
only	O
a	O
single	O
connection	O
between	O
the	O
client	B-Protocol
and	O
a	O
server	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
OPTIC	O
would	O
run	O
over	O
any	O
transport	O
protocol	O
from	O
RS-232	O
serial	B-Protocol
communications	I-Protocol
to	O
Wi-Fi	O
or	O
Bluetooth	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
startup	O
,	O
the	O
client	B-Protocol
sent	O
the	O
characteristics	O
of	O
the	O
screen	O
(	O
resolution	O
,	O
color	O
depth	O
,	O
physical	O
size	O
etc	O
.	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
to	O
the	O
server	B-Application
where	O
the	O
images	O
were	O
processed	O
and	O
rendered	O
for	O
the	O
target	O
device	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
would	O
then	O
be	O
compressed	O
and	O
sent	O
via	O
the	O
OPTIC	O
protocol	O
to	O
the	O
client	B-Protocol
for	O
display	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
design	O
of	O
client	B-Protocol
software	I-Protocol
was	O
just	O
a	O
few	O
kilobytes	O
of	O
code	O
and	O
was	O
based	O
on	O
Wightman	O
's	O
own	O
tiny	O
ROMable	O
graphical	O
windowing	B-Application
system	I-Application
called	O
GROW	O
(	O
Graphical	B-Application
ROMable	I-Application
Object	I-Application
Windows	I-Application
)	O
which	O
he	O
had	O
developed	O
whilst	O
at	O
Digital	O
Research	O
in	O
the	O
early	O
1990s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
server	B-Application
browser	B-Application
based	O
on	O
Mozilla	B-Operating_System
was	O
restructured	O
to	O
incorporate	O
a	O
client-side	O
rendering	O
capability	O
and	O
support	O
for	O
the	O
OPTIC	O
protocol	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
cyber	O
cafe	O
was	O
created	O
in	O
the	O
school	O
's	O
library	O
comprising	O
a	O
Linux	B-Application
web	B-Application
server	I-Application
appliance	O
and	O
legacy	O
286	B-General_Concept
PCs	O
running	O
the	O
client	B-Protocol
part	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Despite	O
early	O
interest	O
,	O
the	O
team	O
struggled	O
to	O
raise	O
the	O
funding	O
required	O
to	O
patent	O
the	O
invention	O
and	O
develop	O
the	O
concept	O
into	O
a	O
commercial	O
product	O
,	O
so	O
iCentrix	O
was	O
dissolved	O
when	O
Gross	O
joined	O
Citrix	B-Application
UK	O
in	O
Cambridge	O
later	O
on	O
in	O
1999	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
idea	O
languished	O
for	O
several	O
years	O
until	O
the	O
announcement	O
of	O
a	O
similar	O
technology	O
as	O
the	O
Opera	B-Protocol
Mini	I-Protocol
in	O
2005	O
,	O
and	O
Bolt	B-Protocol
(	O
web	B-Application
browser	I-Application
)	O
in	O
January	O
,	O
2009	O
,	O
client/server	O
split	O
web	B-Application
browsers	I-Application
with	O
light-weight	O
clients	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Later	O
,	O
Amazon	O
announced	O
an	O
Amazon	O
EC2	O
server	B-Application
based	O
,	O
"	O
server-accelerated	O
"	O
,	O
split-architecture	O
browser	B-Application
,	O
Amazon	B-Protocol
Silk	I-Protocol
,	O
for	O
Kindle	O
Fire	O
in	O
2011	O
.	O
</s>
