Start system overview and requirements.

design-document.md

@@ -1,8 +1,89 @@
 # Prio v3 Design Document
 
-## Sample user stories
+## Architecture overview
 
-## Threat model
+Prio is a system and protocol for privately computing aggregation functions over private 
+input. An aggregation function F is one that computes an output y = F(x1,x2,...) for inputs
+xi. In general, Prio supports any aggregation function whose inputs can be encoded in a 
+particular way. However, not all aggregation functions admit an efficient encoding, rendering
+them impractical to implement. Thus, Prio supports a limited set of aggregation functions, 
+some of which we highlight below:
+
+- Simple statistics, including sum, mean, min, max, variance, and standard deviation;
+- Bit vector OR and AND operations; and
+- Count-min sketch (approximated frequency counts) over a closed universe of strings.
+
+The applications for such aggregations functions are large, including, though not limited to:
+counting the number of times a sensitive or private event occurs and approximating the frequency
+that sensitive tokens or strings occur.
+
+Client applications hold private inputs to the aggregation function, server processors,
+or aggregators, invoke  multi-party computation to compute the output, and a final collector 
+obtains the output of the aggregation function. At a high level, the flow of data through
+these entities works roughly as follows:
+
+~~~
+                            +------------+     
+ (1) Batch submission       |            |        (3) Collection
+    +-----------------------> Aggregator +------------------+
+    |                       |            |                  |
+    |                       +-^-------^--+                  |
+    |                         |       |                     |
+    |                         |       |                     |
+    |                         |       |  (2) MPC            |
++--------+           +--------v---+   |      eval      +----v------+
+|        |           |            |   |                |           |
+| Client +-----------> Aggregator |   |                | Collector |
+|        |           |            |   |                |           |
++--------+           +--------^---+   |                +----^------+
+    |                         |       |                     |
+    |                         |       |                     | 
+    |                         |       |                     |
+    |                       +-v-------v--+                  |
+    |                       |            |                  |
+    +-----------------------> Aggregator +------------------+
+                            |            |
+                            +------------+
+~~~ 
+
+1. Applications split inputs into multiple (at least two) anonymized and encrypted shares,
+   and upload each share to different aggregators that do not collude or otherwise share 
+   data with one another. Applications continue this process until a "batch" of data is 
+   collected. Upon receipt of a share, each aggregator verifies it for correctness. 
+   (Details about input validation and how it pertains to system security properties is 
+   in {{CITE}}.)
+2. Each aggregator combines its shares into a partial sum. The aggregators then engage 
+   in a multi-party protocol to combine these sums into a final, aggregated output.
+3. The aggregated output is sent to the collector.
+
+The output of a single batch aggregation reveals little to nothing beyond the value itself.
+
+## Security overview
+
+Prio assumes a powerful adversary with the ability to compromise an unbounded number of 
+clients. In doing so, the adversary can input malicious (yet truthful) to the aggregation 
+function. Prio also assumes that all but one server operates honestly, where a dishonest
+server does not execute the protocol faithfully as specified. The system also assumes
+that servers communicate over secure and mutually authenticated channels. In practice,
+this can be done by TLS or some other form of application-layer authentication.
+
+In the presence of this adversary, Prio provides two important properties for computing 
+an aggergation function F:
+
+1. Privacy. The adversary learns only the output of F computed over all client inputs, 
+   and nothing else. 
+1. Robustness. The adversary can influence the output of F only by reporting false 
+   (untruthful) data. The output cannot be influenced in any other way.
+
+There are several additional constraints that a Prio deployment must satisfy in order
+to achieve these goals:
+
+1. Minimum batch size. The aggregation batch size has an obvious impact on privacy.
+   (A batch size of one hides nothing of the input.) {{questions-and-params}} discusses
+   appropriate batch sizes and how it pertains to privacy in more detail.
+2. Aggregation function choice. Some aggregation functions leak slightly more than the 
+   function output itself. {{questions-and-params}} discusses the leakage profiles of 
+   various aggregation functions in more detail.
 
 ## System requirements
 
@@ -12,6 +93,9 @@
 
 ## System design
 
-## Open questions and system parameters
+## Open questions and system parameters {#questions-and-params}
+
+[[OPEN ISSUE: discuss batch size parameter and thresholds]]
+[[OPEN ISSUE: discuss f^ leakage differences from HCG's paper]]
 
 ## Cryptographic dependencies