Modules that act as receptors for a data stream, transform it in some way, and then pass the data on are known as filters. They can be used to turn one form of data into another, combine several data streams into one, extract one type of data from a complex data stream, or take one stream and send it to many places, to name a few possibilities.
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The broker can invoke filters in order to transform data into a format that the local modules can understand, or the user may start one in order to explicitly manipulate the data as desired.
The filters delivered by the LabSpace project will depend enormously on the needs and specific hardware requirements of the testbed communities.