A Topology Aware Clustering Mechanism

Abstract

It has been recognised that the performance of peer-to-peer based multimedia systems is related to their network capabilities due to the frequent necessity to transfer large items of content between end points. One major dependency that network performance has is the distance that packets are transmitted; nearby hosts provide higher bandwidth and lower latency whilst distant hosts suffer from lower bandwidth, greater packet loss and high latency delivery. This paper outlines a peer-to-peer CDN that groups nodes into topologically aware local clusters forming an unstructured network of nodes with more distant hosts being represented by a larger number of overlay hops. This overlay forms part of a larger content distribution infrastructure which utilizes the local awareness of the clustering to efficiently provide content for other nodes.