Reciprocity: Enforcing Contribution in P2P Perpendicular Downloading

Ming CHEN
Guangwen YANG

Publication
IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Information and Systems   Vol.E89-D    No.2    pp.563-569
Publication Date: 2006/02/01
Online ISSN: 1745-1361
DOI: 10.1093/ietisy/e89-d.2.563
Print ISSN: 0916-8532
Type of Manuscript: Special Section PAPER (Special Section on Parallel/Distributed Computing and Networking)
Category: Peer-to-Peer Computing
Keyword: 
Peer-to-Peer,  bulk file dissemination,  perpendicular downloading,  incentive,  game theory,  

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Summary: 
Flash bulk files downloading in style of P2P through perpendicular pattern becomes more popular recently. Many peers download different pieces of shared files from the source in parallel. They try to reconstruct complete files by exchanging needed pieces with other downloading peers. The throughput of entire downloading community, as well as the perceived downloading rate of each peer, greatly depends on uploading bandwidth contributed by every individual peer. Unfortunately, without proper built-in incentive mechanism, peers inherently tend to relentlessly download while intentionally limiting their uploading bandwidth. In this paper, we propose a both effective and efficient incentive approach--Reciprocity, which is only based on end-to-end measurement and reaction: a peer caps uploading rate to each of its peers at the rate that is proportional to its downloading rate from that one. It requires no centralized control, or electronic monetary payment, or certification. Preliminary experiments' results reveal that this approach offers favorable performance for cooperative peers, while effectively punishing defective ones.

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