Peer-to-Peer Solutions for Cellular Networks

The participation of stationary computers with high-bandwidth links in peer-to-peer content-distribution networks is highly popular. Mobile devices (e.g. cell phones), however, could not yet be launched into the field to a satisfactory extent. This paper discusses mobile peer-to-peer approaches that cover this issue and compares two promising approaches in detail. The first approach supports mobile devices by adding new infrastructure elements to the mobile network operator´s domain. In the second approach, voluntary peers provide support for mobile devices. Both approaches are able to foster the integration of mobile devices into peer-to-peer networks with a large user community.