Rank-Based Incentive Mechanism for Peer-to-Peer Networks

Free-riding is a grave threat against the existence and efficient operation of Peer-to-peer (P2P) networks. This paper proposes a rank-based incentive mechanism to restrain the free-riding. In this mechanism, each user has a rank according to its utility value and it can just visit the corresponding rating files with its rank in the system. The utility function in this paper takes the absolute contribution value and the physical performance into account for the fairness and their value are calculated by Analytic Hierarchy Process. Besides, a pyramidal rank structure is constructed in this mechanism, and the computation formula for the nodepsilas transfer in each layer is established. The simulation verifies that this mechanism is effective and practical.