Increasing the reliability of structured P2P networks

Third generation P2P networks try to reduce the high signaling overhead observed in unstructured P2P networks by means of proactive routing. Therefore, a deterministically structured overlay network is established between the participating peers by making use of distributed hash tables (DHT). To ensure the correct execution of lookups it is crucial to keep up the network structure. The Chord protocol already proposes an efficient stabilize algorithm that works well in networks with low churn rates. However, as nodes join and leave the network more frequently, inconsistencies within the network structure appear, because the network is not capable of reacting fast enough to all changes in the topology. In this paper the authors proposed a modified stabilize algorithm that is based on available token techniques from ring networks. While decreasing the overhead in the network, a more stable overlay structure is established.