A cross-layer resource over-provisioning architecture for P2P networks

Bandwidth demanding P2P (Peer-to-Peer) overlay communications strongly require scalable and differentiated provisioning of network resources (e.g., bandwidth, communication paths) to enable a seamless convergence over the Internet. Recent research efforts claimed that efficient resource over-provisioning (booking more resources in advance) allows differentiation of control with reduced signalling overhead and increased resources utilisation. We believe that, this approach deserves attention in innovative networking designs to improve performance. The European Union (EU) funded project called ROMEO is focusing on a joint use of DVB-T2 (Digital Video Broadcasting - 2nd Generation Terrestrial) and P2P overlay networks for live multimedia content sharing and collaboration among multiple users ubiquitously. A major challenge in such systems is to assure a proper synchronisation, at end-users, of the content received through both the DVB-T2 and the P2P while the Internet, on which relies P2P system, only provides best-effort service. Hence, this paper proposes a cross-layer control architecture to take advantage of the Internet resource over-provisioning techniques to alleviate the requirements of buffers and the complexity of adaptation on end-users´ devices for synchronization, thus allowing for cost-effective and rapid development of attractive services in similar hybrid networks.