Analysis of bittorrent-like protocols for on-demand stored media streaming

TLDR

This paper develops analytic models that characterize the behavior of on‑demand stored media content delivery using BitTorrent‑like protocols. The models capture the effects of piece selection policies such as Rarest‑First and two In‑Order variants, and are used to compare retrieval policies across a wide range of system parameters including peer arrival rate, upload/download bandwidth, and seed residence time. The models reveal transient and steady‑state behavior, explain sluggishness under strict In‑Order streaming, quantify startup delays and retrieval times, and offer insights for optimal design of peer‑to‑peer networks for on‑demand media streaming.

Abstract

This paper develops analytic models that characterize the behavior of on-demand stored media content delivery using BitTorrent-like protocols. The models capture the effects of different piece selection policies, including Rarest-First and two variants of In-Order. Our models provide insight into transient and steady-state system behavior, and help explain the sluggishness of the system with strict In-Order streaming. We use the models to compare different retrieval policies across a wide range of system parameters, including peer arrival rate, upload/download bandwidth, and seed residence time. We also provide quantitative results on the startup delays and retrieval times for streaming media delivery. Our results provide insights into the optimal design of peer-to-peer networks for on-demand media streaming.