ScholarlyCommons

Title

Exchange-Based Incentive Mechanisms for Peer-to-Peer File Sharing

Author(s)

Kostas G. Anagnostakis, University of Pennsylvania
Michael B. Greenwald, University of Pennsylvania

Document Type

Technical Report

Date of this Version

January 2003

Comments

University of Pennsylvania Department of Computer and Information Science Technical Report No. MS-CIS-03-27.

Abstract

Performance of peer-to-peer resource sharing networks depends upon the level of cooperation of the participants. To date, cash-based systems have seemed too complex, while lighter-weight credit mechanisms have not provided strong incentives.

We propose exchange-based mechanisms for providing incentives for cooperation in peer-to-peer file sharing networks. Peers give higher service priority to requests from peers that can provide a simultaneous and symmetric service in return. We generalize this approach to n-way exchanges among rings of peers and present a search algorithm for locating such rings. We have used simulation to analyze the effect of exchanges on performance. Our results show that exchange-based mechanisms can provide strong incentives for sharing, offering significant improvements in service times for sharing users compared to free-riders, without the problems and complexity of cash- or credit-based systems.

Recommended Citation

Kostas G. Anagnostakis and Michael B. Greenwald, "Exchange-Based Incentive Mechanisms for Peer-to-Peer File Sharing", . January 2003.