Statistical properties of chunkless peer-to-peer streaming systems

Abstract

Streaming solutions based on peer-to-peer networks have recently attracted the attention of the research community, due to the fact that the possibility to exploit peers' upload bandwidth can make it possible to transmit to a large number of users at a low costs. In this paper, we analyze the packet loss probability experienced at the application layer when a stream-based, chunkless peer-to-peer network is employed. More precisely, we derive a network model that allows to characterize the asymptotic behavior of the packet loss probability when the distance between a node and the server grows. Although in the limit the packet loss probability converges to 1, we derive analytical bounds on the convergence rate, which can be used to choose network parameters so that such probability remains negligible.