A carrier grade Peer-to-peer network architecture

Abstract

It's undeniable that peer-to-peer applications have posed increasing threat to the telecom operators since the end of 1990s. The threat is two-fold. One is that the P2P applications generate tremendous amount of traffic to the telecom network, resulting in network management problems and increasing both capital and operating expenditures; the other is the revenue loss caused by some P2P applications such as free or nearly free Internet voice services offered by P2P operators. Most of the operators have either taken drastic measures, such as discriminating P2P applications by blocking or delaying P2P traffics, or totally ignoring the problem. In this paper we propose an alternative solution. This solution, taking the advantages of both telecom network and P2P network architectures, can enable the operators to capture the revenues from P2P applications without loosing the current telecom revenues. It provides carrier grade P2P services in an IP based network with minimum impact to the current network architecture and services. We argue the benefit of this approach from its technical and business aspects.