An architecture for peer-to-peer information retrieval

P2P networking is one of the most rapidly developing areas of modern computing. By the utilisation of the exponentially increasing Internet nodes (users) as well as the ever powerful home computer systems and mobile devices, the P2P paradigm attempts to create open and collaborative networks of the most diverse functionality nature. In this study we propose an architecture for IR over large semi-collaborating P2P networks based on clustering. By the term “semi-collaborating” we mean networks where, although peers have to collaborate in order to achieve overall effectiveness, they do not have to share any proprietary information with the rest of the network, nor do they have to be consistent with respect to the IR systems they use. Also, we reason toward the usefulness of clustering in open P2P networks by relying on two basic assumptions (introduced in Section 3.1).