GridDL: an HTTP bandwidth sharing framework

Peer-to-peer (P2P) applications have become a mainstream technology for content distribution. Yet widely used P2P applications, such as BitTorrent and Gnutella, suffer from flaws that are currently open topics of research---from the problem of freeriders to discrimination against peers with asymmetric Internet connections. This paper presents the design of Grid-DL---a software framework for studying the new P2P paradigm that focuses not on exchanging content, but on exchanging bandwidth. Grid-DL provides researchers a tool to implement any algorithm for bandwidth sharing or bandwidth trading, while imposing as few limitations as possible on the researchers. Grid-DL creates a P2P network that executes a given algorithm for bandwidth sharing. Grid-DL also provides the first P2P bandwidth sharing application that does not require a pre-existing P2P network or infrastructure other than the individual peers.