A framework for constructing peer-to-peer overlay networks in Java

Peer-to-peer emerges as a better way for building applications on the Internet that require high scalability and availability. Peer-to-peer systems are usually organized into structured overlay networks, which provide key-based routing capabilities to eliminate flooding in unstructured ones. Many overlay network protocols have been proposed to organize peers into various topologies with emphasis on different networking properties. However, applications are often stuck to a specific peer-to-peer overlay network implementation, because different overlay implementations usually provide very different interfaces and messaging mechanisms. In this paper, we present a framework for constructing peer-to-peer overlay networks in Java. First, networking is abstracted by the interfaces that use URIs to uniformly address peers on different underlying or overlay networks. Then, asynchronous and synchronous messaging support is built upon these interfaces. Finally, overlay networking interfaces are sketched to handle specific issues in overlay networks. We have constructed several overlay networks in this framework, and built peer-to-peer applications which are independent of overlay implementations.