Analyzing the dynamics and resource usage of P2P file sharing by a spatio-temporal model

Abstract. In this paper we study the population dynamics and resource usage optimization of a P2P file sharing system, where the availability of the requested file is not guaranteed. We study the system first by a deterministic fluid model and then by a more detailed Markov chain analysis that allows estimating the life time of the system. In addition, the underlying topology of the network is modelled by a simple geometry. Using the resulting spatio-temporal model we assess how much the resource usage of the network can be reduced, e.g., by selecting the nearest seed for download instead of a random one.