A Cluster-based Peer-to-Peer File Sharing Protocol for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

Reduction of overhead is essential in increasing the scalability and power efficiency of peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing systems for mobile ad hoc networks (MANET). Previously researchers mainly focused on reducing overhead of query process, and paid little attention to file transfer process. This paper presents a cluster-based P2P file sharing protocol for MANET, focusing on file transfer process. This protocol uses the concept of cluster to reduce overhead and applies a three-way handshaking process to form a cluster. Within a cluster, a request agent transmits requests on behalf of other nodes in the cluster, and a provider provides data packets for the cluster at the request of the request agent. By confining the request-response process between the request agent and the provider, protocol overhead can be effectively decreased. Moreover, this protocol utilizes request suppression to effectively reduce the number of requests. Simulation results show that this protocol outperforms a traditional P2P file sharing protocol in terms of overhead, power efficiency, and downloading speed.