A packet sniffing and synchronization technique to boost P2P satellite networks

In this paper we propose a collaborative technique called P2P-SatBoost to improve the performance of P2P protocols over satellite networks, and we evaluate it from the perspective of user satisfaction. Highly asymmetric satellite IP connections (satellite downlink and POTS uplink, for example) may be the only reasonably fast access possibility for users in remote regions, specially in the third world. Our technique exploits user ubiquitous access (within a given satellite footprint) and it relies on packet sniffing and any synchronization protocol between peers. We provide a brief description of the packet sniffing procedure and propose a synchronization protocol. The simulation results indicate that joint packet sniffing and synchronization can substantially speed up P2P downloads. © 2005 IEEE.