Architecture for a peer-to-peer network with IP multicasting

In peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, which provide capabilities to search for and share contents via direct communication between peers, there are two typical problems. One is that a P2P network generates a lot of traffic because of the network-disastrous flooding, and the second is that quality of service depends on the peers' capabilities. As a solution to these problems, applying IP multicasting to P2P networks is proposed. We describe the basic architecture of a peer-to-peer network with an IP multicasting function.