A round-based pricing scheme for maximizing service provider's revenue in P2PTV networks

In this paper, we analyze a round-based pricing scheme that encourages favorable behavior from users of real-time P2P applications like P2PTV. In the design of pricing schemes, we consider price to be a function of usage and capacity of download/upload streams, and quality of content served. Users are consumers and servers at the same time in such networks, and often exhibit behavior that is unfavorable towards maximization of social benefits. Traditionally, network designers have overcome this difficulty by building-in traffic latencies. However, using simulations, we show that appropriate pricing schemes and usage terms can enable designers to limit required traffic latencies, and be able to earn nearly 30% extra revenue from providing P2PTV services. The service provider adjusts the prices of individual programs incrementally within rounds, while making relatively large-scale adjustments at the end of each round. Through simulations, we show that it is most beneficial for the service provider to carry out 5 such rounds of price adjustments for maximizing his average profit and minimizing the associated standard deviation at the same time.