Reducing network traffic in unstructured P2P systems using Top-k queries

A major problem of unstructured P2P systems is their heavy network traffic. This is caused mainly by high numbers of query answers, many of which are irrelevant for users. One solution to this problem is to use Top-k queries whereby the user can specify a limited number (k) of the most relevant answers. In this paper, we present FD, a (Fully Distributed) framework for executing Top-k queries in unstructured P2P systems, with the objective of reducing network traffic. FD consists of a family of algorithms that are simple but effective. FD is completely distributed, does not depend on the existence of certain peers, and addresses the volatility of peers during query execution. We validated FD through implementation over a 64-node cluster and simulation using the BRITE topology generator and SimJava. Our performance evaluation shows that FD can achieve major performance gains in terms of communication and response time.