Section: Application Domains

Telecommunication Applications

The telecommunication domain is currently very interested in peer-to-peer computing. Nowadays, people are not just satisfied with the ability that they can hear a person from another side of the earth. "Instead, the demands of clearer voice in real-time are increasing globally. Just like the TV network, there are already cables in place, and it's not very likely for companies to change all the cables. Many of them turn to use the Internet, more specifically P2P networks. For instance, Skype, one of the most widely used Internet phone applications is using P2P (peer-to-peer) technology" [excerpt from Wikipedia ]. By relying on a P2P paradigm, the telecommunication industry is enlarging its panel of innovating applications ranging from video on demand to massively-shared and user-generated unbounded digital universe. A prerequisite for these applications to meet quality of service requirements of their users is the effective and honest participation of these very same users. In absence of any large centralized enforcement institution in charge of controlling users behavior, the only viable alternative for encouraging trustworthy behavior is to rely on informal social mechanisms collecting, and aggregating information about user behaviors, a.k.a., reputation mechanisms.