Peer Assisted VoD for Set-Top Box Based IP Network

IP-enabled set-top boxes are becoming key devices in home entertainment networks. In addition to providing TV signals, STBs have been providing pay-per view service for a long time. But this service suffers from bandwidth requirements at the source server and has scaling problems. The authors propose a new design for providing a peer-assisted VoD service where peers cooperate in delivering the content to other peers. This design uses a Bittorrent like protocol for information exchange and peer-to-peer topology management with low startup time, provision for VCR operation and admission control to guarantee QoS for subscribers.