Optimal path selection for file downloading in P2P overlay networks on MANETs

P2P networks are extremely popular on the Internet, with their uses including file sharing, gaming, IP telephony, and much more. Users are increasingly moving toward wireless networks and expect to continue using P2P applications in these new environments. Meanwhile, MANET usage is expected to grow as wireless mesh and 4G networks become more prevalent. In P2P file sharing networks, peer clients must choose which servers to download from, and in a MANET must also select the paths to those servers. It is often possible to download from multiple servers simultaneously. This paper formulates and solves the problem of optimally selecting which servers and paths to choose, such that the cost or download time is minimized.