MULTIMEDIA ON GEOGRAPHIC NETWORK

In this thesis we investigate the topic of the multimedia contents distribution on a geo- graphic network which is a rarefied and huge field. First of all we have to classify the main parts necessary in the multimedia distribution on a geographic network. The main aspects of a geographic network that will be highlighted in this thesis are: the mechanism used to retrieve the sources of the multimedia content; in the case of the peer-to-peer network on geographic network one of the most important mechanism is the query flooding protocol. The kind of overlay network (peer-to-peer) used to distribute the multimedia content. The usage of this overlay network in a multicast network. The security of the overlay network over a geographic network. Therefore the first topic which is investigated in this thesis is the query flooding protocol that can be used in any kind of query operation on a peer-to-peer network. For this protocol we achieve an analytical model through a complex analysis of the proxies network. In this analysis we can see how the proxies permit an improvement in the performance with respect to the routing operations in a generic network of routers. Moreover we address a simple formulation and framework about the performance of the network with and without layer 7 (proxy) and we apply them in three different types of scenarios to show the advantages achieved with the usage of proxies instead of routers. Through the query flooding operation, each peer of the peer-to-peer network can achieve the list of the peers that hold the desired multimedia content. In a multimedia content dis- tribution system, after the previous step in which the list of the peers that hold the desired multimedia content is retrieved, it is necessary to establish the kind of peer-to-peer network used to distribute this multimedia content to the peers that require it. Therefore the second aspect analysed in this thesis, is how the peer-to-peer network is built so that it is possible to provide the multimedia content to the vast majority of peers (that require this content) with the minimum delay. The construction of the peer-to-peer networks used for the distribution of the multimedia contents is not a very investigated field. Thus in this thesis we produce new algorithms used to build peer-to-peer networks in an incremental way on asymmetric and radio channel and we establish which algorithm is better with respect to the maximum delay of the network, the maximization of the number of peers accepted in the network and the minimization of the bit error probability of each peer of the peer-to-peer network. In this thesis, we propose an usage of the overlay network (peer-to-peer network) in a multicast network. We introduce an innovative mechanism that exploits the peer-to-peer network to make reliable a standard unreliable multicast network. Moreover we present an analytical model for this innovative mechanism. Finally the last aspect of a geographic network is the security of the communications among a group of peers. Thus to ensure the maximum level of security with secure commu- nications among a group of three or more peers, in this thesis we propose a new protocol, based on the Massey Omura protocol, which can allow the communications among the peers of a peer-to-peer network in a secure way. Moreover we present the security prob- lems of this Massey Omura Multiple Users Protocol and how it is possible to avoid these issues through a specific encryption function and a specific decryption function by chang- ing the encryption and decryption keys of each peer when the source peer changes. Finally we present a new cryptography protocol which we use to share the decryption shared key that is used in the Massey Omura Multiple Users Protocol.