A Secure P2P Architecture for Video Distribution

Abstract

Currently, video demand has increased significantly, as well as sites that provide this type of service. There is also a wide range of devices from which video requests are performed. Due to these facts, video providers use different video coding techniques that allow adapting the video both to variable conditions of the network as to heterogeneity of devices. A vast majority of video applications are based on the client-server model, which means that system maintenance is very expensive. An alternative to client-server model are the P2P (peer-to-peer) networks, which have attractive features for broadcast video, such as scalability and low cost of implementation. However, a major limitation to the use of P2P infrastructures for content distribution is security. This is because most of the sites do not consider authentication methods and contents protection. This paper proposes a P2P architecture for video distribution using scalable video coding techniques and security strategies such as encryption and authentication.