From: stefano previdi = <sprevidi@cisco.com>
Date: November 13, 2008 = 3:55:58 AM CST
To: <p2prg@irtf.org>, <p2psip@ietf.org>, <p2pi@ietf.org>, <alto@ietf.org>, <ledbat@ietf.org>
Cc: Aaron Falk <falk@bbn.com>, Enrico Marocco <enrico.marocco@telecomital= ia.it>, "Vijay K. Gurbani" <vkg@alcatel-lucent.com>, Bill = Yeager <byeager@fastmail.fm>, Volker = Hilt <volkerh@alcatel-lucent.com>= , Lisa Dusseault <lisa.dusseault@gmail.com>, = Bobby Bhattacharjee <bobby@cs.umd.edu>, Stefano Previdi = <sprevidi@cisco.com>, = Tricha Anjali <tricha@ece.iit.edu>, Carol Davids = <davids@iit.edu>, Fabian = Bustamante <fabianb@cs.northwestern.edu>, Klara Nahrstedt <klara@cs.uiuc.edu>, Yunfei Zhang = <zhangyunfei@chinamobile.com>, Feldmann Anja <Anja.Feldmann@telekom.de>, = Damien Saucez <damien.saucez@uclouvain.be>= , Bruce Davie <bdavie@cisco.com>, David Ward = <dward@cisco.com>
Subject: = IRTF - P2P Research = Group

Following the new creation of IETF = WGs scoped around issues of
peer-to-peer applications (ALTO and = LEDBAT) and considering the
interest into a forum where research = activity related to p2p can
be discussed, we started an effort in = order to re-activate the
IRTF Peer-to-peer Research Group with the = proposed (updated)
charter below. The p2prg will of course interact = with the IETF
P2P WGs (P2PSIP, ALTO, LEDBAT).

Any comments, = feedback and suggestions are = welcome.

Thanks.
s.

---------------------------------= ------------------------------------
IRTF
Peer-to-Peer Research = Group = (P2PRG)
-----------------------------------
Chair(s):
---------TBD

Mailing Lists:
--------------
The email list is p2prg@irtf.org. You need not be a = list member to send
mail to the list. To subscribe, visit the P2PRG = mail page
(https://www.ietf.org/= mailman/listinfo/p2prg) or send an email to
p2prg-request@irtf.org.

= Website
-------
Documents and members only discussion mailing list = can be found at the
P2Prg web site:
http://trac.tools.ietf.org/group/irtf/trac/wiki/PeerToPeerResearchG= roup

Charter
-------
Peer-to-Peer (P2P) is a way of = structuring distributed applications such
that the individual nodes = have symmetric roles. Rather than being
divided into clients and = servers each with quite distinct roles (such as
Web clients vs. Web = servers), in P2P applications each node can act as
both a client and = a server. A key concept for P2P systems is therefore
to permit any = two peers to communicate with one another in such a way
that either = ought to be able to initiate the contact. P2P systems in
general are = highly distributed, highly scalable to large numbers of
nodes and = users, highly autonomous, and can lend themselves to = anonymity.

Some historical examples of P2P systems are USENET = servers, built on top
of NNTP, and inter-domain routing, built on top = of BGP. More recent P2P
systems are file sharing networks such as = Gnutella, BitTorrent,
eDonkey/eMule and voice-over-IP applications = such as Skype.

While P2P systems are deployed and used on a large = scale, many research
questions in the field of P2P remain open. For = example, current P2P
systems often form their overlay networks based = on application layer
information and ignore the structure and = policies of the underlying
network infrastructure. As a result, peers = often connect to peers in a
remote network even though an equivalent = peer would be available in the
local network. This can lead to the = inefficient use of network resources
and to conflicts between = application- and network-level routing. Another
problem arises from = the fact that many different P2P systems are defined
and deployed. It = is desirable for users on one system to be able to
reach users on = other P2P systems without requiring applications to
implement the = mechanisms and protocols of all systems available.
Mechanisms for = interconnecting and interoperability between P2P systems
are needed. = Many P2P systems are based on distributed hash tables
(DHTs), which = implement a distributed storage for key-value pairs. While
DHTs are = effective in looking up a specific key, search and = information
retrieval in DHTs remain challenging problems. Peer nodes = in a P2P
network perform services for other peers. A challenge is = therefore to
protect a P2P network against malicious nodes which may = try to alter the
service or disable it. Finally, it is interesting to = evaluate P2P
systems that are deployed to better understand the = performance of
algorithms deployed and the behavior of user. = Performance and usage data
is an important foundation for the = development of new P2P mechanisms and
architectures. Mechanisms and = tools that collect this information from
existing p2p systems are = highly desirable.

Overall, the field of P2P technologies presents = a number of interesting
challenges which includes new methods for = forming P2P application
overlays, interconnecting distinct P2P = application overlays, performing
routing and peer selection = decisions, managing traffic and discovering
resources. Other = challenges are related to storage, reliability, and
information = retrieval in P2P systems. Yet another challenging area for
P2P is = security, privacy, anonymity and trust. Finally, it is
challenging to = examine P2P systems that are deployed, for example, to
measure, = monitor and characterize P2P applications. The P2P RG = will
collaborate with academia and industry on making progress = addressing
these challenges.

The IETF has formed working = groups to address specific issues of P2P
networking. During the = development of standards for P2P networks in
these working groups, = new research topics may arise that exceed the
working group charter = and require a separate forum for discussion. The
P2P RG will provide = such a forum. The IETF has chartered working groups
related to the = following topics:
       - = Peer-to-Peer SIP signaling (P2PSIP)
=        - Application-Layer Traffic = Optimization (ALTO)
       - Low = Extra Delay Background Transport = (LEDBAT)

Organization
------------
The P2PRG will maintain = a list of prioritized topics in order to organize
the activity of the = research group according to agreed importance = and
priority.

The P2PRG will use an open mailing list (p2prg@irtf.org) as the = main
communication vehicle for the group.

The P2PRG will = encourage the organization of the work in smaller design
teams = focused on specific areas of research. The design teams will use
the = general mailing list in order to allow the broader community = to
follow the evolution of their topics.

Most of the = communication inside the P2PRG will be done through use of
mailing = lists, however, the group will hold regular physical meetings
at = least once a year in conjunction with IETF meetings. = Additional
meetings may be held at IETF or other venues, = such as in conjunction
with related academic conferences.

The = P2PRG will produce Informational and Experimental RFCs in order = to
document the activity of the group and to formalize the outcome of = the
research topics carried by the group. In addition, such = documentation
could become input to IETF working = groups.

Membership
----------
The RG operates in an open = fashion (meetings & mailing = list).