In contrast to peer-to-peer file sharing, live streaming based on peer-to-peer technology is still awaiting its breakthrough. This may be due to the additional challenges live streaming faces, e.g., the need to meet real-time playback deadlines, or the increased demands on robustness under churn. This paper presents and evaluates novel neighbor selection and data distribution schemes for peer-to-peer live streaming. Concretely, in order to distribute data efficiently and with minimal delay, our algorithms combine low-latency push operations along a structured overlay with the flexibility of pull operations. The protocols ensure that all peers are able to obtain the required data blocks of a live stream in time, and that due to the loop-free dissemination paths, the overhead is low.

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