FLoD: A framework for peer-to-peer 3D streaming

Interactive 3D content on Internet has yet become popular due to its typically large volume and the limited network bandwidth. Progressive content transmission, or 3D streaming, thus is necessary to enable real-time content interactions. However, the heavy data and processing requirements of 3D streaming challenge the scalability of client-server delivery methods. We propose the use of peer-to-peer (P2P) networks for 3D streaming, and argue that due to the non-linear access patterns of 3D content, P2P 3D streaming is a new class of applications apart from existing media streaming and requires new investigations. We also present FLoD, the first P2P 3D streaming framework that allows clients of 3D virtual globe or virtual environment (VE) applications to obtain relevant data from other clients while minimizing server resource usage. To demonstrate how FLoD applies to real-world scenarios, we build a prototype system that adapts JPEG 2000-based 3D mesh streaming for P2P delivery. Experiments show that server-side bandwidth usage can thus be reduced, while simulations indicate that P2P 3D streaming is fundamentally more scalable than client-server approaches.