P2P-Next Consortium Is Testing P2P streaming

Peer-to-peer might climb another step in development due to the P2P-Next Consortium, a group which currently is conducting tests for a "next generation Peer-to-Peer (P2P) content delivery platform." According to afterdawn.com their goal is to create software able to provide P2P-based streaming, and anyone is invited to help them collect data.

For those who want to give a hand a BitTorrent client, namely SwarmPlayer, is in order. This is how it goes: after installing it you’ve got two options - either watch a 5 minute Video On Demand (VOD) test stream from the BBC or a webcam feed from Amsterdam. SwarmPlayer sends performance data back to a P2P-Next server which they'll use in future development.

To be able to actually pull this stunt this team is asking everyone who wants to give this software a try, to leave it running as long as possible, which should in due course lead to the buildup of enough traffic that renders the necessary data.

Tribler Team, who also came up with the SwarmPlayer software (open source) is the one managing the P2P-Next project. What they want to accomplish is the development of a multi-potent P2P architecture that would have the capability to both offer the marks of traditional media (such as television and radio) and allow users to generate and share content of their own.

Users are also asked to give feedback on the project and view some information concerning the current experiment.

If you want to learn more about this test visit the official website or the P2P-Next and Tribler websites.