Rumor: Apple TV to Implement Peer-to-Peer Download Technology

According to a tip from Apple Inc employee, Apple TV won’t be relying on client-server technology for a long time. Apple is planning to implement peer-to-peer (P2P) download technology to keep the network faster and more competitive.

Currently, Apple TV’s (iTunes) files are downloaded through client-server architecture relying on a single server or group of servers to deliver requested movies along with hundreds or thousands of other simultaneous requests.

Apple hopes peer-to-peer model would solve Apple TV’s greatest annoyance - frequent pauses and buffering on high-speed internet connections.

A pure peer-to-peer network does not have the notion of clients or servers, but only equal peer nodes that simultaneously function as both “clients” and “servers” to the other nodes on the network. This model of network arrangement differs from the client-server model where communication is usually to and from a central server.

In other words, user content would be automatically downloaded from the nearest point in the network allowing all clients provide resources, including bandwidth, storage space, and computing power. Thus, as nodes arrive and demand on the system increases, the total capacity of the system also increases. This is not true of a client-server architecture with a fixed set of servers, in which adding more clients could mean slower data transfer for all users.

VUDU, Apple TV’s competitor, utilizes P2P technology to distribute movie and TV content. Instead of downloading content from a central server, VUDU downloads segments of the movie from other VUDU boxes connected to the internet. Peer-to-peer technology also increases robustness by eliminating single point of failure in the system.

The implication of Apple’s decision to test alternate download technology makes sense - network operators can more effectively cut costs by enabling significant boost in download performance while simultaneously reducing network congestion.