Faster file-sharing on the horizon

Matching identical data could speed downloads by 500%

12 April 2007 11:11 GMT / By Ryan Haynes

We hailed broadband when it gave us faster download speeds. Now a trio of researchers have discovered a way to get files to your PC faster.

Current file sharing techniques rely on the number of people online at the time to share the file. A new technology, SET, Similarity-Enhanced Transfer is said to work by spotting blocks of identical data in files that are exact or near match to what is requested.

The researchers found that files were being shared that were identical but labels and information on the files made them appear to be different, which slowed the download speeds.

Current systems can fail to meet faster download speeds because there are not enough users sharing the particular file.

The SET system is claimed to assign files a similarity ranking and can take blocks of data from files which are both identical and similar to the one being searched for.

Full tags

Software, PC software, P2P Software