Bridging social and data networks [Applications corner]

Social and data networks can be integrated to enable enhanced and cost-effective performance. Distributed network directory systems feature a collection of peer computers interested in exchanging information of interest. Each peer hosts a set of information items that may be shared with other peers in the network upon demand. There is a registry server that maintains a directory of all hosts in the system. When the system is queried for information, it returns a subset of hosts, which are then directly contacted for the item of interest. The probability of discovering a content item of interest among a set of hosts comprising a directory overlay can be modeled as a function of their social distance to the querying peer. Forwarding rates are assigned to outgoing communication links of the tree such that the latency in disseminating a data unit to every node in the tree is minimized. This will make the tree adept at delivering time-sensitive data, such as multimedia content.