Myconet: A Fungi-Inspired Model for Superpeer-based Peer-to-Peer Overlay Topologies
Reference: Paul L. Snyder, Rachel Greenstadt, Giuseppe Valetto. Drexel University Dept. of Computer Science. Source file: Myconet_A_Fungi_Inspired_Model_for_Super.pdf. URL
Summary
Myconet is a biologically inspired self-organizing overlay-construction protocol for superpeer-based P2P networks, drawing its design from the growth patterns of fungal mycelia. Each node is modeled as a “biomass peer” with a capacity; hyphal peers extend links toward high-capacity regions, branch when saturated, and become immobile superpeers at full utilization. The protocol layers these stigmergic transitions on top of Newscast-style gossip to move biomass toward the highest-capacity peers and dynamically maintain a near-optimal number of well-connected superpeers.
Evaluation shows Myconet converges to approximately optimal superpeer counts across power-law and uniform capacity distributions, reaches ~95% utilization, and self-heals quickly after catastrophic loss of 30-50% of superpeers. It outperforms or matches comparable approaches (SG-1, ERASP) while providing stronger topology stability and resistance to targeted attack on superpeers.
Key Ideas
- Biomass peers + hyphal peers + immobile (superpeer) peers with state transitions.
- Stigmergy over Newscast gossip for local-only self-organization.
- Extension, branching, and absorption rules tuned to heterogeneous capacities.
- Near-optimal superpeer count and high utilization under realistic distributions.
- Resilience: rapid reconvergence after catastrophic peer loss.
Connections
- Gossip Protocols
- Self-Adaptive Systems
- Multi-Agent Systems
- Peer Sampling Service
- Large Population Models
Conceptual Contribution
- Claim: Fungal mycelium growth — biomass flowing along hyphae toward productive regions — is a productive metaphor for self-organising superpeer overlays, yielding topologies that are near-optimal in superpeer count, highly utilised, and resilient to targeted attack.
- Mechanism: Models each peer with a capacity and three states (biomass, hyphal extending/branching, immobile superpeer); state transitions driven by local biomass comparisons with neighbours obtained via Newscast gossip; branching hyphae explore new capacity, immobile hyphae absorb biomass up to saturation. Simulation on 10^3–10^6 peers with power-law and uniform capacity distributions shows convergence in ~30-35 rounds and recovery from 50% catastrophic peer loss.
- Concepts introduced/used: Stigmergy, Mycelium Model, Hyphal Peer, Biomass, Superpeer Overlay, Newscast Gossip, Self-Organising Topology, Catastrophic Failure Recovery
- Stance: empirical / engineering (bio-inspired)
- Relates to: Uses the peer-sampling/gossip substrate formalised in Gossiping in Distributed Systems and Gossip-based Aggregation in Large Dynamic Networks; exemplifies the structural/ensemble self-organisation advocated by Self-Adaptation Self-Expression Self-Awareness ASCENS and the bio-inspired cognition of Computational Boundary of a Self.