Intelligent query processing in P2P networks: Semantic issues and routing algorithms

P2P networks have become a commonly used way of disseminating content on the Internet. In this context, constructing efficient and distributed P2P routing algorithms for complex environments that include a huge number of distributed nodes with different computing and network capabilities is a major challenge. In the last years, query routing algorithms have evolved by taking into account different features (provenance, nodes' history, topic similarity, etc.). Such features are usually stored in auxiliary data structures (tables, matrices, etc.), which provide an extra knowledge engineering layer on top of the network, resulting in an added semantic value for specifying algorithms for efficient query routing. This article examines the main existing algorithms for query routing in unstructured P2P networks in which semantic aspects play a major role. A general comparative analysis is included, associated with a taxonomy of P2P networks based on their degree of decentralization and the different approaches adopted to exploit the available semantic aspects.