An Extension of Virtual Globe to Build On‐Demand Geospatial Data Sharing Capability Using Peer‐to‐Peer Technology

In the virtual globe system, ever higher performance is demanded for high quality service, especially when requesting intensive data from large‐scale networks, such as large scene 3D city models with fine textures. Extending the virtual globe platform from the present centralized mode into a decentralized mode can significantly improve platform capacity and service quality without additional investment in hardware, but presents new challenges such as the time cost of finding a peer, unstable offering, and low service capacity. A GeoODP2P network is designed based on specific features of spatial data transmission. Next, we discuss peer selection mechanisms that relieve the negative influence of peers, and propose a pre‐fetch mechanism that takes advantage of the unique characteristics of the P2P environment. This article implements a simulation system for a GeoODP2P network and presents a prototype platform that incorporates P2P functionality. Peer selection and pre‐fetch mechanisms are studied and tested on this simulation system. The prototype platform run in a real scenario demonstrates the effectiveness of applying P2P to a virtual globe platform.