APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DETERMINING SOURCE DEVICE IN CONTENTS SHARING SYSTEM

Abstract

A method for determining a source and a transmission path to provide content includes receiving a message comprising at least one of channel information of a link between a request device which requests content download and a central management device, available resource amount information of a candidate device, channel information of a link between the candidate device and the central management device, and channel information of a link between the request device and one candidate device. The method also includes determining a source device and the transmission path for providing the content to the request device using an available resource amount of the candidate device, a data rate of the link between the request device and the central management device, a data rate of the link between the request device and the candidate device, and a data rate of the link between the candidate device and the central management device.